Welcome back occasional elegant adult learner to be graded (12)

I believe the answer is:

hierarchical

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'be graded' is the definition.
(similar in meaning)

'welcome back occasional elegant adult learner' is the wordplay.
'welcome' becomes 'hi' (both are greetings).
'back' is a reversal indicator.
'occasional' becomes 'rare' (occasional can mean rare or infrequent).
'elegant' becomes 'chic' (chic means fashionable or elegant).
'adult learner' becomes 'al' (this could be a standard abbreviation I've not previously seen).
'rare' in reverse letter order is 'erar'.
'hi'+'erar'+'chic'+'al'='HIERARCHICAL'

'to' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for hierarchical that I've seen before include "Arranged in order of rank" , "Classified by rank" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.