How to read your VA rating decision letter
The percentage and the monthly amount are only part of a VA rating decision. Under 38 U.S.C. § 5104(b), the decision notice also has to identify every issue decided, summarize the evidence considered, list the findings in your favor and, for a denial, name the elements not satisfied. Those sections are worth reading line by line.
To read a VA rating decision letter, match each issue you claimed to its outcome, then check the reasons, the evidence listed, the findings in your favor, the rating, and the effective date. An issue marked deferred has not been decided yet; it is waiting on more development. Review options and deadlines apply to issues that were decided, so read the notice rather than assuming every issue has the same status (38 U.S.C. § 5104(b); 38 CFR § 3.103(f)).
A rating decision is a legal document written by a rater working through a checklist, not a letter written to explain itself to you. It has a predictable structure, and once you know the structure, it stops being a wall of text and starts being a list of things to verify.
The structure of the document
| Section | What it contains | Why you read it |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | What was claimed, the effective date of the claim itself | Confirms every condition you filed made it in |
| Code sheet | Each condition, its diagnostic code, percentage, and effective date | The numbers that set your pay. Check each one against the rating schedule |
| Reasons for decision | The rater's explanation for each granted or denied condition | Tells you exactly what evidence was found lacking |
| Evidence list | The evidence the rater considered | Check that everything you submitted appears here |
| Favorable findings | Facts or conclusions decided in your favor | They bind later VA decisions unless shown to be clear and unmistakable error |
| Combined evaluation | How the individual ratings combine | Checkable arithmetic. See below |
| Notice of rights | Your review options and their deadlines | Most review deadlines run from the date on the letter |
Five things to check, in order
1. Every claimed condition, accounted for
Cross-reference the code sheet against what you actually filed. Conditions occasionally fall out: merged into another rating, deferred for more development, decided in a separate letter, or missed. If something you claimed is not addressed anywhere, ask VA about it directly rather than assuming it was denied. Be aware that a decision can also implicitly deny an issue that was reasonably within the scope of what it addressed, which starts the review clock for that issue (38 CFR § 3.155(d)(2)).
2. The reasons for denial or a low rating. Read them as instructions
For every condition, this section states specifically why the rater decided as they did. Common language and what it is actually telling you:
| What the decision says | What it means | One way to respond |
|---|---|---|
| "No evidence of a nexus" | The medical link is missing | Get an opinion, file a supplemental claim |
| "No current diagnosis of record" | Nothing shows you have the condition now | Get evaluated, then file supplemental |
| "STRs do not show treatment for this condition" | The in-service event is not documented | Lay statements, personnel records, buddy statements can fill this |
| "Examination did not show criteria met for the next higher evaluation" | The exam findings did not reach the next rating level | Compare the numbers in the exam to the criteria yourself. See below |
| "Continued at the current evaluation" | An increase request was reviewed and denied | Check whether the exam captured a bad day or only a good one |
Each of these names a specific gap, which tells you what new evidence, if any, would address it. Filling one gap does not guarantee a grant, and if the record already met the criteria, the better route may be a review of the existing record instead. The appeal options guide compares them.
3. The exam findings, against the actual criteria
If a condition was rated below what you expected, pull the rating criteria for that diagnostic code, the condition library or 38 CFR Part 4 directly, and compare the exam's actual measurements against the threshold for the next level. A thoracolumbar (mid and lower back) condition rated 20% on forward flexion means a measurement greater than 30° but not greater than 60°; 30° or less is the 40% level. The spine formula also says to round each measurement to the nearest five degrees, so a reading a couple of degrees above a boundary can land on it, and that is worth scrutinizing rather than accepting.
Also check whether the exam addressed functional loss due to pain. 38 CFR § 4.40 requires the exam to portray functional loss, including loss due to pain, not just the raw range-of-motion number. An exam report that skips this section has a gap worth raising.
A code sheet lists PTSD at 70%, tinnitus at 10%, and a right wrist strain, Diagnostic Code 5215, at 0%, for a combined evaluation of 70%. For the wrist, the reasons for decision say the exam did not show the criteria for a compensable evaluation, then quote the exam's measurement: dorsiflexion (bending the hand back) to 10°.
- Diagnostic Code 5215, limitation of motion of the wrist, in 38 CFR § 4.71a, has a single level: 10%, for dorsiflexion less than 15° or palmar flexion limited in line with the forearm.
- The code has no 0% level. Under 38 CFR § 4.31, a 0% is assigned only when the requirements for a compensable evaluation are not met.
- 10° is less than 15°. On the recorded number, the compensable criterion is met, which contradicts the stated reason for the 0%.
- Recheck the combined evaluation under 38 CFR § 4.25, largest first. As decided, 70% leaves 30% efficiency, 10% of 30 is 3, and 70 + 3 = 73, which rounds to 70%; the 0% adds nothing. With the wrist at 10%, 73 leaves 27% efficiency, 10% of 27 is 2.7, and 73 + 2.7 = 75.7, which the table holds as 76 and which rounds to 80%.
Nothing here needs new evidence. The measurement is already in the record, and the question is whether the criteria were applied to it, which is what a Higher-Level Review decides on the evidence already of record.
4. The effective dates, line by line, not just the top one
Every condition has its own effective date on the code sheet, and they are not always the same. Check each one against the rule that applies: when you filed, your Intent to File date if you had one, and the special rules for claims within a year of separation and for increases covered in the effective dates guide. An effective date that is later than it should be is a quiet, compounding loss. It is worth the five minutes to verify.
5. What is silently absent
The things nobody puts in front of you, that you have to go look for yourself:
- Special Monthly Compensation. If you have a single condition rated 100% plus additional, separate conditions affecting different body parts or systems that are independently ratable at 60% or more, or a service-connected condition associated with loss of use, SMC may apply and may not have been addressed. See the SMC guide.
- Permanent and Total status. A 100% rating is not automatically marked P&T. If your condition is static and unlikely to improve, and the decision schedules a future exam anyway, that is worth raising.
- Dependents. At 30% or above, dependents increase your monthly rate, but only if VA has them on file. Check that your dependency claim (VA Form 21-686c) was processed alongside the rating.
- TDIU consideration. If the evidence in your file suggests you cannot work, the VA is supposed to consider TDIU on its own even if you did not check the box. It is worth checking whether the decision addressed it. See the TDIU guide.
The combined percentage is not a judgment call, it follows a fixed formula. Verify it yourself against the combined rating math or the combined rating calculator, including the bilateral factor if you have paired-limb conditions. Arithmetic errors are rare but they happen, and they are one of the cleanest things to fix through a Higher-Level Review.
Building your response from what you find
Once you know exactly what is missing or wrong, the next step usually becomes clearer:
- Missing evidence you can now supply → Supplemental Claim.
- The existing record was misread or miscalculated → Higher-Level Review.
- A condition has since worsened → a new claim for increase, not an appeal.
- An unclaimed secondary appeared in the reasoning → a new claim for that condition, guided by the secondary conditions patterns.
- Dependents were missed → if you had not already reported them, add them with VA Form 21-686c, which is a claim, not an appeal. If they were already on file and the decision left them out, that is the existing record misapplied, which a Higher-Level Review can address. Dependent amounts apply only at a 30% or higher rating.
- SMC was missed → VA decides SMC as part of the claim (38 CFR § 3.155(d)(2)). If the decision says nothing about SMC and it was reasonably within the scope of what was decided, the rule treats that silence as a finding that the evidence did not support it. To challenge that, ask for a Higher-Level Review, file a Supplemental Claim, or appeal to the Board within the year.
A Higher-Level Review or Board appeal is generally due within one year of the date VA issued notice of the decision. A Supplemental Claim can be filed later, but filing within that year is what generally keeps the earlier effective date. Put that date on a calendar before you do anything else.
An accredited VSO representative can review a decision letter with you, and VA says their services on your claim are always free. A second read can catch things a first read misses: a missed SMC entitlement, an exam that did not address functional loss due to pain, an arithmetic slip. Find one through VA.gov before you file anything.
Rating decision questions
How do I read a VA rating decision letter?
Work issue by issue. The notice must identify each issue decided, summarize the evidence considered and the laws applied, list findings favorable to you, and for a denial name the elements not satisfied. It should also say how to get the evidence used and, where it applies, what is needed for service connection or the next higher rating. Favorable findings bind later VA decisions unless shown to be clear and unmistakable error (38 U.S.C. § 5104(b); 38 CFR § 3.103(f); § 3.104(c)).
What does a VA rating code sheet show?
The code sheet is the coded summary of the rating. Its coded conclusion lists each decided disability with its diagnostic code, and for service-connected disabilities the current percentage and effective date, any future scheduled change, and the combined evaluation. It can also carry codes for things like special monthly compensation or a future exam. The reasons for the decision are in the narrative, not the code sheet, so read both (M21-1, Part V, Subpart iv, Chapter 1, Section C).
What does deferred mean on a VA decision?
VA has decided some issues in the claim but held back one or more others until more development, such as an exam or records, is finished. A deferred issue is not a denial and has not been decided, so there is nothing to appeal on it yet; the decided issues in the same letter are final decisions with their own review deadlines. (M21-1, Part V, Subpart ii, Chapter 3, Section B).
What should I check before responding to a decision letter?
That every issue you claimed appears, and whether each was granted, denied, or deferred. That the evidence list includes what you sent. That each reason matches the rating criteria and the exam findings. That each effective date follows the rule that applies to it, which is not always your filing or Intent to File date: a claim within a year of separation, an increase, or entitlement that arose later each has its own rule, explained in the effective dates guide. Then choose a response by the problem you found: new evidence, a misread record, or a worsened condition each call for a different route, compared in VA appeal options (38 CFR § 3.2500; VA.gov decision reviews).
Sources
- 38 CFR § 4.71a, Schedule of ratings, musculoskeletal system: Diagnostic Code 5215's single 10% wrist level for dorsiflexion less than 15° or palmar flexion limited in line with the forearm, and the General Rating Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine, with its 20% and 40% forward flexion criteria and, in Note (4), the rule to round each spine measurement to the nearest five degrees. Read it with 38 CFR § 4.31, Zero percent evaluations, under which, where a diagnostic code has no 0% level, a 0% is assigned only when the requirements for a compensable evaluation are not met.
- 38 CFR § 4.40, Functional loss: the exam must portray functional loss, including loss due to pain, not only the anatomical damage.
- 38 CFR § 4.25, Combined ratings table: how individual ratings combine and when the result is rounded to the nearest 10.
- 38 CFR § 3.2500, Review of decisions and § 3.2601, Higher-level review: the one-year window from the notice of decision, how continuous pursuit protects the effective date, and the rule that a Higher-Level Review is limited to the evidence of record as of the date VA issued notice of the prior decision.
- 38 CFR § 3.350, Special monthly compensation ratings: paragraph (i), a single 100% disability plus additional disabilities independently ratable at 60%, separate and distinct from the 100% disability and involving different anatomical segments or bodily systems, or housebound status.
- 38 U.S.C. § 1115, Additional compensation for dependents: dependent amounts apply when the rating is 30% or more.
- 38 U.S.C. § 5104(b), Decisions and notices of decisions: the notice must identify the issues adjudicated, summarize the evidence considered, identify findings favorable to the claimant and, for a denial, identify the elements not satisfied.
- 38 CFR § 3.103(f), Notification of decisions and § 3.104(c), Favorable findings: what a decision notice must contain, and the rule that favorable findings bind later adjudicators unless shown to be clear and unmistakable error.
- M21-1, Part V, Subpart iv, Chapter 1, Section C, Coded Conclusion (updated December 29, 2025): what the code sheet's coded conclusion must show for each disability and in combination.
- M21-1, Part V, Subpart ii, Chapter 3, Section B, Making Partial Rating Decisions (updated May 27, 2025): a partial rating decision decides some issues and defers others pending more development.
- 38 CFR § 3.155(d)(2), Scope of claim: VA adjudicates ancillary benefits, including special monthly compensation, as part of a complete claim, and a decision implies VA found the evidence does not support other issues reasonably within the scope of the issues it addressed.
READY214's condition library lays out the exact rating criteria for common conditions and the combined rating calculator checks the arithmetic, so you can verify your own decision line by line. Free, no account needed.