Hi
Not sure if I fully understand your relative's situation. This is what I do know, having recently achieved a FETAC Advanced certificate (level 6)
A full award from FETAC (level 5 or 6) is achieved by passing a required number of "component certificate" modules. Different modules have different credit values, so, for example, if you need 5 credits to achieve a particular award, you must do 4 mandatory modules worth 1 credit each, and then you can do two worth .5 each from a choice.
A full award does not show a grading as such, but a component certificate will show whether the mark achieved a pass,merit or distinction.
Pass = 50%-64%, Merit = 65%-79%, Distinction = 80%-100%.