I believe what the person means is that, they have completed a master dissertation and has got a grade of around 80% and therefore feels there 'Standard' is that of what would achieve an 80% grade at Masters level.
The person is wondering whether the ability to write at that level i.e to achieve an 80% score for a Masters Dissertation is enough to allow them to write at a level to pass a PhD review i guess as it is there first year?
I have no idea personally :), but i would imagine it to be a bit more ambiguous then a simple comparison of a masters grade and a PhD level.
Still though 80% is very good, and 26,000 is not a small chunk of change either, though emphasis on quality not quantity would be more apporpriate for the PhD.