How many degrees are in Freemasonry

Pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees—Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason—including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch, as formally declared in the 1813 Act of Union by the United Grand Lodge of England and practiced in symbolic masonry under the Grand Lodge of India. Early ritual records from 1717 indicate only one original form of initiation, with the system evolving into three distinct Craft degrees between 1717 and 1730 1. This modern Craft structure mirrors the three operative grades of membership—Apprentice, Fellow, and Master—found in medieval building guilds 1.

In the Scottish Rite, the system expands to 33 degrees, progressing from the initial degrees up to the 33rd degree, Sovereign Grand Inspector-General, governed by bodies such as the Consistory and Supreme Council 1.

In historical rites, alternative degree structures were also formed. Fessler composed a system of five "Degrees of Knowledge" 1, while the Scottish Mother Lodge of Marseilles worked an 18-degree system ranging from Apprentice to Knight of the Sun 2. The Chapter of Clermont conferred three high Templar grades beyond the three Craft degrees 2.