VLOOKUP based on two column values

Question

I have a table with User IDs in one column. These are entered multiple times to show the result for a particular topic.

ID          Topic       Pass/Fail
71086686    Science     P
71086686    Maths       P
71086686    Tech        P
71086686    ICT         F
71086687    Science     P
71086687    Maths       P
71086687    Tech        P
71086687    ICT         F

I am trying to find a way to return the Pass/Fail result for a particular ID and topic.

I am trying to use VLOOKUP to do this but cant work out how to use multiple columns as values to look up against.

essentially i am trying to acheive the below:

Vloookup([ID] and [Topic], A:C, 3, FALSE)

Answer 1

I don't recommend to concatenate criteria and searchranges when you could use INDEX & MATCH combo.

=INDEX(C2:C9,MATCH(1,(A2:A9=Criteria1)*(B2:B9=Criteria2),0))

And confirm through CtrlShiftEnter

Implement another INDEX if you want to remove the array entering:

=INDEX(C2:C9,MATCH(1,INDEX((A2:A9=Criteria1)*(B2:B9=Criteria2),0),0))

Answer 2

You can add another column with a formula A2&B2, then use Vlookup to find that value.

Let's say you add it in the new column A.

Then your formula to find the value would look like this:

 Vloookup([ID] & [Topic], A:D, 4, FALSE)

I use this to quickly find values that I need without typing long formulas.