diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 1f9c6a17dcd..fdc7ecfc9f2 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ Features added
 
 .. rst-class:: compact
 
+* Add ``level`` option to :rst:dir:`rubric` directive.
+  Patch by Chris Sewell.
 * Add optional ``description`` argument to
   :meth:`~sphinx.application.Sphinx.add_config_value`.
   Patch by Chris Sewell.
diff --git a/doc/usage/restructuredtext/directives.rst b/doc/usage/restructuredtext/directives.rst
index acf4acbcdc7..5e7b1cd0579 100644
--- a/doc/usage/restructuredtext/directives.rst
+++ b/doc/usage/restructuredtext/directives.rst
@@ -373,8 +373,18 @@ units as well as normal text.
 
 .. rst:directive:: .. rubric:: title
 
-   This directive creates a paragraph heading that is not used to create a
-   table of contents node.
+   A rubric is like an informal heading that doesn't correspond to the document's structure,
+   i.e. it does not create a table of contents node.
+
+   .. rst:directive:option:: level: n
+      :type: number from 1 to 6
+
+      .. versionadded:: 7.4
+
+      Use this option to specify the heading level of the rubric.
+      In this case the rubric will be rendered as ``<h1>`` to ``<h6>`` for HTML output,
+      or as the corresponding non-numbered sectioning command for LaTeX
+      (see :confval:`latex_toplevel_sectioning`).
 
    .. note::
 
diff --git a/sphinx/directives/patches.py b/sphinx/directives/patches.py
index 145f1f5d9ff..b9b3d932397 100644
--- a/sphinx/directives/patches.py
+++ b/sphinx/directives/patches.py
@@ -176,12 +176,38 @@ def add_target(self, ret: list[Node]) -> None:
         ret.insert(0, target)
 
 
+class Rubric(SphinxDirective):
+    """A patch of the docutils' :rst:dir:`rubric` directive,
+    which adds a level option to specify the heading level of the rubric.
+    """
+
+    required_arguments = 1
+    optional_arguments = 0
+    final_argument_whitespace = True
+    option_spec = {
+        'class': directives.class_option,
+        'name': directives.unchanged,
+        'level': lambda c: directives.choice(c, ('1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6')),
+    }
+
+    def run(self) -> list[Node]:
+        set_classes(self.options)
+        rubric_text = self.arguments[0]
+        textnodes, messages = self.parse_inline(rubric_text, lineno=self.lineno)
+        rubric = nodes.rubric(rubric_text, '', *textnodes, **self.options)
+        self.add_name(rubric)
+        if 'level' in self.options:
+            rubric['level'] = int(self.options['level'])
+        return [rubric, *messages]
+
+
 def setup(app: Sphinx) -> ExtensionMetadata:
     directives.register_directive('figure', Figure)
     directives.register_directive('meta', Meta)
     directives.register_directive('csv-table', CSVTable)
     directives.register_directive('code', Code)
     directives.register_directive('math', MathDirective)
+    directives.register_directive('rubric', Rubric)
 
     return {
         'version': 'builtin',
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/html5.py b/sphinx/writers/html5.py
index 944e1ff35ae..66c3cf3d242 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/html5.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/html5.py
@@ -509,6 +509,30 @@ def depart_title(self, node: Element) -> None:
 
         super().depart_title(node)
 
+    # overwritten
+    def visit_rubric(self, node: Element) -> None:
+        if "level" in node:
+            level = node["level"]
+            if level in (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6):
+                self.body.append(self.starttag(node, f'h{level}', '', CLASS='rubric'))
+            else:
+                logger.warning(
+                    __('unsupported rubric heading level: %s'),
+                    level,
+                    type='html',
+                    location=node
+                )
+                super().visit_rubric(node)
+        else:
+            super().visit_rubric(node)
+
+    # overwritten
+    def depart_rubric(self, node: Element) -> None:
+        if level := node.get("level"):
+            self.body.append(f'</h{level}>\n')
+        else:
+            super().depart_rubric(node)
+
     # overwritten
     def visit_literal_block(self, node: Element) -> None:
         if node.rawsource != node.astext():
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/latex.py b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
index b02975a0ea0..fd750a579ee 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/latex.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
@@ -967,7 +967,20 @@ def depart_seealso(self, node: Element) -> None:
     def visit_rubric(self, node: Element) -> None:
         if len(node) == 1 and node.astext() in ('Footnotes', _('Footnotes')):
             raise nodes.SkipNode
-        self.body.append(r'\subsubsection*{')
+        tag = 'subsubsection'
+        if "level" in node:
+            level = node["level"]
+            try:
+                tag = self.sectionnames[self.top_sectionlevel - 1 + level]
+            except Exception:
+                logger.warning(
+                    __('unsupported rubric heading level: %s'),
+                    level,
+                    type='latex',
+                    location=node
+                )
+
+        self.body.append(rf'\{tag}*{{')
         self.context.append('}' + CR)
         self.in_title = 1
 
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/conf.py b/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/conf.py
index e274bde806b..eccdbf78895 100644
--- a/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/conf.py
+++ b/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/conf.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
 latex_documents = [
     ('index', 'test.tex', 'The basic Sphinx documentation for testing', 'Sphinx', 'report')
 ]
+latex_toplevel_sectioning = 'section'
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/index.rst b/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/index.rst
index c2ae68a86ea..ab78e826047 100644
--- a/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/index.rst
+++ b/tests/roots/test-markup-rubric/index.rst
@@ -5,3 +5,35 @@ test-markup-rubric
 
 .. rubric:: This is
    a multiline rubric
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a class
+   :class: myclass
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a heading level 1
+   :level: 1
+   :class: myclass
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a heading level 2
+   :level: 2
+   :class: myclass
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a heading level 3
+   :level: 3
+   :class: myclass
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a heading level 4
+   :level: 4
+   :class: myclass
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a heading level 5
+   :level: 5
+   :class: myclass
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a heading level 6
+   :level: 6
+   :class: myclass
+
+.. rubric:: A rubric with a heading level 7
+   :level: 7
+   :class: myclass
+
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py
index 49ad633a46b..60079cbdf39 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py
@@ -278,3 +278,12 @@ def checker(nodes):
 def test_html5_output(app, cached_etree_parse, fname, path, check):
     app.build()
     check_xpath(cached_etree_parse(app.outdir / fname), fname, path, check)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('html', testroot='markup-rubric')
+def test_html5_rubric(app):
+    app.build()
+    assert '"7" unknown' in app.warning.getvalue()
+    content = (app.outdir / 'index.html').read_text(encoding='utf8')
+    assert '<p class="rubric">This is a rubric</p>' in content
+    assert '<h2 class="myclass rubric">A rubric with a heading level 2</h2>' in content
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_latex.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_latex.py
index a34d69e1f48..0ef73f47fa8 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_latex.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_latex.py
@@ -1759,3 +1759,11 @@ def test_one_parameter_per_line(app, status, warning):
     assert ('\\pysiglinewithargsret{\\sphinxbfcode{\\sphinxupquote{hello}}}' in result)
 
     assert ('\\pysigwithonelineperarg{\\sphinxbfcode{\\sphinxupquote{foo}}}' in result)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.sphinx('latex', testroot='markup-rubric')
+def test_latex_rubric(app):
+    app.build()
+    content = (app.outdir / 'test.tex').read_text(encoding='utf8')
+    assert r'\subsubsection*{This is a rubric}' in content
+    assert r'\subsection*{A rubric with a heading level 2}' in content
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_texinfo.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_texinfo.py
index 539ec9a96e7..6abbc969d26 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_texinfo.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_texinfo.py
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ def test_texinfo_rubric(app, status, warning):
     output = (app.outdir / 'projectnamenotset.texi').read_text(encoding='utf8')
     assert '@heading This is a rubric' in output
     assert '@heading This is a multiline rubric' in output
+    assert '@heading A rubric with a heading level' in output
 
 
 @pytest.mark.sphinx('texinfo', testroot='markup-citation')