How to sign off each badge, and how we keep the standard the same across every coach and every franchise.
The Diploma is the brand promise. A First Cast badge earned in Peterborough has to mean the same as one earned in North Staffs, or the Diploma is worth nothing the moment it scales. This guide exists so every coach signs to the same line. If you're ever unsure whether a learner has met a badge, the answer is not yet.
The rule that runs through all of it
Sign off on what you've seen, not on effort or attendance. Not yet is the default until the pass is clearly met, and it isn't a failure. It's an honest position, and it's the right one until the learner has shown you the thing.
The learner does it, not you. Across this whole guide the commonest false pass is the coach doing the work, the cast, the unhooking, setting the depth, and signing it off anyway. If you did it, it isn't earned. Step in for safety or fish welfare, never to manufacture a pass.
First Cast Award Threshold: you've done it once, with help
1. Kit Check
A passNames the main parts of the set-up they're using, rod, reel, line, hook, float or feeder, net, and what each one does. Prompting is fine at this level.
Not yet / watch forCan point at the parts but can't say what any of them are for, or you named everything and they just nodded along.
2. Safe Hands
A passHandles the rod and hook safely under supervision: hook point controlled, no swinging tackle near others, looks behind before casting.
Not yet / watch forSigned off because nothing went wrong rather than because they showed the safe habits. The absence of an accident isn't evidence of safe handling.
3. First Cast
A passGets a baited rig into the water with you guiding, far enough out and safely. It doesn't have to be pretty.
Not yet / watch forYou made the cast and handed the rod over. The learner has to make the cast themselves, even badly.
4. First Bite
A passRegisters a bite themselves, sees the float go or feels the indication, and reacts, with help.
Not yet / watch forYou spotted every bite and told them when to strike. They have to register at least one bite of their own.
5. First Fish
A passA fish is hooked, played and brought to the net with help, and the learner was the one holding the rod or pole.
Not yet / watch forSigned off on a fish you played. They don't have to land it unaided, but they have to be on the rod.
Hooked Award Threshold: you can do it with a coach standing back
6. Bait Up
A passBaits the hook themselves with a bait suited to the day, and gets bait into the swim, loose feed or feeder, without being told each step. Three different baits hooked correctly across the award, maggot, sweetcorn and bread the usual set.
Not yet / watch forYou baited up and they dropped it in. The baiting has to be theirs.
7. Plumb It
A passFinds the depth and sets the float so the bait sits where they meant it to, with you watching, not directing. Checked in two different spots in the swim, and their depth holds up within a couple of inches when you re-plumb it.
Not yet / watch forYou set the depth and they cast it out. Plumbing means they found the depth.
8. Cast to a Spot
A passPuts the rig on a chosen target three times in a row. With a rod and reel, that means landing within a net's width of the spot at a sensible range for the water, around 10 metres is the benchmark. With a pole or whip, it means laying the rig on the spot at full fishing length, quietly and without tangles. Same standard, different tool.
Not yet / watch forAny cast that gets wet, or one good one out of five. On the pole, accuracy comes cheap, so the standard is full fishing length, laid quietly, three from three.
9. Strike & Land
A passStrikes their own bites and plays a fish to the net with you hands-off, shown on at least two fish.
Not yet / watch forStill being told when to strike, or you took the rod once the fish was on. One fish can be luck; two is a skill.
10. Unhook & Return
A passUnhooks a fish with care, disgorger or forceps where needed, handles it over the mat or in the water with wet hands, and returns it properly.
Not yet / watch forYou unhooked every fish to be safe. The point is the learner handles the fish correctly, so they do it, with you ready to step in only if welfare is at risk.
Lone Ranger Award Threshold: you set up, fish and pack down on your own
11. Set Up Solo
A passAssembles a working rig end to end, rod to hook or pole rig from winder to hook, on their own, without step-by-step instruction.
Not yet / watch forYou handed over a part-built set-up, or talked them through every knot. Solo means solo.
12. Bank Safe
A passUnderstands and acts on water safety when fishing independently: safe footing, depth and slips, weather, buoyancy, how to help someone without becoming a second casualty (reach or throw, never go in), and the rod licence rules for their age.
Not yet / watch forReciting a safety list without applying it, or signed off because the session happened to be uneventful.
13. Read the Peg
A passLooks at a swim and says, in their own words, where they'd fish and why, features, depth, wind, likely holding spots.
Not yet / watch forRepeating back what you just said about the peg. The reading has to be theirs.
14. Fish a Session
A passFishes a full session largely under their own steam, making the ordinary decisions themselves, with you available but not running it. A full session means the whole organised session, or at least two hours of a personal one, start to finish.
Not yet / watch forA short supervised spell, or you making every call through the session.
15. Pack Down Clean
A passPacks away fully and leaves the peg as they found it or better: all line and litter removed, bait cleared, no trace.
Not yet / watch forYou tidied the bits they missed and signed it off anyway. Clean means they left it clean.
Thinking Angler Award Threshold: you don't just do, you adjust and explain
16. Match the Day
A passPicks a sensible approach for the conditions in front of them, water, weather, season, target, and can say why that choice fits today, shown on at least two days that genuinely differ: bright and flat calm against wind and rain, or high summer against autumn. The kind of difference you can see from the car park.
Not yet / watch forUsing the method they always use and calling it a choice. There has to be a read of the day behind it.
17. Change It Up
A passWhen it isn't working, makes a considered change, depth, bait, spot, method, and explains the thinking, rather than sitting it out.
Not yet / watch forRandom fiddling, or only changing because you suggested it. The decision and the what has to be theirs.
18. Five Species
A passHas caught five different species over time, across at least two types of water, logged, and can name them.
Not yet / watch forCounting the same species twice, or fish you identified for them with nothing learned. They should know what they caught.
19. Two Methods
A passCan fish two genuinely different methods competently, for example float and feeder, or pole and lure. At least one fish caught on each.
Not yet / watch forTwo slight variations of the same approach dressed up as two methods.
20. Talk Me Through It
A passTalks you or another learner through what they're doing and why, in a way someone else could actually follow.
Not yet / watch forNaming the steps without the why, or only answering direct questions. They have to be able to explain, not just list.
Graduate Award Threshold: you're part of School Of Fish, not just a learner
21. Your Best Day
A passHas had a session they planned and carried out that went well on their own terms, a target met, a method cracked, a good day they can account for.
Not yet / watch forOne lucky fish with no thought behind it. The day has to be theirs to explain.
22. Fishery Aware
A passPasses the Fishery Aware check and understands it: welfare, biosecurity, the basics of how a fishery is run and looked after, and the angler's part in it. The check is twenty questions with sixteen needed to pass, and there's no limit on attempts.
Not yet / watch forRote answers with no understanding, or signed off without the check being done. (Check content is being validated with the IFM; assess against the current version.)
23. Kit Confidence
A passChooses and sets up the right kit for a stated situation themselves, and sorts common problems without help. Across the award that means a tangle cleared, a hooklength changed and shotting adjusted, all three.
Not yet / watch forConfident with one familiar set-up only, or still needing you for every adjustment.
24. Pass It On
A passHas genuinely helped a coach with a newer learner, real assisting, showing a beginner something useful, across a full session rather than a five-minute cameo.
Not yet / watch forTicked because they were on the bank while a beginner was there. They have to have actually helped someone learn.
25. Reflect & Recommend
A passLooks back on their own fishing and can say what they'd do differently and what they'd recommend to someone else, with reasoning.
Not yet / watch forA vague "it was good." There has to be real reflection and a recommendation they can stand behind.
When the Diploma is complete
Once all the badges are signed off in Clubmate and the learner has earned the Graduate Award, issue their Graduate certificate. Type their name, check the date, and download it to print or email from info@schooloffish.co.uk. Ask the licence question outright: what licence do you need at your age, and from when. A shrug is not yet. Five from the same pool is not yet; the log needs two types of water. Signed off a single afternoon is a false pass. See it on at least two days that fished differently.
Five awards sit past the Diploma: the Junior Assistant, and the four specialisms below. Any order, any number, no completion state. Grant each on its own terms.
School Of Fish Graduates aged thirteen or over can hold the Junior Assistant award, with no upper age: some assistants will be waiting for a course, some will simply never want one. It recognises one thing: they help newer learners at sessions, side by side with a qualified coach. The rules are absolute. A Junior Assistant is never alone with a learner or a group, never counted in your ratios, and never given responsibility for safety, welfare or sign-off. They remain a learner at the session under the safeguarding policy, and for under-eighteens parental consent applies as for any session. What they get is the habit of passing it on and a straight run at the Angling Support Assistant course whenever they're ready, sixteen or over. Grant the award once the Diploma is complete, the learner is thirteen or over, and the learner, and for under-eighteens their parent, wants it. If a Junior Assistant is ever effectively supervising, that's your session to fix, not their award to lose.
Each specialism is six criteria and one award, delivered through Specialist Days. There are no part-awards in Clubmate: keep your session note of what's been seen, and grant the award once all six have been shown properly, across as many days as it takes. The Diploma's rules hold here too. Seen on the bank, not claimed in conversation, and a welfare criterion is never averaged out by good technique elsewhere.
The Carp Award Big fish, patient fishing, and welfare standards to match the size of the quarry.
Carp. Safe Rig
A passTies a hair rig on a safe lead arrangement, lead clip or running rig, where the lead ejects under pressure or a lost fish can shed it. Can say why a fixed lead on a snapped line kills fish.
Not yet / watch forA death rig in any form. If the lead can't come free on a crack-off, stop and reteach; that one is welfare, not technique.
Carp. Find the Fish
A passWalks the water first and commits to a swim for stated reasons: shows, fizzing, oily flat spots, a warm wind pushing food, marginal cover. Moves if the water says move.
Not yet / watch forSetting up in the same swim as last time while fish crash elsewhere. Comfort isn't watercraft.
Carp. Bait with a Plan
A passPrepares bait correctly, particles fully soaked and cooked where they need it, and feeds to a plan: a trap built and topped up, not a bed dumped on arrival. Can say what the plan is.
Not yet / watch forUnprepared nuts or pulses anywhere near the water, or half a bucket in on the first cast. Both end the session, for different reasons.
Carp. Hook and Hold
A passSets the clutch before the cast, keeps the rod bent and low when a fish runs for snags, gains line when it's given. Lets the tackle do the tiring.
Not yet / watch forA locked clutch, panic winding against a running fish, or the rod pointed at the water. Any of those on a carp is a lost fish or a broken line with tackle attached.
Carp. Big-Fish Care
A passMat laid and wet, sling and water to hand before fishing starts. Fish carried in the sling, kept low over the mat, checked over and treated where the venue requires it, photographed kneeling, and held upright in the margin until it kicks away strong.
Not yet / watch forA carp on dry grass, held standing, or released before it can hold itself upright. The award is off the table for the day; do the teaching instead.
Carp. Know the Water's Rules
A passStates the venue's carp rules unprompted and the reason behind each one. Fishes inside them without being reminded, and never leaves a rod fishing unattended.
Not yet / watch forRules recited but broken in practice. Knowing isn't the standard, doing is.
The Lure Award Roving, reading water at pace, and predators handled like they matter.
Lure. Armed and Safe
A passTrebles managed all day: lures clipped away when moving, barbs pinched where the venue requires it, unhooking tools on their person rather than in a bag fifty yards away.
Not yet / watch forA lure swinging free off a rod on the move, or trebles worked on by feel with bare fingers.
Lure. Wire On
A passTies or fits a wire trace correctly and refuses to lure-fish pike water without one. Can say what mono does inside a pike.
Not yet / watch for"It's only perch in here." If pike are possible, the trace goes on. This one is binary.
Lure. Cover the Water
A passWorks a swim in a pattern: a fan of casts, a counted sink, retrieve line by line, then moves. Can say what's been covered and what hasn't.
Not yet / watch forTwenty identical casts at the same angle. Hope isn't coverage.
Lure. Change the Retrieve
A passShows at least three retrieves on the day, straight, sink and draw, pause and twitch, and matches them to conditions. Explains what the lure is doing, not just what their hands are doing.
Not yet / watch forOne-speed winding all session. The reel handle isn't the method.
Lure. Predator Care
A passPike controlled on a mat, chin grip taken confidently, hooks out with long forceps, fish upright in the water until it goes. Perch spines flattened in the hand. Time out of water in seconds, not minutes.
Not yet / watch forFear at the net. A learner scared of the fish hurts the fish; build confidence on small ones first.
Lure. Roam with Respect
A passMoves swims without crossing other anglers' lines or water, knows the venue's lure rules and any closed season, leaves each spot as found.
Not yet / watch forCasting across a float that was there first. Mobility earns nothing if it costs someone else their swim.
The Specialist Award One target, chosen and earned. The Thinking Angler grown up.
Specialist. Pick the Target
A passNames a species, a weight and why the venue justifies it: records, sightings, form. The target belongs to the water, not to a wish.
Not yet / watch forA number picked from a magazine. If the water can't produce it, the campaign teaches nothing.
Specialist. Do the Homework
A passArrives with a case: recent captures, the weather and pressure trend, seasonal holding areas, a plan A and a plan B. The research changes where and how they fish.
Not yet / watch forResearch that's just scrolling. If nothing they read moved their peg or their method, it wasn't research.
Specialist. Rig for the Fish
A passRig matched to species and venue with reasons: hook size against bait and mouth, line against snags and clarity, presentation against how the species feeds.
Not yet / watch forThe same rig for barbel as for crucians. If the rig doesn't change with the target, the thinking hasn't started.
Specialist. Play the Long Game
A passKeeps a record across sessions, conditions, spots, feed, outcomes, and can show one decision that record changed.
Not yet / watch forThe same approach after five blanks, or dropping the target instead of reading it. Both are the same failure in different coats.
Specialist. Weigh It Right
A passScales zeroed with the wet sling on, fish supported through the lift, weight read and witnessed, fish back in the water inside the minute. Knows how a club record claim works.
Not yet / watch forA fish hanging on scales by anything but a sling. That photo gets deleted, not celebrated.
Specialist. Specimen Care
A passHandles specimen fish with wet hands and mat discipline, supports the full body weight, gives recovery time in the margin until the fish demands release.
Not yet / watch forRushing recovery for a camera. The fish decides when it's ready, not the photographer.
The Match Award Fishing to the whistle, at speed, without the fish ever paying for it.
Match. Fish to the Whistle
A passDraws, sets up in their own box, starts and stops on the signal, and knows what counts and what doesn't under the day's rules.
Not yet / watch forA rig in the water past the all-out. In a match that isn't enthusiasm, it's a disqualification.
Match. Fast, Not Rushed
A passReady on the whistle with rigs made, plumbed and set: speed that comes from preparation, not panic.
Not yet / watch forSpeed that costs safety or accuracy. Rushed plumbing loses more matches than slow setup ever did.
Match. Feed Two Lines
A passEstablishes and maintains at least two lines, a short line and a far line, feeds both to a plan, and switches between them with a reason.
Not yet / watch forFeeding two lines and fishing one all day. The second line is a decision, not a decoration.
Match. Keepnet Kindness
A passNet set to the venue's rules and sloped into depth, fish placed in gently, numbers watched and split across nets when they demand it.
Not yet / watch forA net half out of the water on a hot day, or fish dropped in from height. Match speed never outranks the fish.
Match. Weigh-In Standard
A passBrings the net in slowly, transfers fish in small batches to the wet weigh sling, returns them supported at the water, and gives the scales team a hand rather than a queue.
Not yet / watch forTipping a full net in one go. It's the last minute of the match and the one the fish remember.
Match. Respect the Row
A passFeeds and fishes inside their own water, calls a hooked fish heading next door, keeps the peg tidy through the match.
Not yet / watch forCasting or feeding across a neighbour's line. Match anglers remember who does that longer than they remember who won.
Keeping it consistent
Criterion-referenced sign-off is only as good as the people doing it. Five things hold the standard together as we grow.
Keep a short note of what you saw for Lone Ranger tier and above. A line is enough. It means a sign-off can be checked later and lets us see where coaches read a badge differently.
New coaches calibrate first. Your first sign-offs at each tier are co-signed or shadowed by a coach educator until your standard matches everyone else's, then you're on your own.
Sign-offs are sampled. A sample is reviewed across coaches and franchises from time to time. This isn't about catching people out, it's about keeping every badge worth the same.
Flag the grey ones. If you and another coach would judge the same performance differently, the descriptor on this page needs tightening. Tell us, and we'll fix the guide rather than leave it to chance.
No signal on the bank changes nothing. Sign off in your session note and badge Clubmate when you're back in range. The note is the record until it lands.
Learners who move between coaches or franchises
Earned badges travel with the learner. The receiving coach takes them as read, watches the next relevant badge, and if the standard looks short, re-checks the most recent badge before carrying on. Anything not yet earned is assessed fresh against this guide. The aim is simple: a learner never loses progress for moving, and the standard never quietly drops because they did.
Reaching every learner
Some learners can't show a badge the standard way. A learner might not speak, might need the task broken down further, or might need longer than the sessions usually allow. None of that changes whether they can be an angler, and none of it changes the Diploma. Hold the outcome, flex the route. What a badge tests stays fixed. How the learner shows it is yours to adapt. That keeps the award honest and keeps it fair: the badge still means the same thing, and nobody is handed a lesser version of it. Start by asking. The learner and their parent or carer usually know what works and what to avoid, so build the adjustment with them rather than deciding it for them.
The duty behind this sits in the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy (4.1, Accessibility and Reasonable Adjustments). This section is how you meet it for the Diploma.
Change the method, not the competency. Talk Me Through It checks that a learner understands their fishing, not that they can say it out loud. A learner who doesn't speak, or doesn't speak easily, can point to a board, use a communication aid, write it down, or show you. You're signing off the understanding either way.
Break a badge into smaller steps. A learner stuck on a whole badge can still bank visible progress on the parts of it. First Cast becomes holds the rod, gets a baited rig to the water with as much help as they want, casts a short way, then casts alone. Each step is something you actually saw, and the learner sees themselves moving. Reach for breaking the task down and showing it before you reach for guiding their hands. Where hands-on help is the right call, it's offered and led by the learner, and the same safeguarding rule applies as anywhere else in a session: ask first, keep it minimal and open, stop when they want you to. That's section 5.1, Physical Contact.
Take the clock off. Not yet already isn't a failure here. For a learner who needs more time, say so straight: there's no expiry and no penalty, and the pace is the point, not a problem. A badge earned slowly is still earned.
Write the adjustment down. When you agree a different route to a badge, record what the learner needs and the equivalent you agreed. The next coach applies the same one, and the learner doesn't have to prove their needs twice.
That last note is the consistency piece. An adjustment kept in one coach's head drifts the moment the learner moves. Written down against this guide, it travels with them the way an earned badge does. The test is the one that runs through the rest of this guide: you're adapting how a learner shows you the thing, never whether they have to show it at all.
One limit, up front. For most learners this is a different route to the same skill. For a few, a badge won't be reachable even adapted, and the right response is a straight conversation with the learner and their family about what they're working towards, agreed openly, rather than a not yet left to sit forever with no way through. Flexing the route is the rule. Implying every badge is always within reach for everyone isn't.
Internal School Of Fish coaching document. Version 1.1, June 2026. Questions or a badge that needs tightening: info@schooloffish.co.uk. Not for public distribution.
