The SOF Diploma
Your 25 Badges
The School Of Fish Diploma is twenty-five badges, grouped into five awards you earn in order, with a sixth award beyond them for those who stay to help. This is the whole list, what each badge takes and how to get there, so you always know what you're working towards next.
You earn them on the bank with your coach. Nothing here has to be memorised. It's a map, not a test, and it's the same twenty-five whether you fish in Peterborough, North Staffs, or any School Of Fish water.
Award 1. First Cast Award
I've done it once, with help.1. Kit Check
I've earned it when I can name the main parts of my set-up, the rod, reel, line, hook, float or feeder and net, and say what each one does. I can be prompted.
Get there by having your coach walk you round the tackle once, then saying it back in your own words. You're not learning a manual, just knowing what you're holding.
2. Safe Hands
I've earned it when I handle the rod and hook safely with my coach watching, hook point under control, no swinging tackle near anyone, and a look behind me before every cast.
Get there by making those habits automatic. Hook held or hooked to a rod ring when it isn't in use, and a glance behind you every single time.
3. First Cast
I've earned it when I've got a baited rig into the water myself with my coach guiding me, far enough out and safe. It doesn't have to be pretty.
Get there by running the casting action dry a few times before bait goes on. The point is that you make the cast, even a short messy one.
4. First Bite
I've earned it when I've spotted a bite myself, seen the float go or felt the indication, and reacted, with help.
Get there by keeping your eyes on the float or feeling for the line. At least one bite has to be yours to spot, not called for you.
5. First Fish
I've earned it when I've hooked, played and netted a fish with help, with me on the rod.
Get there by keeping the line tight and letting your coach talk you through it. You don't have to land it unaided, but it's your hands on the rod.
Award 2. Hooked Award
I can do it with a coach standing back.6. Bait Up
I've earned it when I can bait the hook myself with a bait that suits the day, and get bait into my swim, loose feed or feeder, without being told each step.
Get there by learning which bait fits the day and why, then doing the baiting yourself. Dropping it in is the easy part, the choice and the hooking are the skill.
7. Plumb It
I've earned it when I can find the depth and set my float so the bait sits where I meant it to, with my coach watching rather than directing.
Get there by practising plumbing up before you fish. Knowing how deep the water is, and setting the float to match, is what catches more than luck does.
8. Cast to a Spot
I've earned it when I can land the rig near a spot I've picked, a far-bank feature or a feed area, three times in a row. There's a target and reasonable accuracy.
Get there by picking a mark and aiming at it every cast. Accuracy comes from repeating the same line, not from casting as far as you can.
9. Strike & Land
I've earned it when I strike my own bites and play a fish to the net with my coach hands-off.
Get there by trusting your own read of a bite and striking it. Once the fish is on, keep steady pressure and bring it to the net yourself.
10. Unhook & Return
I've earned it when I can unhook a fish with care, a disgorger or forceps where needed, handle it over the mat or in the water with wet hands, and return it properly.
Get there by wetting your hands first, keeping the fish low and over the mat, and using a disgorger when the hook is out of easy reach. Looking after the fish matters as much as catching it.
Award 3. Lone Ranger Award
I set up, fish and pack down on my own.11. Set Up Solo
I've earned it when I can build a working rig end to end, rod to hook, on my own, without step-by-step instruction.
Get there by building your rig from scratch a few times until the order is second nature. Solo means no prompts, so practise the knots until they hold without thinking.
12. Bank Safe
I've earned it when I understand and act on water safety when I fish on my own, footing, depth and slips, weather, buoyancy, and how to help someone without becoming a second casualty: reach or throw, never go in. I know the rod licence rules for my age before I fish alone.
Get there by learning the safe habits and using them, not just reciting them. Know your exits, watch the weather, and never go in after someone, reach or throw instead.
13. Read the Peg
I've earned it when I can look at a swim and say, in my own words, where I'd fish and why, features, depth, wind, and likely holding spots.
Get there by taking a minute to read the water before you set up. The more you fish, the more a peg tells you, so say your plan out loud and test it.
14. Fish a Session
I've earned it when I can fish a full session largely under my own steam, making the ordinary decisions myself, with my coach around but not running it.
Get there by taking charge of a whole session. Make the small calls yourself, when to feed and when to move, and only check in when you're genuinely stuck.
15. Pack Down Clean
I've earned it when I pack away fully and leave the peg as I found it or better, all line and litter removed, bait cleared, no trace.
Get there by clearing everything before you leave, especially line. Leave the swim cleaner than you found it, every time, as a habit and not an afterthought.
Award 4. Thinking Angler Award
I don't just do, I adjust and explain.16. Match the Day
I've earned it when I can pick a sensible approach for the conditions in front of me, water, weather, season and target, and say why that choice fits today, shown on more than one kind of day.
Get there by choosing your method for the day, not out of habit. Read the water and weather first, then pick the approach that suits what's actually in front of you.
17. Change It Up
I've earned it when I make a considered change when it isn't working, depth, bait, spot or method, and explain my thinking, rather than sitting it out.
Get there by changing something on purpose when bites dry up, and watching what happens. The skill is reading why it's slow and acting on it, not random fiddling.
18. Five Species
I've earned it when I've caught five different species over time, across at least two types of water, logged, and I can name them.
Get there by targeting different fish on different waters and keeping a simple log. Learning to tell your species apart is part of becoming a rounded angler.
19. Two Methods
I've earned it when I can fish two genuinely different methods competently, for example float and feeder, or pole and lure.
Get there by getting properly comfortable with a second method, not just a variation of your first. Two real strings to your bow open up far more water.
20. Talk Me Through It
I've earned it when I can talk my coach or another learner through what I'm doing and why, so someone else could actually follow it.
Get there by practising explaining your fishing out loud, the why as well as the what. If you can teach a step, you've understood it, and that's the start of coaching.
Award 5. Graduate Award
I'm part of School Of Fish, not just a learner.21. Your Best Day
I've earned it when I've had a session I planned and carried out that went well on my own terms, a target met, a method cracked, a good day I can account for.
Get there by setting yourself a goal for a session and fishing towards it. A best day is one you made happen and can explain, not one lucky fish.
22. Fishery Aware
I've earned it when I've passed the Fishery Aware check and I understand it, welfare, biosecurity, the basics of how a fishery is run and looked after, and my part in it.
Get there by learning how the water you fish is cared for and why the rules exist. Good anglers look after the fishery, not just their own peg.
23. Kit Confidence
I've earned it when I can choose and set up the right kit for a situation myself, and sort common problems, tangles, hooklength changes, shotting, without help.
Get there by getting to the point where you can rig for a new situation and fix the usual snags on your own. Confidence comes from having done it, not from one familiar set-up.
24. Pass It On
I've earned it when I've genuinely helped a coach with a newer learner, real assisting, showing a beginner something useful.
Get there by spending a session helping someone newer than you. Showing a beginner one thing well is how every coach started, and it's the heart of School Of Fish.
25. Reflect & Recommend
I've earned it when I can look back on my own fishing and say what I'd do differently and what I'd recommend to someone else, with reasoning.
Get there by thinking back over your sessions and being honest about what worked. Being able to say why, and pass on what you'd recommend, is what makes you a thinking angler.
Beyond the Diploma: The SOF Masters
Five awards. Any order, any number, no finish line.Junior Assistant
I've earned it when I've finished the Diploma, I'm thirteen or over, and I want to give something back. As a Junior Assistant I help newer learners at sessions, always side by side with a qualified coach, never on my own and never in charge.
Get there by asking your coach once the Diploma is signed off. You'll support the next angler through the door the way someone once supported you, and when you're ready the Angling Support Assistant course is the next rung.
Four specialisms sit alongside the Junior Assistant: Carp, Lure, Specialist and Match, each earned through Specialist Days. Full criteria live on the diploma page. Ask your coach.
Finished all twenty-five? You've completed the School Of Fish Diploma: you're a School Of Fish Graduate. You've gone from your first cast to helping the next beginner take theirs, and your coach can print your Graduate certificate to mark it.
New to it and wondering where to start? Find your route in.