For instructors: filing a promotion recommendation

When a student is ready to move up, you file a promotion recommendation. The head instructor reviews and approves. The system handles the rest.

When to recommend

Each rank has a curriculum and a minimum number of classes. When a student is close, their profile shows a "Ready for promotion?" badge.

Look at their:

• Attendance count. Have they met the minimum?
• Curriculum mastery. Are they doing the techniques well in class?
• Attitude. Are they showing up consistently and respecting others?

If all three are yes, recommend.

How to recommend

1. Open the student profile from your attendance roster or the student list.
2. Tap Recommend promotion.
3. Pick the target rank or stripe.
4. Add a short note about why you think they are ready (a few sentences are plenty).
5. Submit.

The recommendation lands in the head instructor's queue at /promotions. You will see your pending recommendations in your own dashboard so you can track them.

What the head instructor does

The head instructor:

• Approves the recommendation, and the promotion goes through. Family is notified. Certificate is generated.
• Declines with a note, and the student stays at the current rank. You see the note so you understand why.
• Sends back with a comment, asking for more information. You can update and resubmit.

Most recommendations are approved. The system exists so high-rank promotions get a second set of eyes, not to block them.

What the student and family see

• On approval: an email and push notification, with a downloadable certificate.
• On decline: nothing visible to the family. The student stays at the current rank, and only you and the head instructor see the decline.

This is intentional. Families should not see "your child was not approved" because they did not see the recommendation either. The whole process is internal until it succeeds.

Recommending stripes vs. full belt

• Stripes are mid-rank rewards. Most styles award them for things like "knows all the forms" or "completed sparring training." Recommend a stripe on the student's profile by tapping Award stripe. Stripes usually go through faster (some schools auto-approve instructor stripe awards).
• Belt or rank changes are bigger. Always recommend, never auto-promote. Belt changes usually require a rank test or a formal evaluation.

Batch recommendations

If you are recommending a group of students at once (after a class where everyone tested), batch the recommendations:

1. Go to /promotions/recommend.
2. Pick the rank or stripe.
3. Check the students.
4. Submit one batch.

This is faster than doing each separately.

Reversing a recommendation

If you filed a recommendation by mistake (wrong student, wrong rank), open the pending recommendation from your dashboard and tap Withdraw. It is removed from the head instructor's queue without anyone else seeing.