From claimed to peer-endorsed.
Trust tiers are commitments, not levels. Each one requires specific, verifiable evidence — you can't buy your way to Expert.
Six tiers. What each means.
Joined and showed up. Signals willingness to engage, not validated competence.
How to reach it
Complete at least one session or assessment.
Actively practicing with positive peer feedback. Sufficient for junior-level roles.
How to reach it
Multiple sessions completed, average rating above 3.5, recent activity within 60 days.
Demonstrable competence with external validation. The first tier that carries meaningful weight with employers.
How to reach it
At least one assessment passed at a non-trivial difficulty, two or more peer endorsements from Proven+ practitioners.
Strong enough to teach. The teaching requirement filters for genuine understanding over pattern matching.
How to reach it
Teaching sessions completed, multiple assessment tiers passed, reliability score above 85%.
Top-tier practitioner. Trusted for high-stakes roles and technical leadership.
How to reach it
Sustained high-reliability record over 90+ days, cross-verified by four or more independent practitioners, active in the last 30 days.
Rare. Genuine mastery with verifiable proof at every layer. Fewer than 2% per skill.
How to reach it
Near-cap scores across all four SCI components, evidence spanning 6+ months, no reliability incidents in the last 90 days.
How each tier is earned.
There are no shortcuts. Each step requires external validation.
Complete sessions consistently
Regular sessions build Practice score. The algorithm rewards sustained effort over cramming. Session frequency matters as much as volume.
Pass assessments at your current level
Assessments at or above your current tier advance your Proof score fastest. One hard pass beats three easy ones.
Teach what you know
Teaching sessions count as both Practice and Proof simultaneously. The fastest path to Expert — and the most revealing test of genuine competence.
Maintain your reliability record
Show up when you say you will. Cancellations and no-shows reduce Reliability, which caps your total SCI and tier ceiling.
Questions about trust tiers.
Yes. Tiers are not permanent. Freshness decay, reliability incidents, and extended inactivity can all reduce your SCI enough to drop a tier. This is by design — tiers should reflect current competence, not past achievement.
Most practitioners reach Proven tier within 60–90 days of regular engagement. The fastest path is teaching sessions combined with passing at least one non-trivial assessment.
Each tier comes with a full audit trail. Employers using the Lemma API can verify every session, assessment, and endorsement that contributed to the tier. The tiers derive their value from the evidence behind them, not from Lemma's assertion.
Authority requires near-cap scores across all four components, which typically means months of consistent high-quality engagement. It is achievable but rare — fewer than 2% of active practitioners per skill hold it.
Start at Newcomer. Earn your way to Authority.
Every tier is earned, not bought. Start with one session.