The Academy is separated in two main groups, undergraduates and graduates: Undergraduates are students who have not passed their four mandatory years of study and practice in which they are taught basics of Pokemon, their handling, battle etiquette and rules, public speaking, and their choice of focused schooling, like breeding, culinary, Contests, and many more. Once the four mandatory years are over a test is held for the students, those that fail have to stay another year, or leave if they have failed too often consecutively. Those that pass are called "1st Year Graduates", they are granted certain privileges, like access to the arena exclusive "Biotopes", Wild Matches and of course the Ranking System of the arena.
The next year, a 1st Year Graduate becomes a 2nd Year Graduate, this keeps going until 6th year at which point a person can either become a private contestant in the arena or becomes staff at the academy, or leaves for good. 2nd Year Graduates are granted access to most facilities except the most advanced ones. From 3rd Year and above even those facilities may be used.
For graduates life is a bit easier then for Undergraduates, they are no longer forced to take and pass classes, the only academic obligation remaining for them is a form of essay they have to present biannually which is not too restrictive, they serve the purpose to keep students focused on their chosen specialization primarily.
Graduates have another Important privilege, and that is the permission to join the various clubs. Clubs are focused groups of people, many focus on a specific Type or mentality in Pokemon, and their struggle among each other has kept the Academy and Arena lively for many years.