28 minimum days to pass a candidate

The general law of Freemasonry requires only that a candidate demonstrate "suitable proficiency" in a preceding degree before advancing, rather than setting a universal fixed period of time 1. This requirement for instruction and mastery before advancement dates back to early operative traditions, such as the Thirteenth Article of the Regius Manuscript, which directs a master to teach his apprentice thoroughly 1.

A fixed minimum interval, such as 28 days or four weeks, is a local statutory regulation rather than an ancient landmark 1. The Grand Lodge of England established a local rule requiring an interval of at least four weeks between degrees 1. American jurisdictions such as Massachusetts and South Carolina adopted nearly identical rules requiring a month's interval 2.

Probationary requirements vary significantly across jurisdictions 12. While four weeks or one month became common in English and American Masonry 12, other Grand Lodges enacted longer statutory periods. The Grand Lodge of New Hampshire required Entered Apprentices to work for five months and Fellow Crafts for three months, permitting earlier advancement only at the lodge's discretion if thorough proficiency was demonstrated 2. In Continental Europe, periods were often longer: Grand Lodges in France and Germany established a one-year probation between degrees 1, while the Grand Lodge of Hanover required an Entered Apprentice to remain in that degree for two years and a Fellow Craft for one year 2.

Where Grand Lodges instituted fixed periods of probation, they did so as a safeguard against the practice of hurrying candidates through the degrees before they could comprehend the instruction 12. Regardless of local time requirements, general Masonic law maintains that suitable proficiency—traditionally demonstrated by examination in open lodge—remains the essential qualification for advancement 1.