I posted this on the other thread as well. Yes, my school also tests students and awards a belt if the student achieves the required score. White belt students are expected to demonstrate that they know the entire 24 short form done in Yang style. Yellow belts are expected to show that same form with arms and legs coordinated and some rotation. Gold belts learn the long, traditional, Yang form. Since I only have one stripe on my gold belt (i.e. I've only learned 1/4 of the traditional form) I can't tell you what else I'll be judged on to get to orange but Green belts get into push hands, purple starts sword, etc. And our "belts" are like Jem's -- they're actually sashes.
Most Taijiquan styles don't use a ranking system, but it does happen. I noticed recently that Yang Zhen Duo's organization in China uses a series of ranks such as "Silver Dragon", etc. I don't know if they use special belts/sashes with it, though.
