Sea Cadets (United Kingdom)

For 10 to 12-year-olds, Junior Cadets have their own training programme and uniform, based around a more practical version of the Sea Cadets training programme. When Junior Sea Cadets turn 11 years and 10 months, they can move up to being a New Entry to learn the New Entry courses, before moving up to become a Sea Cadet. In 2019, the Sea Cadets launched a pilot programme to trial lowering the Junior Cadet intake age to 9 year olds.

For 12 to 17 year olds, young people can join as a Sea Cadet and work their way up through the training programme. When cadets turn 18, they can either leave the Corps or they can stay on as staff.

For 13 to 18 year olds, the SCC has detachments of Royal Marines Cadets. They follow a more infantry based syllabus including fieldcraft; section battle drills, fire and manoeuvre and general patrolling including reconnaissance missions, ambush and fighting patrols. Other Royal Marines Cadets exist in the Volunteer Cadet Corps and Combined Cadet Force.

Sea Cadets training on HMS Undine, 1943

Sea Cadets practice semaphore during signalling class, 1943

Sea Cadets, Stonehaven

The Headquarters of Sea Cadets are in South London at 202 Lambeth Road, SE1 7JW. It is made up of a variety of different departments, including:

• Fundraising
• Safeguarding
• Finance
• Training
• Communications
• Events

Sea Cadets, Fishguard

The country is divided into six areas, which are:

• Eastern (including Malta)
• Northern (including Northern Ireland and Bermuda)
• Southern (including the Channel Islands & Falkland Islands)
• North West (including the Isle of Man)
• London
• South West

Each area is run by an Area Officer (AO) with a small team of support staff.

Each area is subdivided into districts of between five and twelve units which are led by volunteers.

Each unit is led by a Commanding Officer (CO) or Officer-in-Charge (OiC). Some units also have a Royal Marines Cadets Detachment, headed by a detachment commander (DC).

Volunteers fulfil roles such as watersports instructors, fundraisers, administrative staff, etc. Sea Cadets has both uniformed adult volunteers and non-uniformed adult volunteers.[7]

Cadets follow the Cadet Training Programme (CTP) which covers various water based activities and skills as well as first aid and leadership. Royal Marine Cadets also complete the CTP but have additional elements such as campcraft amongst others.

When you become the rating of Able Cadet (AC) you start a new syllabus called the LDP (Leadership and Development Programme). This is to perfect you leadership skills and teaching skills, this will also help if cadets are looking to become members of staff.

Skills learned in a cadet's time in the SCC usually fall into one of two categories - Specialisations and Proficiencies. Specialisations are often larger subjects than proficiencies, and so are split into three levels; Basic, Intermediate and Advanced, each level increasing in difficulty building on the knowledge gained from the prior levels. Basic specialisations are often gained at the unit during regular training, while Intermediate and Advanced awards are held on an Area or National basis. Proficiencies do not usually have a levelling system, though some subjects such as Piping do contain a Basic/Intermediate level.

Some specialisations, such as Marine Engineering, are also divided into disciplines such as Electrical and Mechanical engineering.

All of the following are on offer to cadets, either at the unit or on district/area/national courses.

Cadets may also work towards recognised qualifications including, Duke of Edinburgh's Award and BTEC qualifications. The BTECs are offered by CVQO, and include Teamwork and Personal Development in the Community (formerly Public Service), Music, and Engineering.

Many qualifications are run by the Sea Cadets but regulated by external bodies. In these cases, cadets earn independent qualifications that are recognised outside the Corps. These include Paddlesport, where they can gain PaddlePower or Star Awards through British Canoeing (formerly known as BCU), First Aid, where they can earn St John Ambulance First Aid certifications, Rowing, where they can earn British Rowing (BR) qualifications and Powerboating/Sailing/Windsurfing/Navigation where they can gain Royal Yachting Association (RYA) qualifications. National courses are also held, often on Royal Navy bases, to teach skills such as leadership and teamwork. Specialist qualification courses include power boating in Scotland, cooking in Preston, and fire fighting in Cornwall. There are competitions at varying levels in many of the sports, proficiencies, and specializations of the SCC. Competitions start at a District level and progress through to National level.

From New Entry through to Able Cadet, Sea Cadets are promoted based on their completion of various task-based modules under the CTP - Cadet Training Programme. Leading Cadets and Petty Officer Cadets are required to attend and pass a promotion board (held at area or national level) before being promoted.

The ranks of Marine Cadet 2nd Class (MC2) and Marine Cadet 1st Class (MC1) were phased out at the end of 2018.

All Royal Marines Cadets are required to complete boards for each promotion. The higher the board the higher the level the board is run at. The former promotions from Marine Cadet to Marine Cadet 2nd Class and to Marine Cadet 1st Class were run at detachment level. Marine Cadet to Lance Corporal boards are at troop or company level, Lance Corporal to Corporal boards are at company level, and Corporal to Sergeant boards are at a national level. All promotions boards have multiple sections all of which must be passed individually.

UK cadets	Officers	Cadet senior NCOs	Cadet junior NCOs	Cadets	Recruits
	CDT 8	CDT 7	CDT 6		CDT 5	CDT 4	CDT 3		CDT 2		CDT 1	CDT (R)
Sea Cadets Corps	No equivalent		No equivalent			No equivalent						No insignia
		Petty Officer Cadet			Leading Cadet		Able Cadet		Ordinary Cadet	Cadet 1st Class	Cadet	New Entry
		POC			LC		AC		OC	CFC	CDT	NE
UK cadets	Officers	Cadet senior NCOs	Cadet junior NCOs	Cadets	Recruits
	CDT 8	CDT 7	CDT 6		CDT 5	CDT 4	CDT 3		CDT 2		CDT 1	CDT (R)
Royal Marine Cadets (Part of the SCC)	No equivalent		No equivalent			No equivalent			No insignia		No insignia	No insignia
		Cadet Sergeant			Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Marine Cadet 1		Marine Cadet 2	Recruit
		CDTSGT			CPL		L/CPL				MCR

At the discretion of the commanding officer of a unit, or district officer, a cadet may be awarded an acting rate if they have completed the majority of the modules required for promotion, or received a partial pass on their promotion board, for example Acting Leading Cadet (ALC), or Acting Petty Officer Cadet (APOC).

The following rates and ranks can be awarded to uniformed adult volunteers, there are also Non uniformed Civilian Instructors (CIs) and Unit Assistants (UAs). From 2009 to 2019, if a person joined as a Civilian Instructor and wanted to be a uniformed member of staff, they would become an Acting Petty Officer or Sergeant, following a 6 month probationary period. From 2020, an adult can join as a uniformed member of staff as a probationary Petty Officer or Sergeant on completion of their application process.

Sea Cadet Unit Officers (NCOs)	Rank Slide	Royal Marine Unit Officers (NCOs)	Rank Slide
Civilian Instructor		Civilian Instructor	No Rank Slide or
Probationary Petty Officer		Probationary Sergeant
Petty Officer		Sergeant
Chief Petty Officer		Colour Sergeant
Warrant Officer 2 (SCC) RNR		Warrant Officer 2nd Class (SCC) RMR
Warrant Officer 1 (SCC) RNR		Warrant Officer 1st Class (SCC) RMR

Officers are commissioned under the Cadet Forces Commission.[8]

Midshipman in the Sea Cadets formerly used the insignia for Midshipman in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.

Sea Cadet Corps officers	Insignia	Royal Marine Cadet Corps officers	Insignia
Midshipman (SCC) RNR		Second Lieutenant (SCC) RMR
Sub-Lieutenant (SCC) RNR		Lieutenant (SCC) RMR
Lieutenant (SCC) RNR		Captain (SCC) RMR
Lieutenant Commander (SCC) RNR		Major (SCC) RMR
Commander (SCC) RNR		Lieutenant Colonel (SCC) RMR
Captain (SCC) RNR

Another rank is Chaplain, they also commission under the Cadet Forces Commission.

Rank	Insignia
Chaplain (SCC)

TS Royalist, the Sea Cadet flagship, is a tall ship owned by the MSSC. She is used to provide week-long training courses for Sea Cadets and Royal Marines Cadets. The ship was launched in 2014 to replace the previous TS Royalist, which was over 40 years old when decommissioned. In 2013 there had been an appeal to replace the ageing flagship: £250,000 was needed this target was achieved in April 2013.[9]

She is rigged as a 34m brig,[10] with a sail area of 536 square metres (641 sq yd). Her draught is 3.25 metres (10 ft 8 in).[11] The ship's hull is of high tensile steel, with her superstructure of glass reinforced plastic. She has a crew of eight, plus up to 24 Cadets and two adult trainees. Twelve passengers can also be carried.[12]

TS City of London and TS Sir Stelios are the Sea Cadets' new (2017 and 2018 respectively) Rustler 42 yachts which have replaced the Tradewinds 35s TS Vigilant and TS City Liveryman. They are both Rustler 42 yachts and provide nationally-recognised RYA training for those wishing to gain qualifications and experience yacht sailing.

These two vessels are the cadets' offshore powered training-ship. They are 24 m (78 ft 9 in) long and each cost about £2.6m. TS Jack Petchey is so named because the Jack Petchey Foundation donated £1m in order for it to be built. The Jerwood Foundation donated £1,216,700 for the construction of TS John Jerwood. The training ships can hold between 12-16 cadets, four permanent staff and two CFAVs and provides an experience at sea focussing on deck work, navigation, bridge watchkeeping, cook/steward and marine engineering. Each vessel is fitted with twin Perkins Sabre Type M215C Turbo Diesel main engines, each giving 200 shp (150 kW) at 2,500 rpm.[13]

The Trinity 500 is a stable fixed seat rowing boat, purpose built for the Sea Cadets to deliver the full SCC Rowing Scheme. The boat has also been approved by British Rowing, to allow for the delivery of their Explore Rowing Scheme. The boat was designed by Jo Richards, Olympic medallist and designer of a wide range of craft, in response to the requirement of the Sea Cadets for a modern, low maintenance, purpose-designed fixed seat rowing boat with good performance under oars and with the capacity to mount a small outboard motor. The Trinity 500 is named to mark the quincentenary of the incorporation of Trinity House, the statutory authority for aids to navigation in England, Wales, The Channel Islands and Gibraltar. The Trinity House Maritime Charity, a separately funded arm of the Corporation of Trinity House generously funded the design and development costs of the boat.

In a partnership between RS Sailing and the Sea Cadets, a new dinghy known as the RS Quest was designed by Jo Richards, who is also responsible for formulating the design for the Trinity 500 rowing vessel. The RS Quest was designed to accommodate the need for a new sailing dinghy within the SCC that is strong and easy to maintain which is capable of comfortably accommodating an instructor and up to three cadets. The RS Quest was unveiled at the Southampton Boat Show in 2015.

• Continuing the partnership between MSSC and RS Sailing, the single sail RS Zest dinghy was launched at the 2017 Southampton Boat Show. It is intended for a crew of two, but can be sailed single-handed. It is aimed at benefiting units with limited access to water, as RS Zest can operate in shallower water than the RS Quest.