Ranks of the cadet forces of the United Kingdom

The following table displays the ranks of the Community Cadet Forces (Army Cadet Force, the Sea Cadet Corps, and the Air Training Corps), the Combined Cadet Force, the Volunteer Cadet Corps (RMVCC and RNVCC). This table is based on equivalent Rank Structures within the Cadet Forces as detailed in regulations of the SCC, RMC, and the Air Cadets.

Cadet ranks

Cadet NCOs wear the issued cadet rank slides.^[1] The titles of some ranks in the ACF and CCF Army may vary as cadet detachments are affiliated to British Army regiments and adopt their terminology. More senior cadet ranks may be restricted to a set number per area.

Although promotion is based on merit rather than progression through the training syllabuses, certain criteria must be met before a cadet is eligible for promotion:^[2]

Whilst the CCF Regulations provide an equivalency table purely for the CCF, there is no official equivalency between the other cadet forces.

Cadet Service	Cadet Under Officers	Cadet Senior NCOs					Cadet Junior NCOs				Cadets	Recruits
CCF Navy Cadets v t e
	Cadet Under Officer	Warrant Officer Cadet			Chief Petty Officer Cadet	Petty Officer Cadet	Leading Cadet	Able 3* Cadet	Able 2* Cadet	Able 1* Cadet	Naval Cadet	New Naval Entry
	UO	WOCDT			CPOCDT	POCDT	LCDT	A3*CDT	A2*CDT	A1*CDT	NCDT	NNE
CCF Royal Marines Cadets (Part of the CCF RN) v t e												No insignia
	Cadet Under Officer	Cadet Warrant Officer First Class	Cadet Warrant Officer Second Class		Cadet Colour Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet	Recruit
	CDTUO	CDTWO1	CDTWO2		CDTCSGT	CDTSGT	CDTCPL		CDTLCPL		CDT	RCT
Sea Cadets Corps v t e												No insignia
		Petty Officer Cadet			Leading Cadet			Able Cadet	Ordinary Cadet	Cadet 1st Class	Cadet	New Entry
		POC			LC			AC	OC	CFC	CDT	NE
Royal Marines Cadets (Part of the SCC) v t e											No insignia	No insignia
		Cadet Sergeant		Cadet Corporal			Cadet Lance Corporal				Marine Cadet	Marine Cadet Recruit
		CDT SGT		CDT CPL			CDT LCPL				MC	MCR
Royal Navy Volunteer Cadet Corps v t e												No insignia
		Warrant Officer Cadet			Chief Petty Officer Cadet	Petty Officer Cadet	Leading Cadet		Able Cadet		Naval Cadet	New Naval Entry
		WOCDT			CPOCDT	POCDT	LCDT		ACDT		NCDT	NNE
Royal Marine Volunteer Cadet Corps v t e											No insignia	No insignia
		Cadet Warrant Officer First Class	Cadet Warrant Officer Second Class		Cadet Colour Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet	Recruit
		CDTWO1	CDTWO2		CDTCSGT	CDTSGT	CDTCPL		CDTLCPL		CDT	RCT
CCF Army Cadets v t e												No insignia
	Cadet Under Officer	Cadet Regimental Sergeant Major	Cadet Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant	Cadet Company Sergeant Major	Cadet Staff/Colour Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet	Recruit
	Cdt UO	Cdt RSM	Cdt RQMS	Cdt CSM	Cdt SSgt/Cdt CSgt	Cdt Sgt	Cdt Cpl		Cdt LCpl		Cdt	Rct
Army Cadet Force v t e
	Cadet Under Officer	Cadet Regimental Sergeant Major	Cadet Company Sergeant Major		Cadet Staff Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet	Recruit
	Cdt UO	Cdt RSM	Cdt CSM		Cdt SSgt	Cdt Sgt	Cdt Cpl		Cdt LCpl		Cdt	Rct
Cayman Islands Cadet Corps v t e												No insignia
	Cadet Under Officer		Cadet Company Sergeant Major		Cadet Staff Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet	Recruit
	CDTUO		CDTCSM		CDTSSGT	CDTSGT	CDTCPL		CDTLCPL		CDT	RCT
CCF RAF Cadets v t e											No insignia
	Cadet Under Officer (Former rank no longer in use)	Cadet Warrant Officer			Cadet Flight Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet
	CUO	CWO			Cdt FS	Cdt Sgt	Cdt Cpl		Cdt LCpl		Cdt
Air Training Corps v t e											No insignia
		Cadet Warrant Officer			Cadet Flight Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal				Cadet
		CWO			Cdt FS	Cdt Sgt	Cdt Cpl				Cdt

Junior cadets

Junior Sea Cadets Corps v t e
	Leading Junior Cadet	Able Junior Cadet	Junior Cadet First Class	Junior Cadet
	LJC	AJC	JCFC	JC

Cadet force adult volunteer ranks

NCOs / Senior ratings

From 2009 to 2019, if a person joined as a civilian instructor in the Sea Cadets or Royal Marine Cadets and wanted to be a uniformed member of staff, they would become an acting petty officer or sergeant, following a six-month probationary period.

In 2018 the role of sergeant instructor (SI) was introduced for CCF(Army) sections, this is the first occasion that adults other than SSIs have been appointed as an NCO rather than a commissioned rank in the CCF.^[3]

Army	ACF
	CCF
	Title	Regimental Sergeant Major Instructor	Regimental Quartermaster Sergeant Instructor	Sergeant Major Instructor	Staff Sergeant Instructor	Sergeant Instructor	Probationary Sergeant	Probationary Instructor	Civilian Assistant
	Abbr.	RSMI	RQMSI	SMI	SSI	SI	SPI	PI	CA
ATC/CCF (RAF)	Groundcrew							No insignia
	Aircrew
	Title	Warrant Officer/Master aircrew			Flight Sergeant	Sergeant	Acting Sergeant	Civilian Instructor/ Civilian Gliding Instructor
	Abbr.	WO RAFAC/MAcr RAFAC			FS RAFAC	Sgt RAFAC	A/Sgt RAFAC	CI/CGI
SCC
	Title	Warrant Officer Class 1 RNR[note 1]		Warrant Officer Class 2	Chief Petty Officer	Petty Officer	Probationary Petty Officer	Civilian Instructor	Unit Assistant
	Abbr.	WO1 (SCC) RNR		WO2 (SCC) RNR	CPO (SCC)	PO (SCC)	P/PO (SCC)	CI	UA
RMC/CCF (RM)								No insignia
	Title	Warrant Officer Class 1 RMR[note 2]		Warrant Officer Class 2 RMR	Colour Sergeant	Sergeant	Probationary Sergeant	Civilian Instructor
	Abbr.	WO1 (SCC) RMR		WO2 (SCC) RMR	CSgt (SCC)	Sgt (SCC)	P/Sgt (SCC)	CI
CCF (RN)
	Title				Chief Petty Officer (School Staff Instructor)
	Abbr.				CPO (SSI)
GVCAC								No insignia
	Title							Civilian Instructor
	Abbr.							CI

Officers

Formerly, officers in MOD-recognised cadet organisations (SCC, CCF, ACF, VCC) held a highest substantive rank of lieutenant, with more senior ranks being acting ranks.

Since 2017, all cadet officers are now commissioned under a bespoke Cadet Forces Commission (CFC), with all appointments now being substantive. All previous Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve (Training Branch) (RAFVR(T)) officers of the ATC and CCF RAF had their commissions transferred to the new CFC in 2017.^[4][5][6]

Army	ACF
	CCF
	Title	Colonel	Lieutenant Colonel	Major	Captain	Lieutenant	2nd Lieutenant	Adult Under Officer
	Abbr.	Col	Lt Col	Maj	Capt	Lt	2Lt	AUO
ATC/CCF (RAF)
	Title	Group Captain[note 3]	Wing Commander	Squadron Leader	Flight Lieutenant	Flying Officer	Pilot Officer	Acting Pilot Officer
	Abbr.	Gp Capt	Wg Cdr	Sqn Ldr	Flt Lt	Fg Off	Plt Off	APO
CCF (RN) and SCC
	SCC Title	Captain (SCC) RNR[note 4]	Commander (SCC) RNR	Lieutenant Commander (SCC) RNR	Lieutenant (SCC) RNR	Sub Lieutenant (SCC) RNR	Midshipman (SCC) RNR
	CCF Title		Commander (CCF) RNR	Lieutenant Commander (CCF) RNR	Lieutenant (CCF) RNR	Sub Lieutenant (CCF) RNR
	Abbr.	Capt	Cdr	Lt Cdr	Lt	SLt	Mid
RMC/CCF (RM)
	RMC Title		Lieutenant Colonel (CCF) RMR	Major (CCF) RMR	Captain (CCF) RMR	Lieutenant (CCF) RMR	2nd Lieutenant (CCF) RMR
	Abbr.		Lt Col	Maj	Capt	Lt	2Lt

Former cadet organisations

Cadet ranks and insignia of former cadet organisations

Air Defence Cadet Corps v t e		1939-1941 1941
		Cadet Warrant Officer			Cadet Flight Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet
		CDTWO			CDTFSGT	CDTSGT	CDTCPL		CDTLCPL		CDT
Women's Junior Air Corps v t e
					Cadet Unit Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal		Cadet
					CDTUSGT	CDTSGT	CDTCPL		CDTLCPL		CDT
Girls Venture Corps Air Cadets v t e
	Officer Cadet				Cadet Unit Sergeant	Cadet Sergeant	Cadet Corporal		Cadet Lance Corporal	Leading Cadet	Cadet	Recruit
	OFFCDT				CDTUSGT	CDTSGT	CDTCPL		CDTLC	LCDT	CDT	RCT

Welbeck DSFC

Main article: Welbeck DSFC

Epaulettes were worn by students whilst in the college kit, G-Kit, MTP and service uniform. It denoted their academic year and the seniority/position of authority that they held within the college. The college closed in July 2021.

Ranks and Insignia of Welbeck DSFC

Welbeck DSFC CCF Senior College Prefect College Prefect House Prefect Student Royal Navy students British Army students Royal Air Force students title Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Head of College Vice Head of College Deputy Heads of College Head of House Deputy Head of House House Prefect Upper Sixth Student (with College Award) Lower Sixth Student (with College Award) Upper Sixth Student Lower Sixth Student OCdt HoC OCdt VHoC OCdt DHoC OCdt HoH OCdt DHoH OCdt HP OCdt U6CA OCdt L6CA OCdt U6 OCdt L6 Defence Engineering and Science Group students no equivalent Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Officer Cadet Deputy Head of House House Prefect Upper Sixth Student (with College Award) Lower Sixth Student (with College Award) Upper Sixth Student Lower Sixth Student OCdt DHoH OCdt HP OCdt U6CA OCdt L6CA OCdt U6 OCdt L6 Welbeck DSFC CCF Senior College Prefect College Prefect House Prefect Student

See also

Cadet forces

• Combined Cadet Force
• Community Cadet Forces
  • Air Training Corps
  • Army Cadet Force
  • Sea Cadet Corps
  • Royal Marines Cadets
• Volunteer Cadet Corps
  • Royal Marines Volunteer Cadet Corps

International cadet ranks

• Ranks of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps
• Cadet grades and insignia of the Civil Air Patrol
• Cadets Canada Elemental Ranks
• New Zealand Cadet Forces ranks
• Australian Defence Force Cadets ranks
• Royal Belgian Sea Cadet Corps ranks

Ranks of the British Armed Forces

• Royal Navy ratings rank insignia
• Royal Navy officer rank insignia
• British Army other ranks rank insignia
• British Army officer rank insignia
• RAF other ranks
• RAF officer ranks

Notes

1. One per Sea Cadet Corps Area.
2. Promoted to this rank upon taking up the role as Regimental Sergeant Major (One in the Sea Cadets).
3. Group Captain is usually held by FTRS officers in Regional Commandant or HQAC posts. There is currently only one CFAV in the rank, the Senior Volunteer Advisor at HQ Air Cadets.
4. Volunteer Rank does not exist with the Sea Cadet Corps.