Information on RFA Cadet Officer (Deck) course

[Dussack12]

Hi all,

I've recently been looking into joining and the RFA Cadet Officer (Deck) role has caught my interest. I was hoping to ask a few questions and receive a few answers to gain some more insight. I have found some previous threads from several years ago which ask similar questions but would like more updated information.

1. While doing the 3 year cadetship is everything such as food, accommodation and education paid for? Or do we have to pay/contribute for these ourselves? Also, is accommodation shared or does it vary?

2. In regards to pay, on the recruitment page it states "A starting salary of more than £15,000 during training ". Is there any more information on this and does it increase over the 3 years? I've located an RFA pay scale from 2017 but cannot find anything 2019 onward. So any more information this would be appreciated.

3. If there anything you would advise in general to people who want to join?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Branch-Hopper]

@RFA at HMS Raleigh

 

[Deleted 15464]

Hi all,

I've recently been looking into joining and the RFA Cadet Officer (Deck) role has caught my interest. I was hoping to ask a few questions and receive a few answers to gain some more insight. I have found some previous threads from several years ago which ask similar questions but would like more updated information.

1. While doing the 3 year cadetship is everything such as food, accommodation and education paid for? Or do we have to pay/contribute for these ourselves? Also, is accommodation shared or does it vary?

Accommodation/education is paid for. Accommodation is mixed, for exampl at BRNC is shared or individual, then at nautical college you can choose rentable accommodation so you could live by yourself. On ship you will be either single or double cabins depending on how many cadets there are.

2. In regards to pay, on the recruitment page it states "A starting salary of more than £15,000 during training ". Is there any more information on this and does it increase over the 3 years? I've located an RFA pay scale from 2017 but cannot find anything 2019 onward. So any more information this would be appreciated.

Base pay has an annual increment each year you are in going up roughly £1000 per year currently about £15,600 as starting pay. Pay increase backdated to July 2019 recently gone through, but have not seen the latest published table yet.3/O(X) qualifying pay will be about £35,500.

3. If there anything you would advise in general to people who want to join?

I will send you a PM and if want to chat can..

Thanks in advance.

 

[NewCadet]

Hi @RFA at HMS Raleigh that above post is really informative.

Could you clarify what you mean by accomodation/education is paid for? I assume the education part means all course fees and any travel to and from BRNC/colleges/ship is paid for.

However when at college do cadets pay for their accomodation out of their salary? I assumed that is the case however happy to be told otherwise! Are there any contributions that have to be made at BRNC too?

Thank you.

 

[Legendary Fish]

Hi @RFA at HMS Raleigh that above post is really informative.

Could you clarify what you mean by accomodation/education is paid for? I assume the education part means all course fees and any travel to and from BRNC/colleges/ship is paid for.

However when at college do cadets pay for their accomodation out of their salary? I assumed that is the case however happy to be told otherwise! Are there any contributions that have to be made at BRNC too?

Thank you.

I second this, I am looking at the RFA myself and would be curious to know if accommodation (and food) is paid for in addition to the £15,000 p/a starting salary, or we have to pay out of pocket from the salary we are receiving. I am guessing it is paid for at BRNC (or highly subsidised) but is that the case at nautical college?

 

[Random]

As a general principle if the RFA sends you on a training course (for a day or a year) they will cover accommodation costs. Dont expect them to pay for 5* luxury and they will occasionally direct you to use a certain source if you want them to pay (like military accommodation when training on a military base), but it should be adequate for the job.

 

[AceRimmer]

Hi @RFA at HMS Raleigh that above post is really informative.

Could you clarify what you mean by accomodation/education is paid for? I assume the education part means all course fees and any travel to and from BRNC/colleges/ship is paid for.

However when at college do cadets pay for their accomodation out of their salary? I assumed that is the case however happy to be told otherwise! Are there any contributions that have to be made at BRNC too?

Thank you.

From the BRNC point of view, there are some contributions to be made, however these are fairly small and consist of contributions towards daily tea/coffee/biscuits, social and sports facilities and laundry if you don't do it yourself. It's all taken from source when you're paid and you receive a list of what is due.

By far and away the largest 'contribition' for myself and some others in our division was the bar bill (payable a month in arrears)...!

 

[harry_c_111]

Hi @RFA at HMS Raleigh that above post is really informative.

Could you clarify what you mean by accomodation/education is paid for? I assume the education part means all course fees and any travel to and from BRNC/colleges/ship is paid for.

However when at college do cadets pay for their accomodation out of their salary? I assumed that is the case however happy to be told otherwise! Are there any contributions that have to be made at BRNC too?

Thank you.

hi pal not sure if its a bit late but hopefully this is useful for anyone else planning to join.

all education is payed for this includes the course

accommodation will come out of your own pocket however you will be able to claim back £400 a month to go towards this on top of your salary. this is not supposed to cover all of it just to help.

you are able to claim £200 for travel expenses up to 4 times a year i believe

you have a £200 stationary allowance to cover any stationary you might need over your 3 year course.

accomodation on college is whatever you go for. A shared room will be cheaper. depending on which college you go to it is literally just student accomodation as it would be if you were at uni or something simmilar.

fyi for me whos course is at city of glasgow college i have to pay about £500 a month for accomodation (en suite single room)

everyone should be prepared for a very long recruitment process i was in the process for well over a year. everything just seems to move quite slowly.

 

[Seadog]

you have a £200 stationary allowance

everything just seems to move quite slowly.

Sometimes it even stops.

 

[Bluebird79]

You can claim up to £400 a month receipted actuals towards food and accomodation, this is subject to tax and NI etc. It's an allowance to help with accomodation and food during college NOT paying for it in it's entirety. Also, if you're not there a full month you can only claim for the days you ARE there.

Cadet salary increases every year, slightly.