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Whats involved?

Phases of Training

During your Cadetship you will spend 3 of the 5 phases at college completing the academic portion of your training. In order to qualify as an officer you need gain a minimum of a HNC (Advanced Certificate) and this will be studied at your chosen college. We will always try to accommodate you at the college of your choice. It is important that you consider which is the right college for you as you are going to be there for almost half of your Cadetship.

All of the UK Nautical College’s hold regular open days that will allow you to visit and see the facilities they have as well as meet some of the teaching staff and see the Halls of Residence. Go to our events page to see the latest dates.

No matter which college, course or discipline you choose, you will follow a 5 phase program. The below will give you an idea of what each phase will contain:

Phase 1	College	You will start your academic qualification, learning a verity of new subjects that will be needed through out training. You will also complete your basic STCW training, this will include Personal Survival Techniques and Fire Fighting.
Phase 2	Sea	You will join your first vessel and start working on your MNTB Training Record Book, we aim to complete 4 months sea time in phase 2.
Phase 3	College	This will be your longest College phase, where the majority of your academic subjects will be completed. You will also complete some additional STCW courses this phase including Medical First Aid.
Phase 4	Sea	Sea time will be completed during this phase as well as your MNTB Training Record Book.
Phase 5	College	Completion of all academics. You will also work towards sitting your final MCA exams to gain your CoC and complete all required STCW courses need to be an Officer, including Advanced Fire Fighting.

If you are not sure which College you would like to go to, please get in touch with one our Team to discuss.

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6 Leading UK Nautical Colleges

Scottish Maritime Academy

SMA is sited above the commercial harbor of Peterhead offering its Deck Cadets a unique view of port operations whilst studying.

Visit SMA

University of the Highlands & Islands

UHI Scalloway is based on west coast of Shetland offering Deck and Engine Courses in smaller class sizes.

Visit UHI

City of Glasgow College

COGC Riverside Campus is in the heart of Glasgow. This campus was built to house modern Engine Room workshops and bridge simulators. Offering a range of Deck, Engine & ETO courses.

Visit COGC

Fleetwood Nautical Campus

FNC is a purely nautical campus, offering a range of Deck, Engine and ETO courses up to Degree level. This campus offers cutting edge facilities for Cadets.

Visit FNC

South Shields Marine School

SSMS in the heart of South Shields offers cadets access to world class facilities including advanced simulator suites and large engineering workshops.

Visit SSMS

Warsash Maritime School

WMS part of Solent University offers Deck, Engine and ETO courses up to degree level. With state of the art simulators and a new workshop as well as access to all of the university facilities.

Visit WMS

Pre-Cadetship

If you are not quite ready or don’t have all the necessary qualifications to start a Cadetship, then you may be able to enroll on a Pre-Cadetship course at one of the Nautical Colleges. These one year courses are designed to prepare someone seeking sponsorship with Stream Marine Careers, who doesn’t yet have the pre-requisites.

The course will give you an insight in to the Maritime Industry, successful completion of the course will allow you to then seek sponsorship.

Colleges currently offering this course are:

City of Glasgow College
South Shields Marine School
Brockenhurst College
Fleetwood Nautical College
UHI Shetland – Scalloway Campus

Please note – You must apply directly to the colleges for these courses, SMC do not have any say in selection nor can we sponsor pre-cadets.

College FAQ's

No, your tuition fee’s and short course fee’s will be paid for by your Sponsoring Company.

No, if you are successful and accept a Cadetship with SMC we will enroll you in to your chosen College.

Occasionally the College you have chosen won’t be running the course that is best suited to you. In this case SMC will discuss your options with you to help you make an informed choice about options.