What is Cadet Portal?

Cadet Portal is a secure, MOD accredited and authorised platform for the RAF Air Cadets and enables units to publish information directly to cadets. Cadet Portal was deployed to the whole of the ATC between November 2019 and January 2020.

Cadet Portal provides cadets with up-to-date and accurate information about how you can get the most out of being an Air Cadet; you can use it to:

  • Access information on the events your Squadron/Detached Flight are running, sign up for events, download event attachments like Joining Instructions and equipment lists directly from Cadet Portal which volunteer and permanent staff make available to cadets.

  • Update your personal details like your name, email address, telephone numbers, home address and upload your own profile photo.

  • Track all your badges, qualifications, awards, achievements and promotions.

  • Find out how you can achieve the next Progressive Training Syllabus badge.

  • Submit absence statements direct to your unit so you can let them know when you cannot attend.

  • View a digital representation of your brassard so you can see where to put the badges you have achieved.

  • Access drill and uniform information including the dress regulations and the drill manual.

  • Access welfare and support information which explains what you can do if you have a problem in the Air Cadets. You can also access personal security information about how to keep yourself safe

How do I get access to Cadet Portal?

Your Cadet Portal user account is automatically created when you join the RAF Air Cadets after you have handed in the consent forms your parents/guardians have signed.

It is important that you include your email address, mobile telephone and landline telephone numbers on your joining forms so so we can issue your new Cadet Portal account. If you have not passed that information to your unit, you will not receive a Cadet Portal account!

Your Cadet Portal user account welcome email will be sent to the email address you provided in your joining paperwork. If you haven't received your user account, speak to your unit adult staff who can check your records and resend the welcome email.

What happens when I login to Cadet Portal for the first time?

Your welcome email will include your username for Cadet Portal and a web address.

Your username will formatted as your Cadet Identification Number (CIN)@rafac.mod.gov.uk (from 24th August 2020) e.g. 0612340017023@rafac.mod.gov.uk.

Note: Your username looks like an email address, but it is not - it is simply the username for Cadet Portal.

When you click the link in the welcome email, you will be required to authenticate your account through a standard Microsoft Self Service Password Reset. You will need to enter your Cadet Portal username (cin@rafac.mod.gov.uk) and then send a code to a secondary authentication method e.g. mobile phone, email address or landline telephone number. You will then need to enter the code that is sent to you.

Once you have done this, you will then be logged into Cadet Portal. You only have to go through multi-factor authentication once when you are setting up your new Cadet Portal account.

When you login for the first time, you will be asked to agree to the Cadet Portal Bader Security Operating Instructions (SyOps) and the ATC Cadet Code of Conduct. If you refuse to accept this, you will not be permitted to access Cadet Portal. You will also be asked to accept this agreement every six months.

By agreeing to the SyOps and ATC Cadet Code of Conduct, you are agreeing to comply with the RAF Air Cadets security arrangements for Cadet Portal (like not sharing your password) and the RAF Air Cadets expectations of your behaviour while you are a cadet.

How do I change my Cadet Portal password?

You can change your password from https://cadets.bader.mod.uk and by clicking ‘Sign In’ and then ‘Forgot my password’. You can then follow the on-screen prompts to change your password and login.

You can also change your password from within Cadet Portal by clicking the profile menu and then ‘Change Password’.

How do I update my record?

The information displayed in Cadet Portal is based on your central record from the Cadet Forces Management Information System. You cannot directly change your achievements, badges, awards and promotions - your adult volunteer staff will make those changes to your central record and these changes will then be reflected in Cadet Portal.

If you have completed a course or qualification recently but that is not reflected in your record, you should speak to your unit adult volunteer staff in the first instance and they will update you with when the information will be added to your central record.

You can change your personal details like your name, address and phone numbers through the profile menu and ‘My Profile’. Any changes that you make in Cadet Portal will be pushed back to your central record held on the Cadet Forces Management Information System.

How is information about events and activities shared through Cadet Portal?

Your unit adult staff are required to record all of the events and activities they are providing to you on the Cadet Forces Management Information System. Once they create an event, they can share it with you through Cadet Portal so you can interact with it. The latest events that have been added will be available on your dashboard when you login and you can see a full list by navigating to ‘Events’ from the main menu and then ‘Upcoming Events’.

You can then interact with the event and bid for a place (for events that have limited availability - we can’t offer places for all cadets on every single event) or add your name to events that have no limits on the number of cadets that attend. On each events page, you will see overview information and access to any attachments the adult volunteer staff have made available to you like Joining Instructions or equipment lists.

When you interact with an event, for instance by bidding for a place, that information is passed back to the Cadet Forces Management Information System automatically - so the adult volunteer staff that you have bid for a place.

Will Cadet Portal send me emails?

Yes.

Each time you interact with an event to add or remove your name or when a member of adult volunteer staff changes your status for that event, you will receive an email to tell you that.

Can I opt out of these emails from the RAF Air Cadets?

No.

All of the emails that you receive from us are important for your membership of the RAF Air Cadets and relate to your attendance at your events, security, personal security and safeguarding.- We consider these emails to be transactional and this is an acceptable stance under the Data Protection Act (2018).- For instance, large online shopping retailers do not allow you to opt out of receiving an email when you purchase something from them and our approach is similar.

What event emails will I receive?

You will receive automated emails from cadet.portal@notifications.service.gov.uk which are from Cadet Portal on the following occasions:

  • When you first join the RAF Air Cadets and we will send you a Cadet Portal welcome email

  • When you withdraw from an event

  • When you are selected for an event

  • When you are selected as a reserve for an event

  • When an event is cancelled, and we want to tell you that

  • When you have not been selected for an event

  • When you are bidding for a place for an event

Each email will contain the name/identification of the event, where it is taking place and the dates and times of the event.- The email will also include a hyperlink to the event itself on Cadet Portal.

From time-to-time, you will receive additional emails which we consider to be important to your membership of the RAF Air Cadets.

How does the RAF Air Cadets protect my data?

We take the protection of cadets (and their parents/guardians) data incredibly seriously.- Cadet Portal is authorised and accredited by the Royal Air Force and the Ministry of Defence and is operated in line with the requirements of the Data Protection Act (2018) and EU General Data Protection Regulations (EU GDPR).-

Further information about how we manage your data is available in the RAF Air Cadets Information Management Directive and the Cadet Data Privacy Notice.

Can my parents/guardians have access to Cadet Portal?

No.

The Ministry of Defence does not allow us to give parents/guardians of cadets access to Cadet Portal.- However, you should show them Cadet Portal so they understand how you access information and sign up for events and activities.

What is Ultilearn?

Ultilearn is the online learning management system that you will use to access learning material and take your assessments when completing our academic Progress Training Syllabus.

Through Ultilearn, you have access to a range of syllabus training material -and assessments as well as some of the mandatory safety training materials.

To complete an assessment on Ultilearn, your unit will need to have assigned you to the correct assessment group, so if you have any questions, speak to your unit adult volunteers who will help you.

If you are unable to login to Ultilearn because you have forgotten your password, you can click ‘Forgot your password?’ from https://learning.bader.mod.uk and a new password will be sent to your unit commander. They will then give you the new password to use.

In the future, you will only need one username/password for both Cadet Portal and Ultilearn and we will communicate with you when that becomes available.