Over their 32-week course, which includes five one-hour Physical Education training sessions a week, the cadets will use most of these facilities. But why so much PEd? Ruairidh Jackson, Deputy Officer Commanding PEd Squadron explains:

“Fitness when training is massively important because it’s about general health too. The training is quite physically and mentally demanding and the fitter the IOTs are, the easier they will find the course. We also prepare them for when they get deployed.”

Cadets will also be expected to:

• Endure strenuous aerobic training such as running and circuit training.
• Complete Battle Physical Training – which means tackling assault courses in full battle kit!
• Take swimming tests – which will see them swimming out to life rafts while wearing their flying suits.

And when the cadets go on to Phase Two, some will hope to go on and become Pilots – which is where the specialist training of Ruairidh and his team really starts to push them:

“We concentrate on core stability work with Pilots and prepare them for fast-jet flying,” he explains. “The core stability work we do with them helps their bodies cope with fast-jet flying and the ‘g-force’ they might experience.”

And if cadets still have any energy left after all this training, there’s plenty of opportunity to compete in team sports, including:

• Sports afternoons where squadrons challenge each other at a variety of sports.
• Intercollegiate games against Sandhurst and Dartmouth – the Army and Navy equivalents of IOTs.
• Internationals against French, German and Dutch air academies.

If you want to know more about the demands of becoming an Officer in the RAF, check out RAF Careers.