Indeed, despite what Memory Alpha or other sources might say, the movie itself does not associate Saavik (or any other of the redcollars who wear officer rank) with the designation "Cadet". They may fall under the general category of "trainee", but probably they aren't cadets striving to become officers.
While the Kobayashi Maru test seemed to be a test for Saavik's personality and command style only, there were no doubt many other people being trained on that occasion - possibly everybody else but the people "played" by our officer heroes.
It also seems that an entire shipful of people, or at least an entire bridgeful, were being trained as a unit for service aboard a specific ship; that's how we train astronauts today, although it's not how we train soldiers. This group would have included some cadets (training to become officers), some enlisted trainees (training to become enlisted personnel), and some commissioned officers (training to become higher-ranked commissioned officers with extended command privileges). It seems the first two sub-groups would wear the jumpsuits with red collars, while the last group would wear officer tunics and pants but the red training collar.
Timo Saloniemi
