To become a firefighter in the UK.

To become a Firefighter in the UK each and every applicant is required to go through a process of National Firefighter tests in the selection procedure. There are many hundreds of men and women who apply for each recruitment drive when one of the Fire and Rescue services is taking applications. Many people apply from out of the area and are prepared to move house to become a fire fighter in an area where jobs are available.
The process to become a Firefighter in a brigade is now standardised and the same for all applicants. The Fire Service does not discriminate against any applicants on any grounds and embraces the Disability Discrimination Act and Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. Now every applicant who is eligible gets a fair and even chance during the process.

To become a Fire Fighter in the UK you need to have a good level of physical fitness and be in generally decent health. Your standard of eyesight and colour perception needs to be good. Although some forms of slight colour blindness are allowed with additional testing.  Applicants also have to be over 18 years old upon starting the job. You can, however,  apply from 17 years and ten months old because of the length of the process to become a Fire Fighter in each area.

The entry and application tests to become a Fire Fighter consist of written tests, practical tests, physical fitness tests, medical and eyesight tests and an interview. You must pass the stage before to move on to the next stage.

The five stages to become a Fire Fighter in the application process  :-

The Fire Service Application Form –  is a very detailed application form. This is judged and measured against the Personal Qualities and Attributes (PQA's)of a Fire Fighter which is a national standard agreed  to be those of a competent Fire Fighter.

The Firefighter Psychological tests – this is a number of written psychometric tests that are completed. They include the National Firefighter questionnaire and three other psychometric tests. A test on working with numbers, one on understanding information, and situational awareness and problem solving test complete this phase.

The Fire Service Fitness Test – this comprises of a number of tests gauging your level of fitness and also a person’s ability to become a Fire Fighter. Being a Fire Fighter is physically demanding and a high level of fitness is required.

The Fire Service Interview - an interview that lasts for approximately an hour. During which the candidate will be asked questions to assess their suitability to become a Fire Fighter. The questions are based upon the PQA's and an assessment is made of the applicants suitability to become a Fire Fighter by scoring their answers against the PQA’s .

The last stage is the Fire Service Medical and Eyesight tests – each applicant who has been successful in all of the preceding stages will undertake a full medical examination by the Occupational Health Department and a doctor.  This is a gauge of an applicant’s medical fitness and also eyesight standard  to carry out the role of Fire Fighter in the UK.
When you have been successful at all of the stages you will be made an offer of conditional employment subject to references being taken up and Criminal Records checks.