The firefighter recruitment process

• Reside within Avon Fire & Rescue Service area. Please note you will be required to provide evidence of this as part of the recruitment process and ahead of appointment. If you cannot provide us with evidence, then we may not be able to continue with your application.
• Be able to work in the UK without any restrictions. We will require you to provide evidence of this as part of our onboarding process.
• Be aged 18 or over at the start of the training school (on or before 23 June 2025).
• If you hold a full UK driving licence you must have no more than 3 penalty points
• If you do not hold a full UK licence, then you will need to achieve this within your probation period
• If you are eligible to proceed with your application you will be invited to complete the Behavioural Styles Questionnaire

As part of this role, you will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check. This will identify any spent and unspent convictions and cautions, a review of any Police intelligence and barred list.

Some spent and unspent convictions and cautions may preclude you from the role of wholetime or on-call firefighter. Should you have any questions then please contact a member of our Human Resources department: [email protected].

If you do not meet all the criteria, you are not eligible and will not be allowed to proceed with your application. You will be told on-screen when submitting your responses if you are not eligible and why. The criteria are applied strictly and consistently, no exceptions will be made. Therefore, please do not contact us to query the criteria or seek to apply if you do not meet the basic eligibility requirements.

If it is found at a later stage that you do not meet the essential criteria, you will be automatically removed from the process.

All applicants must complete the online registration and eligibility screening stage to formally start your application. This takes less than 15 minutes and must be completed before 9am on Thursday, 9 January 2025. From this time/date the online portal will be closed and no late registrations will be possible under any circumstances. The online registration is accessed by clicking on the registration weblink.

You will need to register your name, address, contact number, email address (all communications will be by email, so it is critical that you use the same email address only and check this throughout the selection process) and National Insurance Number (please ensure you have this available when you register).

As part of the registration you will also be asked to give details relating to equality and diversity which is optional. We encourage you to complete this accurately as it provides us with useful information on the diversity statistics for all applications received.

The online sifting process will be managed on behalf of Avon Fire & Rescue Service by HR Solutions Hub, a professional service who specialise in administering the assessments and tests which make up the online registration and sifting process.

Whilst you are participating in the sifting process, please check your emails daily, including trash/spam folders for instructions as to when and how to access the various stages. We need to adhere to a strict timetable and if you miss an email this is your responsibility and we will not extend deadlines under any circumstances.

Once you have completed the registration and eligibility stage you will be informed on screen whether you have:

• passed and will be contacted to progress or that you have failed and the reason why you have failed
• or that you have been referred to the HR Department of Avon Fire & Rescue Service because we require further information from you before deciding if you are eligible.

These outcomes are clearly explained and final and you do not have the right of appeal.

If you are eligible to apply you will receive an email with a link to the Behavioural Styles Questionnaire. The email will confirm the closing date and time. Please ensure you regularly check your emails, including trash/spam folders making sure you don’t miss the strict deadline. 

This is not a timed assessment and will take you approximately 15 to 20 minutes to complete. You will receive an email to advise if you have passed this stage. If successful, you will then be invited to complete an online Situational Judgement Test. 

Download our Behavioural Styles Applicant Guide (160kB pdf)

On Monday, 13 January 2025 you will receive an email from the Apollo system – [email protected] with a link to access the first stage of the assessment process which is an online Behavioural Styles Questionnaire.

The deadline to complete this questionnaire is 12pm on Thursday, 16 January 2025.

If you do not complete it before this time, you will not be progressed further in the recruitment process. You will be informed whether you have passed or failed this questionnaire by email on Friday, 17 January 2025.

If you have passed you will be progressed to the next assessment which is a Situational Judgement Test. If you have failed, your application will not be considered further.

You will be contacted directly regarding your outcome.  Please do not contact HR for updates.

Situational Judgement Test 

If you pass the Behavioural Styles Questionnaire you will receive an email link to the Situational Judgement Test. Again, please ensure you check your emails so you do not miss out on this opportunity. 

This is not a timed assessment and will take you approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Download our Situational Judgement applicant guide (145kB pdf)

On Monday, 20 January 2025 you will receive an email from the Apollo system – from [email protected] with a link to access the Situational Judgement Test. The deadline to complete this questionnaire is 12pm Thursday, 23 January 2025.

If you do not complete it before this time, you will not be progressed further in the recruitment process. You will be informed whether you have passed or failed this questionnaire by email on Friday, 24 January 2025.

If you have passed you will be progressed to the next assessment which is the Fire Service Ability Tests. If you have failed your application will not be considered further.

You will be contacted directly regarding your outcome.  Please do not contact HR for updates.

On Monday, 27 January 2025 you will receive an email from the Test Partnership system – [email protected] with a link to access the FRS Ability Tests. These are short tests measuring your verbal, numerical and mechanical reasoning.

The deadline to complete them is 12pm Thursday, 30 January 2025. If you do not complete it before this time, you will not be progressed further in the recruitment process.

You will be informed whether you have passed or failed these tests by email on the Friday, 31 January 2025. If you have passed, you will contacted by Avon Fire & Rescue Service within a week to advise you of what they need you to do next. If you have failed your application will not be considered further.

We strongly advise that you complete each stage as soon as possible and do not leave it until the actual deadline.

No extensions to any of the deadlines will be given.

The numerical test comprises of 18 questions and you will have 18 minutes to complete the test. The verbal test comprises of 20 questions and there is a maximum time limit of 15 minutes.

Time extensions will be given for candidates who inform us that they have dyslexia (checks will be made at a later stage of the process to validate this).

If you pass these tests, you will be sent an email with a link to our electronic application form.

You can familiarise yourself with the ability tests by completing the practice tests below. These tests will not be recorded as part of your application.

Follow these links to access the practice tests.

• Verbal practice test
• Numerical practice test
• Mechanical practice test

There are two sections to the application form. In the first section, you will need to provide contact details including your address which we will use to verify your eligibility to apply. It is important that the information you provide is accurate or it may affect your application.

The second section of the form is about you. This is your opportunity to tell us about the skills and experience you would bring to the role; providing examples and evidence to demonstrate how you meet our Service values.

You can prepare for this section by making a start on your personal statement. Starting it now, could help give you more time to capture information which could help with your application.

It is best to present the information in a clear and logical format using headings and bullet points ensuring your skills, experience and evidence appear clearly against each of our Service values.

It’s important you support your statement with evidence and examples throughout. For instance, ‘I work well within a team’ will not help us to assess your skills unless you have provided specific examples of how you have worked well within a team in previous roles.

Candidates who score sufficiently at shortlisting will be invited to demonstrate that they can meet the fitness and strength requirements of the role. This test will comprise of the following two elements:

• Fitness test/run – a 1.5 mile run in timed conditions
• Upper body strength test – a lateral pull-down of between 30kg and 60kg and shoulder press of 30kg

To find out how to prepare, visit practical physical tests.

If you pass the initial fitness test (a 1.5 mile run in timed conditions), you will then proceed to the strength tests (upper body strength tests).

If you score sufficiently, you will be invited to the next stage of the selection process – the physical tests.

You will be able to book the date and either a morning or afternoon session using our online booking system. These tests will be conducted in small group sessions by our training team. The tests will include:

• Ladder climb 
• Ladder lift and extension 
• Crawl through a small tunnel wearing breathing apparatus 
• Dummy drag 
• Equipment carry 
• Equipment assembly test 
• To find out how to prepare, visit practical physical tests.

These tests replicate the type of tasks you would be expected to undertake on the training school and within the role of a firefighter. They are designed to test practical ability and the ability to follow instructions. Some of the tests are conducted to set time constraints. All tests must be passed to move forward to the next stage of the process. You will not be advised of the results on the day. The HR team will email you to advise if you have passed or failed these tests.

Your interview will be conducted by a panel of two members of our staff. You will be able to book the date and time slot for your interview via our online booking system. The link to this will be sent to you.

The interview panel will endeavour to help you relax and enable you to perform to the best of your ability. They will ask a range of questions to obtain as much information within the hour as possible.

This is your opportunity to provide further details, examples and evidence of your skills, experience and values and how these make you one of the best candidates for the role. You will also be expected to know about the role of a firefighter and Avon Fire & Rescue Service. It is recommended that you familiarise yourself with our website, attend recruitment events and learn all about the work we do. This will assist you at the interview stage.

If you meet the set pass mark, we will advise you by email and you will progress to the next stage. We will not advise you of your interview score. This will be used at the end of the process to select the best performing candidates for the limited number of places available on the training course.

We will also assess any criminal conviction declarations made by candidates at the start of the process at this stage.

The top scoring candidates will be invited to attend a medical with our Occupational Health (OH) nurse. You must pass the medical. If there are any medical queries these will be escalated to our OH doctor. Their decision is final. If further medical advice is required to confirm your medical fitness for the role, this may prevent a job offer being made as we must confirm job offers quickly in order to complete the final stages of checks and uniform fittings in time for the training school start date.

If you are aware of a medical condition which may require further evidence you must contact your GP/Specialist to obtain this as early as possible. Any delays at this stage could affect our ability to offer you a post.

All job offers are made on a conditional basis, subject to receipt of satisfactory references and other pre-employment checks.

Visit our FAQs pagege for answers to common questions around our recruitment process including those regarding health conditions and requirements.