UK firefighter tests ban calculators. The numbers test is about hose, water and time, worked out by hand

The national firefighter ability tests include a numbers test built on gauges, hose lengths and quantities, and a reading test built on memos and fire safety notices. The numerical and verbal halves of our reasoning test practise exactly those two skills, and services that add mechanical reasoning, as South Yorkshire did in 2025, are covered by our mechanical test.

Our tests have no situational awareness scenarios, no behavioural questionnaire and nothing on the physical or practical tests, which are where many candidates fall out. Our numerical questions also allow more complex arithmetic than the no-calculator firefighter items need, so practise mental sums separately.

The national practice booklets are blunt about one thing: you may not use a calculator for working with numbers. The questions put you in a firefighter scenario and ask for a practical answer, such as how many lengths of hose reach a building, how long a tank of water lasts or what a gauge reads. Prep sites describe about 32 questions in roughly 45 minutes.

None of the arithmetic is advanced. What trips people up is doing three steps quickly and accurately on paper, with units that change halfway through. Practise multiplying and dividing by awkward numbers, converting minutes to hours and litres per minute to totals, and checking each answer against common sense: a hose run of two kilometres for a house fire is a sign you slipped a decimal.

This test hands you the kind of writing firefighters actually read: fire safety guidance, internal memos, newsletters and pages from a training manual. You answer multiple-choice questions on what the text says. Prep sites describe about 25 questions in 30 minutes.

The skill is literal reading. If the memo says crews "should" do something, do not choose an option saying they "must". If it gives a rule with an exception, look for the question that tests the exception. The verbal half of the free test above trains the same discipline, and our verbal reasoning questions page has more.

The third national test gives scenarios a firefighter could face and asks how to keep yourself and others safe and how to use information to solve the problem. Prep providers call it a situational judgement test. Safety of the crew and the public comes first; then following the procedure you were given; then the practical fix.

Some services now open with a behavioural styles questionnaire and a separate situational judgement test before any ability test, much as the police sift does. Answer the questionnaire as you really are and read each judgement scenario for who is at risk. Our situational judgement guide has the general method.

There is no single national campaign. South Yorkshire's June 2025 round ran a questionnaire and judgement test first, then verbal, numerical and mechanical reasoning, then a bleep test and practical testing. Avon's 2025 round finished its online stage with ability tests and held fitness and strength tests separately from the practical physical tests. North Yorkshire describes a strengths-based interview with a scenario-based presentation.

Download the candidate pack the moment the campaign opens. It names the tests, the order and often the dates. Where mechanical reasoning appears, practise with our mechanical aptitude test, since levers, pulleys and pressure are the usual themes.

Written tests are the first gate, but practical tests remove many candidates later. Shropshire lists six job-related tests and says all parts must be passed. Typical tests include climbing a ladder, carrying equipment, working in an enclosed space, assembling equipment and dragging a casualty, though each service sets its own.

Shropshire also warns the whole process can take up to 18 months before you join a watch, and Avon estimates four to eight months. Use the time between stages to build strength and stamina, because a service may call you to the practical tests with only a few weeks of notice.

These come from anonymous reviews, university careers pages and prep guides. They often disagree, and Wholetime firefighter (UK) has not confirmed them. Read them as leads, not rules.

• Prep sites describe the working with numbers test as about 32 questions in roughly 45 minutes, and understanding information as about 25 questions in 30 minutes; services may vary these.
• Candidates on forums report that the practical tests, especially the enclosed space and equipment assembly tasks, are where nerves matter most.
• Prep sites note that some services also use a national firefighter questionnaire about personal qualities alongside the ability tests.