Which firefighter written test will I take?

There is no national firefighter written exam, and almost every question a candidate asks about “the firefighter test” has a different answer depending on which of four products their department bought. This page sets the four side by side, using only what each publisher prints, and says how to find out which one is yours — a question that takes one phone call and saves a month of preparing for the wrong shape.

The four tests

These cover most entry-level firefighter hiring in the United States. Only one of them publishes its full structure to candidates, and it is also the only one that gives away a study guide.

TestPublisherWhat is published
FCTC Written TestCal-JAC, administered by the Firefighter Candidate Testing Center100 questions in 2 hours, after a separate 30-minute essay reading period. Four sections: 20 video recall, 25 mechanical reasoning, 20 maths, 35 recall and comprehension of written material.
NFST, FACT and CEBFire and Police Selection, Inc.No question count and no time limit published. The NFST measures reading ability, mathematical reasoning, map reading, writing ability, human relations and reasoning skills.
NFSII/O Solutions155 questions in 2.5 hours: 105 cognitive, and 50 behavioural items measuring firefighter orientation, stress tolerance, team orientation and motivation, which have no right answers.
FireTEAMErgometrics, sat at National Testing Network centresVideo-based, with mechanical, maths, reading and human relations components. The publisher sells its own practice material.

From each publisher’s own pages and documents, read 3 September 2026. Where a cell says nothing is published, that is the finding rather than a gap in this table.

How to find out which is yours: the job announcement usually names the test or the testing centre. If it does not, the department’s recruitment or HR contact will tell you — FPSI’s own advice to candidates is to check before ordering any prep, because its guides are test-specific.

What they have in common

Three things run through all four, which is why practice transfers even before you know which test you are sitting. Reading and understanding written material of the kind the job produces — policy, procedure, equipment instructions, reports. Arithmetic in practical units: areas, volumes, rates, percentages, ratios and angles. And mechanical reasoning: gears, pulleys, levers, block and tackle, and pressure.

Most also include a judgment or human-relations component, and two of them — FCTC and FireTEAM — use video, which is the part no written page can practise. What differs is the proportions, the clock and the order.

The FCTC test is the best-documented, and the guide is free

If you are testing in California, you have an advantage candidates elsewhere do not: Cal-JAC publishes a free 25-page study guide for the written test. It prints the four section counts, explains the essay reading period, and teaches the mechanical section properly — gear direction, pulley ratios, block and tackle advantage, the three lever classes, head pressure — with diagrams and worked answers.

That guide is free. What FCTC charges for is a 100-question online practice test built from past exam questions ($25), an online prep course ($25) and an in-person class ($25). Its own materials are the only ones it authorises, and it publishes a warning that outside vendors claiming to help with the FCTC written test have no affiliation with it. This site is one of those outside sources, which is why it links the guide rather than paraphrasing it.

The reading section has a feature almost no other test has: some essays are handed out for 30 minutes, annotated, then collected, and the questions are answered from memory. Answers must come from the essays rather than from prior knowledge, schooling or academies.

What none of them publishes

  • A passing score. Departments set their own, and many rank candidates rather than passing them. FCTC adds a score to the candidate’s record and departments draw from that list.
  • A per-question time limit. FCTC’s guide says outright that the test is timed but is not a speed test.
  • Any guidance that guessing is penalised. Nothing in this category publishes a wrong-answer penalty, so a blank and a wrong answer are worth the same and nothing should be left empty.
  • What the video items will show. Both video-based tests play their segments once, and note-taking is not allowed on the FCTC videos.

The CPAT is a separate hurdle

The Candidate Physical Ability Test is not part of any written exam. It is eight events on a closed course inside 10 minutes 20 seconds, wearing a helmet, gloves and a 50-lb weighted vest, with an extra 25 lb for the stair climb. It is scored pass or fail, and failing any component fails the whole test.

It is booked separately and, where Cal-JAC administers it, the fee includes two orientation sessions at which candidates handle the equipment. There is a free preparation guide, and full-scale timed practice runs are available for a fee. No website can practise it, and any that claims to is selling something else.

Now find out what the clock does to you.

A full-length timed run, free, with a score by section and an explanation for every question afterwards.

Take a timed test

Frequently asked

How do I find out which firefighter test my department uses?
The job announcement is the first place to look — it usually names the test or the testing centre. If not, ask the department’s recruitment or HR contact directly. It is a routine question and the answer decides what you should be practising.
Is the firefighter test the same in every state?
No. California hiring runs largely on the Cal-JAC test through FCTC; elsewhere departments buy from FPSI, I/O Solutions or Ergometrics, or run their own. The skills overlap heavily but the structures do not.
Can I practise for the personality or behavioural part?
Not usefully, and be careful with anyone selling a way to. The NFSI’s 50 behavioural items measure predispositions rather than knowledge and have no right answers. The sound advice is dull: answer consistently and as yourself, because inventories of that kind are designed to notice someone answering as the person they think is wanted.
Do I need experience before taking an entry-level firefighter test?
No. FPSI states plainly that no prior firefighting experience is needed for entry-level exams, and the FCTC guide describes its test as general knowledge with questions tailored to the job. Everything needed to answer is in front of you on the day.
How many questions are on the firefighter written test?
It depends on the test. FCTC: 100 in two hours, after a 30-minute reading period. NFSI: 155 in two and a half hours, of which 50 are personality items. FPSI publishes no count for the NFST, and FireTEAM is video-based. Any single number offered for "the firefighter test" is a guess about which one you are sitting.

Sources

Every figure on this page comes from one of the documents below, with the date it was read. Requirements change; if a source has moved on since that date, the source is right and this page is out of date.

Page facts last verified September 3, 2026.

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Hiring Test Practice is independent practice material and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or authorized by Criteria Corp, Wonderlic, Inc., National Testing Network, the electrical training ALLIANCE, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, NECA, Biddle Consulting Group, Inc., Pearson Education, Inc. or its TalentLens business, the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee or the Firefighter Candidate Testing Center, Fire and Police Selection, Inc., I/O Solutions, Inc., Ergometrics & Applied Personnel Research, Inc., the International Association of Fire Fighters or the International Association of Fire Chiefs. CCAT® is a registered trademark of Criteria Corp; Wonderlic® is a registered trademark of Wonderlic, Inc.; CritiCall is a trademark of Biddle Consulting Group, Inc.; Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test is a trademark of Pearson Education, Inc.; FCTC and CPAT are used to name tests administered by others. Test names are used only to describe what this material prepares you for. Every question here is original and none is taken from any actual assessment. Cal-JAC and FCTC publish that materials supplied directly by them are the only authorized FCTC Written Test materials; this site is one of the outside sources that warning refers to, and it links their free study guide rather than reproducing it.