Firefighter Aptitude Test Practice for Australia’s Fire Services

The firefighter written exam, also called the firefighter aptitude test, entry exam, or pre-employment exam, is the screening test every candidate sits before they're accepted into recruit training. It isn't testing firefighting knowledge itself, since you aren't expected to know the job yet. Instead, it assesses the underlying abilities you'll need to learn the role and perform it well once you're in it, things like math, numerical reasoning, reading comprehension, mechanical aptitude, and problem solving. Passing it is a mandatory step in the recruitment process, not an optional formality.

As mentioned above, Australia doesn't run firefighter recruitment through one national body. Depending on where you apply, each fire service, department and agency runs it's own process through their state fire service. That's thousands of firefighters employed across Australia, but not under one organisation or one recruitment process.

The reason the test matters so much comes down to what the job actually involves. Depending on the service, firefighters respond to structure and bushfires, road accidents, rescues, hazardous materials, medical emergencies, and natural disasters, on top of maintaining equipment and staying ready to respond at any time. You won't get hired on physical ability alone, which is exactly why every service builds some form of cognitive or aptitude assessment into its recruitment process.

The exact test differs by state, and so does who runs it. Some services administer their own assessment, while others bring in an external provider. What stays fairly consistent is the type of skills tested: numerical reasoning, verbal or reading skills, mechanical reasoning, abstract or logical reasoning, and sometimes spatial reasoning or a behavioural assessment. How those areas are weighted, and which ones show up at all, depends on the specific service, as outlined for each one below.

• Confirm exactly which service you're applying to before you start preparing. The test, and who administers it, changes from state to state.
• Practise under timed, no-aids conditions where you can. QFD's test, for example, doesn't allow a calculator, notes, or pens.
• Brush up on every core area, not just your strongest one. Most services test across several sections at once, not a single skill.
• Expect more than one assessment. Several services pair the aptitude test with a video interview, written response, or additional psychometric testing.
• Check whether you need to rank, not just pass. FRV, for instance, only advances its highest-scoring candidates, not everyone who clears the minimum standard.

QFD candidates sit an online cognitive ability test with two components: mechanical reasoning, which covers forces, movement, gears, and pulleys, and core abilities, which covers literacy, numeracy, problem solving, and analytical aptitude. It's timed, and you can't use a calculator, notes, or pens, so accuracy under pressure matters as much as knowing the material.

The two samples below give you a feel for each half of that test:

Mechanical Aptitude: This question is about wind resistance, not bird biology. Think about how much surface area each wing position presents to the airflow, and which orientation lets air pass with less drag, the same principle that makes a crumpled piece of paper fall faster than a flat sheet.

Abstract Reasoning: Treat each frame as a continuation of the one before it: look at where an element "ends" at the right edge of one frame and whether it "begins" again at the left edge of the next. Track the spacing and size pattern across all five frames first, then eliminate any option that breaks that continuation, rather than picking whichever one looks visually balanced.

FRV's Written Selection Test (WST) covers four areas: literacy, numeracy, abstract reasoning, and mechanical reasoning. It's computer-based and administered by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), and you need to meet the required standard across all four areas. Passing isn't necessarily enough on its own, since FRV only advances its highest-ranking candidates to the next stage.

Literacy: This question asks for the passage's main point, not a detail from it. Work out first whether the author comes down clearly on one side of the issue or presents it as unresolved, then look for the answer option that matches that overall stance rather than one that only restates part of the argument.

Numeracy: Fractions with different denominators can't be subtracted directly. Find a common denominator before doing anything else, and double-check that your final answer is already in its simplest form before selecting it.

FRNSW's online psychometric assessment, delivered through Criteria, covers three areas in one sitting: cognitive aptitude, emotional intelligence, and mechanical reasoning. It's completed alongside a video interview as part of the same recruitment stage, so you're being assessed on more than just the test score.

Logic Test: Don't assume a letter sequence only moves in one direction. Check whether it skips forward through the alphabet consistently, or whether it reverses partway through, and if so, exactly where that reversal happens and how many letters are skipped each time before and after it.

Spatial Reasoning: Look for one visual rule that holds true across most of the images, shading, size, or position are common ones, then test that exact rule against every option rather than stopping at the first one that seems to fit. The odd one out is whichever option breaks the rule the others all follow.

ACT Fire and Rescue's online aptitude test covers five areas in one sitting: verbal reasoning, numerical reasoning, abstract reasoning, spatial reasoning, and situational judgment. After the aptitude test, you'll also need to submit a written and video response addressing the role's selection criteria.

Working with Data: Go through each proposed question one at a time and check it only against the columns that actually exist in the table. A question can sound completely reasonable and still be unanswerable, if the table doesn't contain the specific information it depends on, it's not one of the correct options, no matter how sensible it seems.

Reading Comprehension: Stick to what the passage explicitly states rather than what tends to be true about the topic in general. Watch for answer options that sound firm and confident but actually overstate, reverse, or contradict the passage's own logic.

Beyond the four services above, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory, and Aviation Rescue Firefighting each run their own recruitment process and assessment. Each uses its own online cognitive or psychometric test as one stage in a longer selection process that also includes a physical aptitude test and an interview, but none of them have published the kind of detailed, section-by-section breakdown that QFD, FRV, FRNSW, and ACT provide, so treat the test notes below as a general shape rather than a full specification.

DFES's online cognitive and aptitude testing is Stage Two of the recruitment process, completed after the initial application and before the beep test and physical circuit assessments. 

MFS full-time recruitment includes an online psychometric assessment, followed by physical aptitude testing and an interview. 

TFS candidates complete a Cognitive Ability and Psychometric Assessment as one of nine stages in the application process, evaluating aptitude and workplace behavioural traits. 

NT Fire and Rescue's Cognitive and Psychometric Assessment is Stage 3 of a five-stage process, delivered online after the beep test and before the Physical Aptitude Test and interview. 

ARFF recruitment includes a suite of online testing before candidates move to the Physical Aptitude Test and medical assessment.

The three samples below give you a feel for the kind of combined cognitive and behavioural testing used across this group of services.

Matrices Test: Don't try to solve this figure by figure. Track two rules at the same time: how one shape type rotates or changes as you move across a row, and how shading or colour cycles as you move down a column. The correct answer has to satisfy both rules at once, so use each rule to eliminate options rather than picking whichever single image looks right.

Inductive Reasoning: Look past the shapes themselves and count something numeric in each frame, sides, angles, or repeated elements. Questions in this format usually come down to one frame breaking a numeric total that holds consistently across all the others, not a visual symmetry or size difference.

Situational Judgement Test: Judge each of the four statements against the specific situation described, not against each other in the abstract. The most appropriate response is usually the one that gathers information and treats the person with respect before acting on it, and the least appropriate is usually the one that leans on authority or urgency to justify skipping that step.

Visit the following pages for additional test practice - 

Becoming a professional firefighter in Australia isn't a single job application, it's a structured, multi-stage recruitment process run by the state or territory service you're applying to, and each stage has to be passed before you move to the next. While the exact steps vary by service, the process generally looks like this:

1. Application: You apply directly to the relevant state or territory fire and rescue service. Recruitment isn't continuous, most services, including DFES in Western Australia, run periodic campaigns rather than an ongoing intake, so timing your application to an open campaign matters as much as preparing for it.
2. Aptitude or Written Exam: An online cognitive or psychometric test assessing the underlying skills needed for the role, such as numerical reasoning, mechanical reasoning, and verbal or abstract reasoning. Format and content vary by service.
3. Physical Aptitude Testing: A beep test, circuit, and other physical tasks that measure the fitness and strength needed for the job.
4. Interview or Further Assessment: A panel interview, sometimes combined with a video response or written task addressing the service's selection criteria.
5. Medical and Background Checks: A medical clearance, along with police and background checks and verification of any required qualifications.
6. Recruit Training: A paid training course at the service's own academy, typically measured in weeks rather than years, DFES's program runs for 15 weeks at its Forrestfield academy. According to the Public Safety Training Package, administered through training.gov.au, recruits typically work towards a Certificate II or Certificate III in Public Safety (Firefighting Operations), supervised throughout by experienced firefighters and training officers.
7. Probation and Qualification: A probationary period at a station, after which you're a fully qualified career firefighter with that state or territory's service. Pay continues to rise from here as you move up through firefighter rank, on a scale set by each service's own enterprise agreement.

What Does a Firefighter Actually Do?

The job goes well beyond putting out fires. Depending on the service, firefighters respond to structure and bushfires, road accidents and vehicle rescues, hazardous materials incidents, medical emergencies, and natural disasters. Between callouts, the job includes maintaining equipment and vehicles, ongoing training, and staying ready to respond at any hour, since most services run 24-hour rotating shifts. Firefighters also carry out community-facing work: conducting fire safety education programs and inspecting buildings to check they meet local fire regulations, both part of the nationally recognised Public Safety (Firefighting Operations) training all recruits complete.

Specialisations and Career Progression

Firefighting in Australia isn't a single fixed role, it's a career with a defined progression and several paths to specialise. Pay and rank typically move together: DFES in Western Australia, for example, structures its ranks from 5th Class Firefighter through to 1st Class Firefighter and Senior Firefighter, and most other services use a comparable grading system set out in their own enterprise agreement. Beyond general firefighting, experienced firefighters can move into specialist areas including fire investigation, air operations, urban search and rescue (USAR), and hazardous materials response, or move into training and supervisory roles through further public safety qualifications such as a Certificate IV in Public Safety (Firefighting Supervision).

Firefighter Salaries Across Australia

Pay varies meaningfully by state and territory, since each service negotiates its own enterprise agreement rather than following a single national award. Base rates below run from recruit pay to the top firefighter rank (before senior officer ranks, shift penalties, and superannuation):

DFES in Western Australia isn't included in the table above, its current award rates weren't confirmable from a verified source at time of writing; current figures are available at dfes.wa.gov.au/careers.

Pay and Benefits

On top of base pay, firefighters on shift rosters typically receive penalty rates and allowances for night, weekend, and public holiday shifts, which is part of why take-home pay runs higher than the base figures above. Employers also contribute superannuation at Australia's standard Superannuation Guarantee rate, currently 12% of ordinary earnings. Beyond pay, firefighting is public-sector, essential-service employment: positions come with a defined rank structure, clear progression, and access to further nationally recognised qualifications as you move into specialist or supervisory roles.