1. General Requirements
To join the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service there are certain physical, medical and educational requirements you will have to satisfy, including statutory age limits.

• have a good level of all-round fitness.
• take both general written and practical tests.
• satisfy a criminal records check.

2. Eyesite Standards (Berkshire Only)

Local Authority Revised Eyesight Standards

• Use of aids to vision are possible at the recruit stage.
• Corrected visual acuity should be 6/9 binocularly, and a minimum of 6/12 in the worse eye.
• The minimum uncorrected vision for recruits should be 6/18 in the better eye and 6/24 in the worse for both Wholetime and Retained applicants.
• An upper hypermetropic limit of +3.00 should be retained.
• Testing for myopic corrections is no longer required.

3. Experience / Skills / Qualification / Other

Essential Factors

• Must satisfy physical requirements of an Operational Firefighter, as defined by the Home Office Regulations.
• Successful completion of the Recruit Fire Service course.
• Understands and respects diversity and adopts a fair and ethical approach to others.

Desirable Factors

• Ability to deal with the general public.
• Work related to community service.
• Experience of practical trade.

General Intelligence (Level / Reasoning Ability)

• Should be a good communicator; self-motivated with ability to think for oneself.
• Average level of intelligence required due to the nature of the varied work expected of a Firefighter.

4. Special Aptitudes

Essential Factors

• Experience of working with people.
• Promote and maintain a desire to learn.
• Be able to control actions of others.
• Must be aware of danger and react responsively.

Desirable Factors

• Medical/First-Aid skills.
• Ability to learn, absorb and retain theoretical, technical and practical knowledge.

5. Interests (Post Related)
The post would suit people who are committed to helping others within a disciplined public service.


6. Disposition (Personal Requirements Suiting Post)

• Ability to deal with the general public.
• A calm enthusiastic and energetic but approachable manner is required.
• A strong character is essential in order to effectively handle the many demanding and dangerous tasks set for a Firefighter.
• Able to work as a team, but be prepared to work on own initiative. The ability to operate unsupervised is therefore important.

7. Other Desirable Circumstances

• Current driving licence.
• LGV driving licence.

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Use these links to find out more about wholetime (fulltime) firefighting.

• Wholetime Firefighting - Home
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