Mechanical Reasoning

Many fire and rescue services in England and Wales now sift applicants with short online ability tests, and mechanical reasoning is often one of them. Recruitment packs describe it as a series of diagrams testing how well you apply everyday mechanical principles — for example, Mid and West Wales FRS lists it at about 17 minutes.

The briefing guide from Test Partnership, who supply the tests many services use, describes 20 questions, one per page, each with a 50-second limit, covering things like forces, movement, temperature and pressure. This is practice in that style, with original questions — not the official test.

Topics here: gears and belts, levers and balance, pulleys and wheels, pressure and fluids, forces and stability, and heat and fire behaviour — many set in fire and rescue situations.