Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service has kicked off its second firefighter recruitment drive of the year, opening applications for its next cohort of Wholetime Firefighter Apprentices through its website. People living within 40 miles of Reading have until 9am on Monday, 27 July to apply, with no previous firefighting experience needed.
Chief Fire Officer Mark Arkwell said the apprenticeship had been “a wonderful source of continued success” for the service, with more than 100 firefighters welcomed through the programme over the past five years. The selection process unfolds in five stages, starting with an initial application and supporting statement, followed by a group exercise, a physical assessment day, an interview and online functional skills tests, and a medical assessment. The new recruits are scheduled to start on 4 January 2027.
Successful applicants will begin their training with a residential course at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, before returning to Berkshire for further instruction at the Learning and Development Centre in South Reading. That centre underwent a major redevelopment between May 2024 and summer 2025, replacing an old lecture block damaged by flooding with a new building that includes solar panels and multi-use classroom spaces. Once fully qualified, firefighters work across one of the service’s 12 wholetime stations, including those in Reading, Wokingham, Newbury, Slough and Maidenhead.
Wholetime firefighters operate on a 2/2/4 rota pattern of two day shifts, two night shifts and four days off, covering anti-social hours, weekends and public holidays. The trainee and development salary ranges from £31,539 to £40,358 a year. Alongside this apprenticeship drive, the service continues to recruit on-call firefighters for areas such as Lambourn, Mortimer and Crowthorne.
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