FireTEAM or FCTC: Which Firefighter Test Does Your Department Use?

Written & reviewed by the Quibank editorial team · Last reviewed 2026-09-09 · Editorial standards

You do not choose between FireTEAM and the FCTC written test — the department you are applying to does, and the only authority on the answer is that department's own job announcement. Read the section headed selection procedures or examination process before you pay for anything, because a score from the wrong vendor is not worth a dollar to an agency that does not use it.

Two other facts change the decision. Outside California, FCTC is usually not on the table at all: it is run by the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee and its list is used by California agencies. And inside California, a number of departments accept either one — San Francisco's firefighter announcement explicitly lets applicants use the FCTC written test or the FireTEAM system through National Testing Network. If your department is one of those, the tests differ less in difficulty than in what happens to your score afterward, which is where this comparison actually matters.

The two tests are shaped differently, even though the subjects match

FCTC is a paper test taken in a room, 100 equally weighted multiple-choice questions in two and a half hours, and its own FAQ gives the split: 35 questions on recalling and comprehending technical information from written materials, 25 on mechanical reasoning, 20 on recalling verbal and visual information, and 20 on math. The order is fixed and unusual. You get a 30-minute period to read and study an essay packet; staff then collect the packets, and you answer questions about that material later from memory. Two video scenarios follow, with pencils down while they play. Only then do you open the booklet for the remaining 80 questions.

FireTEAM runs about two hours and arrives on video. Human Relations plays without stopping and is followed immediately by Part II, which asks about the behavior of the firefighters and supervisors you just watched. The mechanical section is built on an animated brick-making factory, and the math is delivered on screen. The skills overlap heavily — reading, arithmetic, mechanical reasoning, judgment — but the demand does not: FCTC rewards deliberate memorization of material that is taken away from you, while FireTEAM rewards single-pass attention to something you cannot rewind.

What happens to your score is the real difference

Passing FCTC puts you on the Statewide Eligibility List, and Cal-JAC says 176 departments currently participate. You test once, and your result is visible to participating agencies without you naming them in advance. Scores post to your FCTC profile within five business days, and for any agency that requests the list, your score counts as if it was received on your test day.

National Testing Network works the opposite way: you select and pay for specific department jobs as part of registering. The rule that costs people opportunities is what happens after you sit down — once you have tested, the only jobs you can add are departments or postings that have opened since your test date, at $15 each. A department that was already hiring while you tested, and that you did not select, is closed to that score. Both scores last one year, and NTN adds that yours must still be active on the day a posting closes for you to be eligible for it.

The retake rules run in opposite directions

FCTC lets you retake as often as you like, with no more than one test in any 30-day period — but only your most recent score is considered by FCTC and by hiring agencies. A retake is not a second chance stacked on the first; it replaces it, and it can leave you worse off than the score you already had.

NTN makes you wait a minimum of three months to retake the written exam, and retesting deletes your previous scores along with every department job from the original application. You re-select and re-pay for all of them, including ones you had already bought.

There is a timing rule inside the FCTC path that is easy to miss and expensive to get wrong. Los Angeles County Fire's Firefighter Trainee FAQ states that once you have applied and been placed on the department's list, you cannot retake the written test to improve your banding; if you want a better score, you retake it before you submit the application. Get the number you want first, then apply.

The passing score belongs to the department, not to the test

FCTC's FAQ names 70% as the passing score, but its department-facing page states that individual departments retain the right to identify their own passing grade — so 70% is a floor with local exceptions rather than a universal cut.

FireTEAM does not produce one number at all. San Francisco publishes four separate cut scores for it — Human Relations 75, Mechanical Aptitude 60, Math 70, Reading Ability 80 — and states that candidates must pass each component independently and that the scores are not averaged. A strong overall performance does not rescue a weak reading section. At that department both written tests are purely pass/fail, and the oral interview is worth 100% of your placement on the eligible list.

Candidates comparing notes on Firehouse's forums describe the same score being used in structurally different ways across California: LAFD treating FCTC as pass/fail against its own criteria, Orange County Fire Authority requiring a score to advance, and LA County sorting top scores into bands. Forum participants also report that some departments weight FireTEAM's components unevenly — Human Relations carrying the bulk with mechanical secondary, and math and reading functioning as hurdles. The same thread offers a reason a large department would step away from ranking on the written score at all: participants describe an LAFD analysis concluding that requiring a high score to advance likely disadvantaged minority candidates with less access to preparation, and that the score did little to predict who turned out to be a good firefighter. Take all of this as candidate reports, not policy; the point is that no single strategy fits every agency, and the announcement is what settles it.

Cost, and the part most candidates never claim

FCTC publishes flat prices: $50 per written test, $160 for the CPAT including two orientation sessions, $30 per timed CPAT practice run, and $25 for the prep class, the online prep course, or the online practice test.
NTN publishes no flat figure — its pricing page says the cost varies by test location, test type, and the department job you apply to, and the candidate FAQ describes a base testing fee plus an additional charge for each department you select.
All FCTC fees are non-refundable. A no-show forfeits the fee, rescheduling inside two business days costs $10 on the written test, and a prepaid test not taken within 12 months of payment is cancelled with fees forfeited.
Bring only a government-issued ID and your keys into an FCTC test room — no phone, watch, hat, water, writing instruments, or scratch paper. Breaking the rules means dismissal with no score and no refund.
Both paths have a hardship route. California Fire Foundation grants can cover all fees for the FCTC written test and the CPAT; NTN has a fee waiver form, but each department decides on it individually.

How to prepare once you know which one you are taking

Most of your study time is the same either way, because both tests measure technical reading, mental arithmetic, and mechanical reasoning. Build those first. Then add the format-specific piece: for FCTC, practice reading a dense passage once and answering on recall with the text face down, since that is literally the exam; for FireTEAM, practice one-pass attention to video and arithmetic done in your head against a clock.

One warning from FCTC itself: it states that materials from FCTC are the only authorized FCTC test materials, and that outside vendors selling FCTC-specific programs have no affiliation with it. The free 25-page FCTC study guide is the place to start, and a $25 official practice test built from past questions is a better spend than a third-party course claiming inside knowledge.

Our free firefighter practice covers the shared ground — reading comprehension, mathematics, mechanical reasoning, and spatial orientation — with an explanation for every answer. Do the math with no paper and no calculator, the way both tests require it. No account, no fees.

Try the free firefighter practice test →