Recruit for Values.
Shortlist with Confidence.
A smarter, fairer first sift for Fire Control recruitment
The people working in Fire Control make critical decisions, support callers at their most vulnerable and represent the values of your Service every day.
VCA’s Fire Control Values Questionnaire helps you identify candidates whose behaviours and judgement align with your organisational values and the Core Code of Ethics before valuable staff time is committed to later assessment stages.
Built specifically for Fire and Rescue Services, this 60-question online assessment provides an objective, consistent and efficient way to shortlist applicants for Fire Control roles.
What Is the Fire Control Values Questionnaire?
The Fire Control Values Questionnaire is a 60-question online assessment developed exclusively for Fire Control recruitment.
Candidates respond to realistic, role-relevant situations reflecting the distinctive demands of a Control room. The scenarios explore how candidates are likely to apply values, judgement and professional behaviours when dealing with colleagues, callers and operational information.
The assessment focuses on how candidates apply values in context, rather than relying only on what they say about themselves in a written application.
A First Sift You Can Trust
Give every candidate the same structured opportunity to demonstrate values and judgement, while reducing administration and supporting more consistent comparison.
Online Delivery
Candidates complete the assessment remotely within your agreed campaign window.
Automatic Marking
Responses are scored without time-consuming manual review.
Anonymous Scoring
Candidate responses remain central to consistent shortlisting decisions.
Ranked Results
Your HR team receives a clear, manageable order of candidate results.
EDI Reporting
Review outcomes across candidate groups to support monitoring and assurance.
Candidate Feedback
Every candidate receives feedback, supporting a professional experience.
Designed Around the Scenarios of Fire Control
Generic values assessments do not always capture the specific judgement required in a Fire Control environment.
This questionnaire uses realistic scenarios created around the demands of the role. Candidates consider how they would respond to situations involving callers, colleagues, incomplete information, professional standards and potentially sensitive circumstances.
This provides a more relevant assessment of how candidates may apply your values in context. The questionnaire uses the same established methodology as VCA’s Wholetime and On-Call assessments, adapted through Control-specific scenarios.
The Benefits for Your Service
Designed to improve efficiency, consistency, candidate experience and confidence in the first sift.
Reduce the Administrative Burden
Remove the need to manually review and score large volumes of written values evidence.
Strengthen Shortlisting Decisions
Use consistent, anonymously scored results to identify the strongest values alignment.
Improve the Interview Pool
Focus later assessment resources on candidates who have demonstrated appropriate judgement and behavioural awareness.
Support Fair, Defensible Recruitment
Apply the same assessment and scoring approach to every applicant.
Create a Better Candidate Experience
Offer remote completion and individual feedback, even in high-volume campaigns.
Understand Your Applicant Pool
Use built-in EDI reporting to review outcomes across candidate groups.
Recruit Consistently Across Roles
Create a common values-based approach across Control, Wholetime and On-Call recruitment.
Plan Campaigns with Confidence
A single licence fee can support unlimited candidates and campaigns.
Values-Based Recruitment with EDI Insight Built In
Fair recruitment requires reliable information about who is progressing and whether assessment outcomes warrant further review. Built-in reporting can support analysis across age, gender, ethnic background, education, disability, neurodivergence, sexual orientation and religion or belief.
60%
of successful candidates were female
20%
of successful candidates disclosed a disability
35%
of successful candidates identified as neurodivergent
Comparable
age representation in the largest age group
From Applications to a Stronger Interview Pool
When Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service recruited new Control operators, the Service wanted a more accurate and measurable way to assess whether candidates’ behaviours aligned with its core values.
VCA’s questionnaire replaced the initial reliance on written behavioural evidence with a structured assessment completed remotely. This reduced the time associated with marking applications and helped the Service focus later stages on stronger, values-aligned candidates.
What Our Client Said
“VCA gave us a more scientific and forensic approach that was more easily quantifiable. The questionnaire allowed us to ensure we were asking questions that were relevant to the role we were recruiting.
Results were sent directly to our HR staff, which reduced the staff time and cost involved in marking large amounts of written evidence.
During the interview process, it was clear that candidates who had successfully passed the VCA stage modelled the behaviours and values we expected. This increased the standard of applicants reaching interview and, in turn, the quality of the candidates offered posts.
I would highly recommend VCA to other Fire and Rescue Services.”
Chris Mason
Station Commander | Fire Control & EPRO
Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service
A Complete, Supported Recruitment Solution
VCA works with your Service to provide a structured, practical and manageable assessment process.
1. Campaign Set-Up
Prepared for your recruitment campaign and aligned with the Control role.
2. Remote Assessment
Applicants complete the questionnaire during the agreed window.
3. Automatic Scoring
Responses are marked consistently without manual scoring.
4. Ranked Results
HR receives clear results to support objective shortlisting.
5. EDI Reporting
Outcomes can be reviewed across candidate groups.
6. Candidate Feedback
Every candidate receives developmental feedback.
Why VCA?
Sector-specific expertise, robust assessment methodology and practical campaign support.
Make Values Count from the First Stage
Your Control staff need more than the ability to perform tasks. They need sound judgement, professionalism, empathy and a genuine commitment to the values of your Service.
The Fire Control Values Questionnaire helps you assess those qualities from the outset, giving you a stronger shortlist, a clearer evidence base and greater confidence in the candidates progressing.
Planning a Fire Control recruitment campaign?
Let’s discuss how the Fire Control Values Questionnaire could support your Service.
