Fire Services Examinations Board

Joint Statement issued by the FSEB and IPDWG 6 May 2003

IPDAB agreed that a joint statement should appear on both the FSEB's website and the Integrated Personal Development Working Group's website. The statement confirms the current position with regard to the statutory examinations and that agreement has been reached in principle to transitional arrangements into the IPDS system.

However, until the detail behind the weighting to be applied to the qualifications, as part of the transitional arrangements, has been agreed, it is important that candidates continue to undertake the statutory examinations, as possession of the relevant examination qualification is still a statutory requirement for promotion under current legislation .

"Approval was reached within the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council (CFBAC) to the replacement of the current statutory examinations by a system of Assessment and Development as part of the new Integrated Personal Development System (IPDS), but that transitional arrangements would need to be agreed.

"These discussions are continuing within the Integrated Personal Development Advisory Board (IPDAB), who are managing the change to the new integrated personal development system for Fire Services from April 2003.

"It is important that people's achievements are recognised, valued, and carried forward into the new system. This will be achieved by utilising an "element exemption" approach, which means that candidates will gain automatic entry to assessment and development centres without first passing a test of potential, if they have the relevant statutory promotion examination.

"It is not envisaged that exemption will be given for candidates who possess partial passes in part one written papers. For those candidates the choice is simple, either directly enter the new system or sit the remaining written part of the examination within the recognised time scales to gain the full exemption described earlier.

"Candidates who have attained passes in their Part II examinations will be able to use the content of the examinations as evidence within their development programme.

"There is an expectation that brigades will have the new Assessment and Development Centres, based on guidance issued nationally, in place by April 2004 and that this process will replace the existing statutory promotion examinations. It is vital that brigades start the preparatory work, including budgetary arrangements, to ensure compliance as there will be no new entrants to the existing statutory examination system after 1st April 2005, and no new entrants to the practical examinations after April 2004.

"As the Examinations are phased out, a new body may be formulated under the banner of the Fire Service Education and Skills Body (FSESB). The terms of reference and required outcomes of such a body would be consistent with like bodies in other sectors and will ultimately be determined by IPDAB/CFBAC".

See also: Frequently Asked Questions

The web site of The Integrated Personal Development Working Group is www.firepod.org.uk