Help people find, and be ready for, on-call firefighting.
Firefighter Pay is an independent UK publisher of firefighter pay, pension and joining guidance. We think on-call recruitment is a place where clear, honest information can help both candidates and services, and we would like to talk to services who agree.
Message us about a partnershipThe problem, as reported
The on-call system is important and under strain. NFCC published its National On-Call Research Study on 8 May 2026, drawing on responses from more than 1,600 on-call firefighters and describing falling numbers and persistent recruitment and retention difficulties. Anglia Ruskin University's research page on on-call departures reports that 80% of fire and rescue services report recruitment issues with on-call firefighters, 68% report retention challenges, and that on-call firefighter numbers in England fell by 26% between 2014 and 2024. We could not find those percentages on NFCC's own summary page, so we attribute them to the ARU page and recommend readers check the full NFCC study.
Sources: NFCC: national review of the on-call firefighter system · Anglia Ruskin University: exploring the departure of on-call firefighters in England (both checked 30 September 2026).
What we can offer
Evergreen guides
Plain-English pages for people considering on-call: how to become an on-call firefighter, availability, pay and the employer conversation. We source them from NFCC and pay circulars and update them as things change.
Free tools that help candidates self-select
The on-call availability planner helps someone see whether their week can support the response-time and cover commitment before they apply, which may mean better-informed applicants. It does not guarantee that.
Consent-based register-interest
Candidates can register interest in on-call, wholetime or control roles and name services. Only if they tick a separate, unticked-by-default box do we pass their name, email, postcode district and roles of interest to the services they chose. We can discuss a way of sharing that suits your service and complies with data protection law.
An honest picture of our reach
We have chosen not to publish large audience claims we cannot verify. What we can say from Google Search Console is that over the last six months the site received about 1,300 clicks and 59,000 impressions. The site has just relaunched, so those figures describe the earlier version and are a starting point rather than a promise. We make no commitments about volumes of visitors or register-interest sign-ups, and we would rather you judge us on how well the material serves candidates. We can share current Search Console figures when you contact us.
What we do not do
- We do not sell candidate data, and we do not share it with any service without the candidate's explicit consent.
- We do not run job boards, guarantee applicants, or claim to speak for any service, NFCC or a union.
- We do not publish testimonials, partner logos or statistics we cannot verify.
- We are not affiliated with any fire and rescue service, and we will label any partnership content clearly.
How a conversation could start
Tell us what your service needs: which stations are hardest to fill, what candidates often misunderstand, and what accurate information you would like us to reflect. We might publish a sourced page on your on-call recruitment process, link to your official application route, or help design a candidate-readiness resource. Anything we publish would go through our editorial policy, and official service information will always take priority over ours.
Message us about a partnershipCandidates: see how your data is handled in the privacy policy or register your interest.