Public sector exams · competitive exam

Firefighter caporal 2027: a competition, then a separate recruitment

Pre-registration opens on 5 January 2027, the written papers are set for 25 November 2027. Sport and interview have no date, and passing does not give you a job.

2027 pre-registration: 5 January → 10 February
Admissibility written papers: 25 November 2027
Minimum diploma: Level 3 (DNB, CAP or BEP)

Study for free See the method

What you need to understand.

The real format of the exam, and what actually decides it.

The external caporal competition takes place in three stages: two one-hour quizzes, three physical tests, a fifteen-minute interview. The papers are organised by the SDIS; the 2027 calendar comes from the civil protection authority. The second quiz covers maths or the skills of a volunteer firefighter (SPV). Swimming receives no mark, but it controls what follows.

Two averages decide. Under 10/20 in the written papers, or under 5/20 in a compulsory test, the candidate is eliminated. Sport weighs coefficient 4 and its average under 8/20 is enough to be out, whatever the written mark. Admission then places you on a national list of aptitude valid for two years, without guaranteeing a job.

Six papers, one of which is not marked

The format and weight of each paper, without the noise around it.

Quiz on a text or file

1 hour · Coefficient 1, eliminatory under 5/20

The information is in the document: find it without interpreting. Several possible answers, sometimes points deducted.

Second quiz

1 hour · Coefficient 1, eliminatory under 5/20

Maths for the qualified route, volunteer firefighter (SPV) skills for the volunteer route.

Swimming

50 m freestyle, a single attempt · Not marked, eliminatory

50 seconds for men, 1 minute for women. One failure and the other tests do not take place.

Adapted professional course

6 timed stages, 22 kg on the back · Marked out of 20 with the Luc Léger, coefficient 4

4 minutes for men, 5 min 30 for women. One point per stage validated among the first five, then one point per 18 m at the 6th.

Cardio-respiratory endurance (Luc Léger)

20 m shuttles, one-minute levels · Marked out of 20, eliminatory under 8/20 average

20/20 at 14 levels for men, 11 for women. Separate scale by sex.

Interview with the jury

15 minutes including 5 of presentation, individual form · Coefficient 4, eliminatory under 5/20

Motivation, personality, knowledge of the job and of a caporal's duties.

The calendar.

The dates that matter, with their status.

Jan 5, 2027 → Feb 10, 2027
Pre-registration, qualified route and SPV route
Published by the civil protection authority, consulted on 28 October 2026. The papers take place in organising centres: the 2027 calendar cites SDIS 78, 91 and 95 with CIG Petite Couronne, and CDG 13.
Nov 25, 2027
Admissibility written papers
Thursday 25 November 2027, per the civil protection calendar. No 2027 opening decree had appeared as of 28 October 2026: place, times and places remain unknown. The gap with registrations is the same as in 2025, when the February close preceded late-November written papers.
not published
Pre-admission physical tests
No date published yet. In 2025, they were held from 20 to 30 January 2026, about eight weeks after the written papers.
not published
Interview with the jury
No date published yet. In 2025, the orals began on 7 April 2026, four and a half months after the written papers.

Dates checked on October 28, 2026. Any date that hasn’t been published is flagged as such.

What actually blocks you.

The obstacles that cost you points, not the clichés.

Bungling the second quiz

Coefficient 1 each, but the average of the two must reach 10/20. A mark under 5/20 is enough to be out, even with a good first quiz.

Discovering swimming too late

50 metres, a single attempt, no mark: 50 seconds for men, 1 minute for women. One failure and the other two physical tests do not take place.

Counting on the written papers to make up for sport

The average of the course and the Luc Léger is multiplied by 4. Under 8/20, elimination applies whatever the written mark.

Improvising the five minutes of presentation

Fifteen minutes, coefficient 4, eliminatory under 5/20. The jury starts from the individual form: what you write there shapes its questions.

The method, in 3 steps.

A course goes in. Ready-made materials come out. You study.

01
Treat the quiz as a search
The answer is in the document. Locate the useful passages, check each option, and practise within one hour: that is the length of the paper.
02
Time yourself rather than feeling it
Note your Luc Léger level and time the course with 22 kg. The scales give 20/20 at 14 levels for men, 11 for women.
03
Write the five minutes and the form
Draft the presentation and prepare two field examples. The jury starts from your individual form: the questions follow what you put there.

What Summry does for this exam.

Study materials, not a promise you’ll pass.

The file-based quiz, in practice

Upload a text or documentary file as PDF: Summry draws quizzes from it so you practise finding information in the document, without interpreting. The account is free.

The maths of the second quiz

Sheets and quizzes on the maths problems of the qualified route, to redo until you last the hour: it is the same coefficient as the first quiz.

The volunteer firefighter skills

For the volunteer route, the second quiz covers the activities and skills of a volunteer firefighter (SPV): you upload your course and review it as cards and questions.

The interview prepared in writing

The chat answers only from your documents: upload the job description and your placement notes, and have yourself questioned on a caporal's duties before the fifteen minutes.

Summry does not swim for you and does not time your Luc Léger: it helps you make sheets for the written papers and prepare the interview, not pass the physical tests or find a job.

Frequently asked questions.

The questions we get asked most often about Firefighter competition (caporal).

Do you need a diploma to register?

Yes for the qualified route: a qualification at level 3 at least, i.e. the brevet, a CAP or a BEP. An equivalence is possible with three years of professional experience, and the competition is open without a diploma to parents of three children and to high-level athletes. The route reserved for volunteer firefighters requires no diploma.

Which papers do you have to sit?

Two one-hour quizzes: one based on a text or documentary file, the other on mathematics or volunteer firefighter (SPV) skills depending on the route. Then swimming, the course with 22 kg and the Luc Léger, and a fifteen-minute interview. The reference text does indeed speak of a quiz: the February 2025 brochure still says 'text study', but the decree is what counts.

When do the 2027 papers take place?

Pre-registration from 5 January to 10 February 2027, written papers on 25 November 2027, according to the civil protection calendar. No opening decree had appeared as of 28 October 2026: places and locations remain unknown, and the dates of sport and interview are not set.

Do you have to be a volunteer firefighter?

No, two separate competitions: one open on diploma, the other reserved for volunteer firefighters with three years of activity. The unified competition service brochure adds a little-known rule: the number of places in the diploma competition cannot exceed that of the competition reserved for volunteers.

What happens after admission?

Admission means registration on the national list of aptitude: two years, extendable to four. You then have to apply for a vacant post in an SDIS, be appointed trainee caporal for one year and follow the integration training in a departmental school. Two refusals of an offer mean removal from the list.

Sources.

Information gathered from official websites, checked on October 28, 2026. The links open the original source.

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