Hi Mate
I helped a recruit get through recently.
The new fire service point of entry tests have been heavily critisised to the extent that "off the record" some brigades are effectively "coaching" new applicants on how to fill in the application form successfully.
Each brigade follows the new National framework (well most brigades are - some have not yet fallen into line)
Gone are the days where you used to say " I want to be a firefighter because I like teamwork, a challenge both physically and mentally, to do something worthwhile in the community" etc etc
These days you need to demonstrate things such as your ability and willingness to support equality and diversity and give examples where you have dealt with a multi cultural community.
You need to give exmples of where you worked in a team, what you did, how you did it, and what the end result was such as:-
"I was a draughtsman in a small team of mechanical engineers in Trumpton.
I created working drawings for my colleagues on site to work to, thus enabling them to install a brand new ventilation system in a client's factory.
As a result the installtion was fitted correctly and on time meaning minimal financial implications such as delays or mistakes for the company I worked for."
You get the idea hopefully.
There are other things too and it's best you speak to the brigade directly they normally will issue you with a PQA sheet which tells you what kind of points they are looking for in an applicant.
Once you have that send me a Private Message and we can go from there.