Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service

Bringing remote access, mobile-friendly e-learning to Nottinghamshire Fire & Rescue Service, so firefighters can spend more of their time keeping the community safe.

Supporting a fire and rescue service on the journey to ‘outstanding’

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service serves a population of 1.2 million people across Nottinghamshire, responding to over 10,500 incidents each year. With around 720 staff – including 560 operational firefighters – their mission is to protect the community and to be recognised as an ‘outstanding’ organisation in every area of service.

As part of that journey, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service needed a smarter way to deliver, track and manage the critical training that keeps their firefighters safe and prepared, no matter where they’re based or what shift they’re working.

Blending practical training with on-demand learning

At their training centre in the north of the country, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service delivers hands-on training for apprentices, on-call firefighters and operational staff needing revalidation.

This is also the dedicated location for breathing apparatus training, which is a high-risk, high-priority area that requires more frequent refreshers than other types of training.

To support this, the team supplements in-person sessions with a raft of e-learning modules covering everything from new safety procedures to urgent updates or equipment rollouts.To support this blended approach, the organisation needed:

• A centralised LMS solution that gives every staff member visibility over their own training and gives the training team insight into learner activity.
• Streamlined, automated enrolment that assigns training based on role, location and responsibilities.
• Flexible e-learning that staff can fit around their responsibilities.
• Consistent learning experiences across the region.

The solution needed to minimise the disruption to frontline operations while ensuring staff always have access to critical knowledge, whether they’re in the training centre or out on the job.

A flexible, role-based LMS that works around the day-to-day demands of firefighters

Working with Synergy Learning, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service rolled out a Totara-based learning management system, tailored to the unique demands of a busy fire and rescue service. 

Balancing structured e-learning with practical skills

They took a blended learning approach, recognising that while e-learning can’t replace hands-on training, it can significantly reduce classroom time. This allows both instructors and firefighters to focus on the most critical safety-related skills.

Building pre-course knowledge

Through the LMS, the training team introduced pre-course e-learning across a wide range of subjects. Even for highly practical training such as breathing apparatus exercises and hot-wear scenarios, firefighters complete prerequisite learning in advance. This ensures that when they arrive at the training centre, time is spent practising, testing and reinforcing skills rather than simply covering basic knowledge.

Digitising National Operational Guidance at scale

A key part of the programme was the delivery of National Operational Guidance (NOG), which is mandatory guidance that all UK fire services are required to follow. 

Previously, this content existed in written documents and Powerpoint presentations, delivered locally or regionally, with limited consistency. As expectations and learner preferences evolved over time, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service led a major project to convert this guidance into high-quality e-learning.

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85% learner retention, reduced admin and safer outcomes

Working closely with Synergy Learning, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service have seen increased learner retention, reduced admin and safer outcomes within the organisation. Here’s what they’ve achieved so far.

Greater visibility over learner activity

The LMS gives every staff member visibility over their own training, so they can see exactly what’s complete, what’s coming up and what’s overdue. A custom dashboard makes it easy to track learner progress at a glance.

Consistency across services

The organisation partnered with neighbouring services in Derbyshire and Leicestershire to convert 134 NOG modules into engaging and accessible e-learning. In this three-year project, materials were standardised, rewritten and distributed as interactive e-learning, ensuring consistent interpretation of national guidance. Each month, new content is drip-fed to learners to avoid cognitive overload.

A 95%+ module completion rate

A module completion rate of over 95% in the month the training is issued demonstrates increased clarity and learner engagement. Timely completions also mean compliance is consistently met without last-minute chasing, helping the training team stay focused on content improvement rather than administrative follow-up.

Measuring retention nearly three years after training delivery provides clear evidence that learning was understood, retained and applied.
For a fire and rescue service, this translates directly into safer, more informed operational decision-making on the ground.

Fully integrated HR automation

The weekly HR integration with the organisation’s iTrent system is used to sync:

• Role and rank changes
• Station movements and shift patterns
• New starters and leavers

This means the LMS is now always up to date and audiences are automatically assigned the right training based on their current operational role.

We were amazed when we came back with a knowledge retention rate of 85%, I’d be quite happy with that at lunchtime in a face-to-face training session, never mind 30 months later in e-learning!

We were impressed with the flexibility and the level of consultancy that Synergy Learning was able to provide. They were able to understand our requirements and create a user friendly learning portal for staff, and one that we can amend and be comfortable using without having to go back for minor changes.

Steve Wass

eLearning Lead

What’s next: evolving to meet the needs of a diverse workforce

In partnership with Synergy Learning, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Services is now working on the next stage of their learning and development offering. This includes:

• Narrated content to support neurodiverse learners
• Increased use of video demonstrations for complex skills
• A continuous improvement cycle to revise content based on end-user feedback

“Accessibility is built into the learning management system,” says Steve. “What we’ve got to do is recognise that we incorporate as many options as are feasible for the user going forward.”

The LMS is now a core part of how Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service trains, up-skills and supports its staff, ensuring they’re fully ready for every call, every time.

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