Fire marshal training online in the UK: where to train and what employers look for

What employers look for in an online fire marshal certificate

Your employer decides what fire marshal training your workplace needs, based on its fire risk assessment. Fire safety law in every UK nation expects the responsible person to nominate competent people to help with firefighting and evacuation, and to give them adequate training. When an employer checks a certificate, they usually look for:

• Content that follows current UK fire safety law. The law for the nation you work in, from the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 to the Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010, and what it asks of nominated people.
• A clear, verifiable record. The course name, hours of learning and completion date, with a way to confirm the certificate.
• The essentials a fire marshal needs. Routine checks on escape routes, doors and equipment, what to do when the alarm sounds, sweeping an area, assisting people who need help, and when it is safe to use an extinguisher.
• A refresh date. The law expects training to be repeated periodically where appropriate, so a refresh date matters.

Lift College's certificate does each of these. It records Fire Marshal Training, 2 hours of learning, your completion date and a recommended refresh date 3 years on, with a unique certificate number and a verification link. Your employer will also walk you through the layout, alarm, assembly point and evacuation plans for your own building, and many add a practical extinguisher session; the course prepares you for both.

What the Lift College course covers

There are 6 short modules, each with a knowledge check, then a multiple choice final test with an 80% pass mark and unlimited free retakes.

1. The fire marshal's role. Why the law expects nominated people, what a fire marshal does day to day and in an emergency, and how the role fits with the responsible person and the fire risk assessment.
2. How fire behaves. The fire triangle, how fire and smoke spread through a building, and the common causes of workplace fires.
3. Proactive duties. Routine checks on escape routes, fire doors, signage, lighting, alarms and extinguishers. Housekeeping, hot work and storage. Recording and reporting faults.
4. Signs, equipment and systems. What fire safety signs mean, alarm call points, emergency lighting, fire doors and the extinguisher types and colours.
5. Reactive duties. When the alarm sounds: sweeping your area, closing doors, guiding people to the assembly point, Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans, refuges, roll call and liaison with the fire service.
6. Fighting a fire safely. When it is safe to tackle a small fire, how to use each extinguisher type, and when to leave it and get out.

By the end you can carry out routine fire safety checks and report faults, sweep and clear your area when the alarm sounds, support people who need help to evacuate, and judge when an extinguisher is safe to use and when it is not.

The law and guidance it is written around

• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 13 (England and Wales). The responsible person must provide firefighting equipment, detectors and alarms, and nominate competent persons to implement firefighting measures, with training appropriate to the premises.
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 15 (England and Wales). Procedures for serious and imminent danger, including nominating a sufficient number of competent persons to implement evacuation. Fire marshals are usually those nominated persons.
• Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, article 21 (England and Wales). Employees must be given adequate safety training when they start and when risks change, repeated periodically where appropriate.
• Fire (Scotland) Act 2005, section 53 (Scotland). Employers must keep employees safe from harm caused by fire so far as is reasonably practicable, assess fire risks and put fire safety measures in place, including instruction and training.
• Fire Safety Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2010, regulation 20 (Northern Ireland). Employers must give employees adequate fire safety training when they start and when risks change, repeated periodically when appropriate and given in working hours.

How Lift College compares with other UK providers

Details below are as each provider shows them on its own course page, checked 16 October 2026. "Check provider" means the page did not state it.

With Lift College the £19.99 is the full price for one learner, with nothing added at checkout, and the refresher is free when your recommended refresh date arrives. Retakes of the final test are free and unlimited.

Who it suits

Fire Marshal Training is for nominated fire marshals and fire wardens in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It is for you if:

• you have been nominated as a fire marshal or fire warden
• you are responsible for a floor, department or shift during an evacuation
• you manage a shop, office, warehouse, school, hotel or care setting
• your fire risk assessment calls for trained marshals
• your marshal training is due a refresh

Online training covers the knowledge. Your employer will also show you your own building's alarm, exits and assembly point, and many run a short practical extinguisher session; this course prepares you for both.

If you need the training every employee gets rather than the marshal role, see our fire safety guide. For general workplace safety, see our health and safety guide. See every course on the health and safety courses page or browse all Lift College CPD courses. Buying for a team? Ask about team enrolment.

Enrol on Fire Marshal Training for £19.99 and start module 1 the minute you pay. Ask within 14 days of paying and we refund you in full.