Getting certified
The school course you need before the F-80 test
Before the FDNY test, you must finish an F-80 course at a school on the FDNY list. You attend every class and pass the school’s graduation test with 70%. The diploma then gives you one year to take the F-80 Certificate of Fitness test (Study Material, as of October 2026).
Plan ref 6.2Updated October 25, 2026
What the rule says, line by line
The Study Material is direct about it. Before the computer test, every applicant completes an approved course for Coordinator of Fire Safety and Alarm Systems in Homeless Shelters (Source: Study Material p. 4). The school must be on the FDNY list. As of October 2026 that list is marked “Rev. 2026” and names 18 schools (Source: FDNY F-80 school list).
Attendance is all or nothing. You must attend every class to be allowed to sit the school’s final test. That test needs 70%, and you get two tries. Fail the second one and you repeat the whole course.
A practice site, an app or a book is not a course. None of them, ours included, gives you the diploma the FDNY asks for.
Two sets of tries, kept apart
The school’s two tries and the FDNY’s two tries are separate counts. After two failed FDNY tests, you retake the course and send proof before you can book a third. A practice question can ask what happens after a second fail. Read the options first: two may both send you back to the course. What splits them is which test failed, the school’s or the FDNY’s, so check the question for that. The retake rules page has the FDNY side.
The diploma goes in the same folder as your letter and form. What to bring on test day lists them all, and the study plan helps you book the FDNY test well inside the year.
The diploma clock
- Course days
Attend every class
A missed class means no final test at that school.
- End of course
Graduation test, 70%
Two tries. A second fail means the full course again.
- Pass
Diploma issued
You upload a copy with the FDNY application. The FDNY recommends bringing the original.
- Within 1 year
Test at FDNY Headquarters
After one year the diploma no longer qualifies you for the F-80 test.
- After 2 FDNY fails
The course again
Retake the course and show proof before a third appointment.
Picking a school
This page is about the rule, not about which school to choose. The prep options page names schools from the FDNY list, with prices only where a school publishes one and the date we read it.
Where the rule is written
- Source: Study Material p. 4An approved course before the computer test, with a link to the school list.
- Source: Study Material p. 5Full attendance, the 70% graduation test, two tries, a diploma valid one year, and the course again after two FDNY fails.
- Source: FDNY F-80 school listThe FDNY list of F-80 schools, marked Rev. 2026.
Before you enroll
Does the FDNY set how many hours the course lasts?
No. The Study Material sets full attendance and the 70% graduation test, and it names no number of hours (rev. January 2026, as of October 2026). Each school sets its own schedule.
Can I skip the course if I already work the panel every night?
No. The panel tasks you do at your shelter go on the F-80 application form, but the diploma is still a required document (Study Material p. 4, as of October 2026).
My diploma expired before I booked. Now what?
The Study Material says the diploma is valid for only one year for the F-80 test (as of October 2026). You need a valid diploma to apply, and a diploma comes from finishing the course.
Next exit: the App Store
F-80 is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. On any other device, the free practice here is the way through.