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If you’re applying to be a British citizen, you have to pass a cunning test filled with questions about ‘Life in the UK’, just to check you’re down with the homies or something. After changes in 2011, it was filled with exciting questions about pregnancy rates and unemployment law. Now, it’s been re-jigged to focus far more on history and culture. Question is: do you deserve to be British? Can you pass the test?
If you’re confident, you can try ten sample questions here; I have to say, they’re a damn sight easier than the last set of questions (found here) which seemed to have a perverse interest with migration trends in the 1980s and employment law. At least this test will guarantee everyone knows that the dude at the top of the tower in Trafalgar Square is the Duke of Wellington. [BBC]
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Cheers for the heads up, mines coming up soon, no really.
I got 10/10. Can you guys let me back in the country now?!
No, go back to iraqistan.
Hmmm…seems to have gone viral having just done the rounds at work.
Having done the test myself a couple years ago – those are the easy ones! (10/10). Personally if you’re serious, these questions are more like the ones in the real thing:
http://www.theuktest.com/
Though personally I think these ones will “catch ou’ ‘dem foreigners” more effectively:
http://realcitizenshiptest.co.uk/
I sure hope its a lot more difficult than that!
“Where is the Scouse dialect spoken?”
LOL
“What are the two characteristics of civil servants?
- Friendliness and efficiency
- Long holidays and quick service
- Political neutrality and professionalism
- Political correctness and slow but careful service”
That’s highly subjective.
Some of the questions in this test appear to be intended to sway hearts and minds, rather than assess knowledge.
Some of the questions in that test seem rather pointless, such as the one asking the percentage of children being brought up by two parents. Having lived in the UK all my life I couldn’t tell you that figure nor do I feel my lack of knowing is a hindrance to integration. Some of the questions are also incorrect or not specific enough.
For example, the minimum unemployment time before joining the New Deal programme the test is looking for is 18 months. 6 months is also a correct answer (such a time scale applies to 18 to 25 year olds) yet the test does not recognise it as such.
Easy Peasy!
Hennifer got 90 out of 100
Being Scottish; I thought I didn’t stand a chance. Two minutes later however, I feel thoroughly British with my 100% pass.
Independence, no thank you.
On the other hand, the rugby at the weekend will bring out a different beast altogether!
…There’s a big difference between being Patriotic and being downright silly (I’m looking at you Mr. Salmo Salar)
Im Welsh and I concur. cutting ones nose off to spite the rest of the UK and handing power to Europe is not independence in my opinion mr Salmond
Being Scottish, I can see the benefits of being independent despite not being fully swayed to agreeing with such a decision. A second question regarding devo max would have been wonderful but David Cameron had to turn it into party politics and a pissing contest with the SNP.
To be fair you cant really single out David Cameron, a pissing contest takes at least 2 parties to be a contest, anyway devo max is nothing more than boiling the lobster, ie complete independence is perhaps too bigger step for most people so creep towards it so people don’t notice thats the way they’re heading. The way it would be heading with devo max would be
1) Devo Max
2) Independence
3) relinquish Independence to the EU
With a straight up independence vote the Scottish people are at least aware of what they’re getting into. at least that is up until step 3). Stealth divide and conquer Its all a big con with the EU bureaucrats the ones slowly turning up the gas and stirring the pot
I thought a referendum was in order. Salmo deffo needs his dummy back in his mouth. I am yet to meet an actual unhappy scot.
Referendum is just around the corner and with the ‘yes’ vote at an all time low in the polls, the Heed Minister will no doubt be starting to realise the futility of his efforts. Saying that however, there are pockets of fervent believers who choose to spend their days moping around, dragging their heels and generally chipping on about the scum south of the border.
It depends if Salmond’s dastardly plan to lower the voting age to 10 pulls in enough YES change for changes sake voters. I think Chris Hoy and the rest of the team draped in the union jack may have swayed opinion a bit, it certainly bought a tear to my eye, absolute legend !
I am Scottish as well and I was chuffed that a question came up about the patron saint of Scotland. Booom
However the rest are aimed at English people. No imigrants want to come to Scotland cause its to damn Wet/Cold/Snowy
Ahhh, the age old Scotland is too wet/cold/snowy ESPP (Emigrate to Scotland Prevention Plan).
I have always nurtured the idea that we over-egg the severity of our weather in order to ward off immigrants. Not, I might add, due to us being a nation of racists (which we are not), but simply because an uncrowded Scotland, is a better Scotland. In my opinion anyway.
Yes it rains and sometimes pours but there are the odd few days of sunshine and it is on those days, that all rainy days are forgiven. For in the sun, Scotland has a beauty that few can rival. (and even in the rain, it’s pretty sweet too!)
Are the ESPP responsible for the midges too?
Also, Mr Tennent, the plan to lower the voting age is fair game when you accept that most of us Scottish people don’t live beyond 40.
The venerable Midge is indeed a front line resource for the ESPP. Cunningly they have been deployed, predominantly, in sparsely populated areas and those that are unfortunate enough to have to live amongst these pillars of the ESPP’ quest are still grateful for the service that they provide.
There was an accidental deployment in the Meadows in Edinburgh last year. It was nice to see that all that formation flying training we’d invested in has paid off.
Come to think of it, maybe it was an airshow-style demo – “Your ESPP subs at work”
I cannot say whether this was for demonstration purposes or simply a rogue squadron. . . Was it during the Fringe? I know the ESPP do widen the midge programme considerably during this time!
It was definitely Augustish. It’s nice that ESPP consider the international PR opportunities the festivals offer.
Dito with North Wales with regards to beauty more specifically Snowdonia which is where my dads from, which is why Im claiming Welsh citizenship
couldn’t imagine the horror of them concreting over that for the sake of political correctness.
At least when it snows in scotland its proper snow not like our measly 2 inches a year, last decent snow fall I can remember in England was in 1981 since then its been nothing but F***ing rain
I support independence not for nationalistic reasons or for soft reasons like “feeling British”. I support it because it’s pretty clear to me that Scots, in general, have distinctly different political views than the majority of our English cousins, and I believe that Scotland can become an even more progressive nation than it already is. I’ve got nothing against England, I just believe that we would be better off outwith the UK.
The problem with that is the view that Scotland can just leave all its British obligations behind. The UK was a partnership between Scotland and England with a Scottish king becoming a British one. For Scotland to unilaterally leave now handing off all responsibilities to the remainder of the UK is IMHO ridiculous. How would you feel if England left the UK and left Scotland dealing with N Ireland and all the international commitments?
For starters, the Union of the Crowns is different from the Union of the Parliaments. The Queen would still be head of state in an independent Scotland. England can’t leave the UK as it doesn’t have its own Parliament.
Well that’s just a minor technicality, strip away all non English MPs and you’ve got a parliament no problems.
The union of parliaments and crowns may be semi separate and you may be able to retain one without the other(as with most of the commonwealth) but it doesn’t change the fact that it is a union not a domination by one or the other country, one which has commitments and responsibilities that I don’t believe one country should be able to simply withdraw from.
What would you do with the pound ? you cant have the same currency without some form of fiscal union, what if Labour got in went on a spending spree again and the pound crashed, that would leave Scotland in the shit and what if Alex Salmond did the same that would leave the rest of the UK in the shit.
So your only other options would be to have your own currency which would take decades to build up or Join the Euro, soon one of the prerequisites to join the Euro will be fiscal union with the EU ie no control over your economic policies, by which time the EU will have you by the balls and they will take away the rest of your freedoms, don’t think they won’t. Wheres your independent progressive society then ?
Currently you have an independent parliament so the majority of decisions are your own, kiss that goodbye if you join the Euro. You also have a sizeable say in UK policies as a whole
UK population 62,641,000
Scottish population 5,254,800
8.38% of the population
if you joined the Euro that would decrease to
European population 739,165,030
Scottish population 5,254,800
0.71% of the population
You’ll have less than 1% say in any of your policies which effect your day to day life, if that ! judging by the fact that Europe is a bureaucracy not a democracy, and they wont give up their powers and give the people a real vote until they’ve got Europe sown up with everyone locked in and working the way they want it to.
9/10, not too bad. My only hiccup was the Jury Duty question.
Same. I know loads of absolutely irrational 18 year olds. God save those who stand in court at the mercy of one such imbecile.
I fell down on that one and put 21. I should of gone with my first instinct of 18 though :/
As someone who had to sit the test last year (and passed, thankfully), I can vouch for the ridiculous nature of those questions. Can’t wait to take on the sample questions in this revamped test, and shake my head at how easy everyone’s got it now!
Pah, kids these days, don’t even know they’re born!
Maybe that should be one if the questions? “Have you been born? A:yes B:no C: I don’t know.
I did mine last year too. It felt more to me like a how-to course for claiming money from the government than anything else
That was for Indefinite Leave to Remain. I’m up for citizenship this year and wondering whether they’re going to make me do this new one or whether I can just use the results for the last one again
Mine was for Indefinite Leave to Remain too, and yeah, know what you mean — I can’t imagine those questions were created with the aim to actually educate people. My understanding is you don’t have to sit the test again for citizenship, but I could be wrong.
Good grief, we exile your ancestors and now you’re passing citizenship tests….talk about chickens coming home to roost
Yeah yeah. “Crims coming back to take all our money, our jobs and our women”….
JulianT – Daily Mail
As it was a tongue-in-cheek reply to Kat (who I know hails from the ‘land down under’ (and I’m pretty sure she’s not after our women either) and I didn’t suggest she was a criminal (rather that her ancestors may have been) I think your comment is both inaccurate and irrelevant.
As to which newspapers I read I’m fairly eclectic reading stories from across the range.
I was being facetious, my friend. Hailing from Australia myself, I’ve heard it all before.
We can’t assume Kat’s not after our women; it’s a modern age you know…
…giggedy.
All joking aside, this test is absolutely ridiculous.
sure I read she was married or something but could be wrong, one never knows with you Aussies
10/10 .. Gave up on the bigger one.. its too long, but the first page i got most right but there are some funny questions.. one was:
“After the Second World War where did British textile and engineering firms send agents to find workers?
Australia and New Zealand
Poland and Switzerland
India and Pakistan
Ireland and Belarus”
WHO THE F**K KNOWS THAT?? or cares.. come on, i guessed India but that was luck..
I would had thought Germany for obvious reasons..
I went with “Ireland and Belarus”. Maybe geography and logistics swayed my decision.
I was thinking of it too since Germany missing from the list.
Ah, my friend. It’s all in the book “Life in the United Kingdom: A journey to Citizenship” by The Home Office and HM Staionery Office.
Available for purchase in all good bookshops and online for only £9.99.
LOL.. best to get that than ask actual British people as i bet most of us wont know them all..
Yeah, there’s a few questions about the history of British immigration in there. Most Brits wouldn’t know about that unless they had read a book on the subject.
If you think about it is actually easy. What major immigrant group from a former colony is largest and in has over 3 generations now.
China is a possible here as well as HongKong was a former colony.. and they have 3 generations etc.. no?
I suppose but the numbers aren’t as close or as universal, immigration from India and Pakistan was across the whole of the UK and very pervasive. Immigration from Hong Kong was much more limited and lots of areas in the UK have relatively much smaller Chinese populations.
Are you all serious, that is a pretty easy question… Not sure if you regard this as racist (it isn’t) but it basically says:
“For cheaper labour, instead of the Britons, who now made the UK’s clothes from 1945 onwards?”
Australians and New Zealanders
Poles and the Swiss
Irish and Belorussians
or Indians and Pakistanis?
Maybe, but Poland was decimated and parts of Switzerland so they might of wanted work as well. I took an educated guess and got it right based on the same logic, but there is still that moment of doubt. It seems like a pointless question for someone becoming British, how will that help them other than a pub quiz maybe?
Questions like, “What should you do when you see pedestrians standing at a Zebra crossing waiting to cross,
A) Speed up
B) Wait for them to be on the crossing then run them over in your Addison Lee Taxi
C) let them cross ”
Had to pass mine to become a citizen. I’d recommend getting the book as you have to answer incorrectly if it’s incorrect in the book. But it didn’t take long – just have to study.
Ouch, 5/10, seems like I won’t be migrating to GB any time soon.
100 out of 100 in a 10 question test. I appreciate the sentiment, but should it be 10 out of 10 or 100%?
Personally, I welcome our new internet quiz overlords.
Depends if you were doing the sample of 10, or the full questionnaire I think.
wow, much much easier now! I did mine about a year ago now, ok, these are far more “pertinent” questions, the old test was all about law and politics with little bit of history, this one is just general UK knowledge, if you live here you should know all these.
But I still think a very good level of English should be mandatory.
Good cause i got 100 out of 100 they aint hard..
7 / 10. Does that mean I get deported?
4 out of 10. The ones I didn’t get were ones that i thought were trick questions because they seemed too easy and ones about political bs.
Now that’s a conundrum. I haven’t scheduled mine yet, so now I have to decide whether I want the new one or the old one… the new one seems deceptively easy, but it could be A TRAP.
I found the old, longer one to be very England/Wales-centric. There are many different laws for Scotland, and I thought that at least 2 of them would have been different. If it’s going to be a British exam, then it should cover all of Britain and not have country-specific questions
10/10
I wonder what the score would be if this test was given to the average 16 year old?
well whoever came up with the sample questions didn’t do their research properly… the flag of the United Kingdom is called the Union Flag, NOT the Union Jack…
“In 1801, a new version of the official flag of the United Kingdom was created. What is it often called?”
It asks what it is OFTEN called, not what it is OFFICIALLY called. I call a ten pound note a ‘tenner’, doesn’t mean it’s the official term used.
It’s also worth noting that it IS the Union Jack as it has been announced so both by past parliaments and past monarchs. They have absolute sovereignty so if they proclaim its called a “blue goat” then it doesn’t matter about traditional usage, that’s what it is.
And I, for one, welcome our Blue Goat overlords.
Bugger got one wrong! Does that mean I get deported back to Scotland?
You are only allowed back into Scotland these days if you agree to the following conditions:
1) Sean Connery would make an excellent ruler
2) Alex Salmond deserves to be declared as our Dear Leader as he has found a way to make the finite resources of the North Sea last for 3000 years
and finally number 3) Your sole ambition in life is to work in a call centre for BMW or some other German firm who will take over the Eurozone and make Wee Alex their biatch!
Damn can’t agree to any of that. Shame I liked the look of all that free prescription medicine, hospital parking, higher education and what ever else we can take off the English.
well i got 9/10 so looks like i can stay
10 out of 10 on the easy questions but I failed both of the website ones. Mostly I am annoyed not because I got those questions wrong but some of them I am actually annoyed are true. The bulk are fairly easy and if you studied the data for population ratios most people would pass.
Most english speaking countries have stupid and pointless tests like that. Personally I only feel the need for english proficiency, a desired skill and a clean criminal record with no evidence of any form of extreme beliefs.
9/10 and 23 / 24
Great success!
My downfall was not knowing how long a new mother is allowed to take as maternity leave. Given that I’m 19 and male, it’s not really something I need to know!
Took the exam last year and I thought the exam has lots of info that are not necessary in living in the UK (e.g How many percent of the UK population is Bangladeshi). I’m sure more than half of them won’t be answered right by natural born citizens. Hope they made it more relevant and useful.
Wow, that was ridiculously simple.
I’m not British or trying to move to the UK, but I had 8/10 with some common sense.
Although our country doesn’t even has a test, so I guess any test is better than none.
5/10 ):
The dude at the top of the tower in Trafalgar Square isn’t the Duke of Wellington…
Uhhh… Nelson is at the top of the the column at Trafalgar square. It’s called Nelson’s after all and Trafalgar is the NAVAL battle which Nelson is commemorated for.
*Nelson’s Column
Yes, i passed new UK citizenship test of third edition recently. For every non UK citizen will pass the Life in the UK test to settle permanently. I practice the British citizenship test in “http://www.britishcitizenshiptest.co.uk/” and i passed in official UK test. Thanks to all.