Life in the UK test.

[mrsquirrel]

Anybody's spouses sat the life in the uk test yet?

Been doing some research into whether or not to go back to the UK for a couple of years and the test seems rather difficult for anybody to do.

How do all these refugee immigrant types manage it?

[Ivor Biggun]

They don't. They do what most Thais do here. No licence ,no insurance etc etc. You can't make them pay fines if they haven't any money which is what they plead.

[DrB0b]

Test details here;

Life in the UK Test website

It looks a lot harder than the US Citizenship test posted earlier on the forum, I doubt most UK citizens would pass this test. Still, I'd like to see a test like this for anybody who wnats to beconme a citizen of a foreign country.


Some things you have to know about before taking the test


Migration to Britain

• Where have migrants come from in the past and why? What sort of work have they done?

The changing role of women

• Do women have equal rights in voting, education and work, and has this always been the case?

Children, family and young people

• Do many children live in single parent families or step-families?
• When do children take tests at school? How many go on to higher education?
• What are the minimum ages for buying alcohol and tobacco? What drugs are illegal?

Population

• How many people live in the countries of the UK?
• What is the census and how is census data collected and used?
• How many people belong to an ethnic minority and which are the largest minority groups? Where are there large ethnic communities?

The regions of Britain

• Where are Geordie, Cockney and Scouse dialects spoken?
• What languages other than English are spoken in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales?

How the United Kingdom is governed

• What type of constitution does the UK have?
• What is the Queen's official role and what ceremonial duties does she have?
• What is the House of Lords and who are its members?
• What are MPs? How often are elections held and who forms the government?
• How do elections for the House of Commons work? What do the Speaker and Whips do?
• What is the role of the Prime Minister? Who advises them and what are the main roles in the Cabinet?
• What is the Opposition and what is the role of the Leader of the Opposition?
• What is the civil service and how do civil servants work with government?
• What are the powers of the devolved administrations? Which areas of policy remain under the control of the UK government?

How the United Kingdom is governed

• What is proportional representation and where is it used?
• What services are provided by local authorities?
• How do judges apply the law? How are the police organised?
• What are quangos and non-departmental public bodies?
• How is political debate reported? Are newspapers free to publish opinions or do they have to remain impartial?
• Who has the right to vote and at what age? How and when do you register to vote?
• Who can stand for public office? How can you contact an elected member? How can you visit Parliament?
• What are the roles and powers of the main institutions of Europe? How is European law organised?
• What rights do citizens of European Union states have to travel and work?
• What is the Commonwealth? What is the United Nations and what is Britain's role within it?

And so on.

[benbaaa]

How many people live in the countries of the UK?

I think they'd accept an answer rounded to the nearest 10.

[astasinim]

I took the practice test and failed


The wifes just started an ESOL course with citizenship content. Finishes June next year. Should she pass the course, then she can apply for ILR at the princely sum of £750, pluss a citizenship ceremony of around £650.

Yep you got it

Rip off Britain

[Dougal]

Been doing some research into whether or not to go back to the UK for a couple of years and the test seems rather difficult for anybody to do.

It would be interesting to know how many have taken the test and how many have passed.

Before driving licences had photographs on it was very common in the immigrant community to pay someone who could actually drive to take the driving test on your behalf - taking your photograph as part of the driving test was designed specifically to stop this type of fraud. As there is currently no national ID card, I wonder if the same scam is available to applicants for the citizenship test .

Anyway haow long will it be before the test is challenged in the courts, as it seems on the face of it to be unfair to ask immigrants to pass a test that the majority of the indigenous citizens could not pass either.

[mrsquirrel]

I can't sign the national anthem, never have been able to, only know the first line or so.

Looked through the test and was amazed at how hard it was. For a lot of immigrants English isn't going to be their first language. A huge proportion won't be able to read those tests. Do they have them in different languages?

[benbaaa]

^ Welsh...

[mrsquirrel]

I can't sing the national anthem either.

[benbaaa]

It goes like this:

God save our gracious queen
Long live our mmmm-mmm queen
God save the queen
The fascist regime

Send her mmm-mmm mmm-mmm
Happy and mmm-mmm-mmm
Long to mmm-mmm-mmm-mmm
I don't want a holiday in the sun

[a. boozer]

Despite very many hours of study Mrs. Boozer tried taking the test twice, without success! When I took the study book to my local pub, the great majority of people there were, not unsurprisingly, unable to answer the questions.

[a. boozer]

[quote=Dougal;416544]

Before driving licences had photographs on it was very common in the immigrant community to pay someone who could actually drive to take the driving test on your behalf - taking your photograph as part of the driving test was designed specifically to stop this type of fraud. As there is currently no national ID card, I wonder if the same scam is available to applicants for the citizenship test .

People taking the test have to take their passports with them, these are then photocopied at the test centre.

[Marmite the Dog]

it seems on the face of it to be unfair to ask immigrants to pass a test that the majority of the indigenous citizens could not pass either.

I disagree. I think all countries should have a similar test. At least then those who really want to get in should have to make some sort of effort.

Do they have them in different languages?

I would think so. Most official documents are produced in a wide variety of languages in the UK.

[a. boozer]

Do they have them in different languages?

I would think so. Most official documents are produced in a wide variety of languages in the UK.

I seem to recall that there are only two language options, English and Welsh.

[Marmite the Dog]

^ I don't remember Welsh, but Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and a few other God-forsaken languages were definitely options.

[Dougal]

I think the web site has Welsh as an option, a bit of PC lunacy but as an official language of the UK I suppose it makes the Welsh feel better.

It would be a nonsense to have a test to establish your suitability to acquire British citizenship if it allowed someone to pass who was so unfamiliar with the English language that they did not understand the questions.

[mrsquirrel]

Do they have a Thai test then?

Can you imagine all the Issarny girls coming over and learning Welsh to take the test?

[Begbie]

I think the web site has English as an option, a bit of PC lunacy but as an official language of the UK I suppose it makes the English feel better.

It would be a nonsense to have a test to establish your suitability to acquire British citizenship if it allowed someone to pass who was so unfamiliar with the Welsh language that they did not understand the questions.

[BigRed]

Looked through the test and was amazed at how hard it was. For a lot of immigrants English isn't going to be their first language. A huge proportion won't be able to read those tests. Do they have them in different languages?

The whole point of the test was that they had to learn English to do it. The questions are only partly about what people should know about the country they live in, the point is that people are able to read three chapters of a book and be able to answer questions on them. Remember that schools are supposed to be taching citizenship as well these days.

Regarding pass rates and fraud, the Sheffield test centre was closed and all the people who have passed may have to take the test again

What is bad is that the Government announced the intention to promote integration by making people reach a certain standard of English and then withdrew the funding for the free evening classes.

[Gerbil]

a few other God-forsaken languages were definitely options.

Scouse?

[DrAndy]

it seems on the face of it to be unfair to ask immigrants to pass a test that the majority of the indigenous citizens could not pass either.

I disagree. I think all countries should have a similar test. At least then those who really want to get in should have to make some sort of effort.

Do they have them in different languages?

I would think so. Most official documents are produced in a wide variety of languages in the UK.

The whole point of the test is to see if you understand English, as well as the life and culture of the UK, so only in English, yah!

my wife took the test and passed easily; she did study the book hard and asked me a lot of questions (some of which I did not know the answer).

Whilst I was sitting in the centre, out of about 40 people, 75% passed, some scraping, some better

anyone need the official book?

if you accept the premise that you should be able to speak English and understand some of the basics of UK life to immigrate, then the test is not unfair.

[Marmite the Dog]

I suppose knowing the local language should really be the ticket. I just didn't want Ant attacking me for showing common sense over PCness.

You need to have a certain level of Thai to get residency here (or a large wallet...).

[DrAndy]

agreed. also, in a forum, knowing how to post only once is a good thing Marmite

[a. boozer]

^ I don't remember Welsh, but Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati and a few other God-forsaken languages were definitely options.

Sorry, I wasn't talking about all the government brochures and forms which appear to be available in just about every language, except Thai. I was meaning that the 'Britishness Test' is only available in English and Welsh.

[mrsquirrel]

Why not in Gaelic?

Who the fuck is going to sit it in Welsh? Are their any immigrants that stupid that they would want to learn a language that has words without vowels in it?

Question 1.

Whtwtyhgf jlkjlajtyshh nbmjbnmkgfj asjhkfkh hkdslkhafs lkhadflhf asflkhasfkh afskhafdskh affakhfas afskhafslhkfa ?

a)fdhfdsjhfds
b)lfdsfdsklhdfslkhfdsklhfds
c)lkhfdlkhfdslkrelnnenrelknfdslknfdknfd
d)dlkdgkhklhasflkhsfakhlfda