I failed my life in Britain mock test

Yes, that is exactly what has pissed of the Spanish population to the point where many of them do not even want tourists. People moving there who absolutely refuse to learn the language.

It is a shame that the Brits who moved there have ruined Spain for other foreigners.

I did it and failed miserably. Just over 70%. Some really obscure questions.

No, it really isn’t.

There isn't a nicer way to say this but if that is true rather than tongue in cheek it shows your ignorance rather than your DPs depth of knowledge on the UK.

Most of the questions would have been covered at school or by living in the UK. Not many wouldn't know Wellington defeated Napoleon or what lent is. Even without an interest in general knowledge those are covered in history and RE at school.

I found the book interesting for the most part and did learn from it at the time, although I have now forgotten most of it now. At least it was quick to revise. I read the book twice, highlighting the important stuffs, and did loads of mocks, writing down the wrong answers and going over them again.

which ones were so irrelevant?

What is ridiculous about them. They’re mostly just general knowledge. It’s nothing to do with being educated, being able to answer them is just a matter of paying attention and being that but curious

I've just tried one, and got 54%. I've lived here my whole life, have an A Level in British History and consider myself generally quite well educated.

These questions are absolutely ridiculous.

I realise that, but some of the questions were so irrelevant and obscure they were completely pointless. 99% of British people wouldn’t have know them.

When I was at Catholic school, everyone in the world was divided into "Catholic" and "non-Catholic", with Protestants in the latter. I'm no longer (never was by choice) a Catholic, and I see both as being Christian, but my mum wouldn't

Yes, but the context is more important than the dates. So the Glorious Revolution is important because it cemented Britain as a constitutional monarchy. You don't need to know the exact year it happened, and the "correct" answer to the question "why was it called the glorious Revolution" is "because it was peaceful". That's debatable (there was no bloodshed in London but there was in Scotland). Someone who had learned the book (dates and "facts") by rote would find it easier to answer than someone who really knew the history and culture in detail

Apologies. De facto official language.

I agree, but the UK does not have an official language.

British history is British culture.

Completely illogical and exceptionalist. That's like saying children who grow up on farms and spend their teens driving tractors around the fields don't need to take a driving test because it's evident they can do it already.

My DP got citizenship last year. While he was studying we did the mock tests, also did them with my family and friends (we are all British born and bred except DP, who has been here 25 years). The questions are ridiculous, and many have nothing to do with relevant British culture. My DP now knows more about British history than I do!

Your wife would already skip English language test. It does differentiate. There are two test LiTUK and English language.

I don't think it's racist to want to check that people who are about to get a citizenship actually speak the official language of the country they are applying in....

DP and I both did it. It was easier for me because in the past, the history section was omitted. DP studied quite hard for it, made a spreadsheet for the 4 countries (flag, symbol, education, courts, etc) and did mock tests for weeks. ExDP did my country's with the same rigour. It's a test that takes serious prep but the pass never expires. You can do this!

It looks a lot like the one I did for German citizenship. The questions are designed to make you aware of salient points of the culture you‘ll be living in, so the question on Habeus Corpus, for example, isn’t really testing the date, it’s ensuring you know that you can’t have a court trial without the person present. The question on the Welsh flag not being in the Union flag is to ensure you know that Great Britain is not just England (in too many countries, England is used as a synonym for GB).

You need to prepare for the test by reading through the book of questions. I prepared for the German one by doing all the online questions. There were a crazy number of questions there on how many states there are and where their parliaments all are (to understand that many, many decisions are made on state level - there are even differences in law and education between states) and some key events in German history - unification in 1870, reunification in 1990, wall coming down in 1989, Kristallnacht in I think 1937. There were also lots of questions on the equal role of women in law and society.

Once you have gone through the questions, you discover what has shaped the nation you‘re becoming part of.

(I didn’t read the roast beef question, but know there are nationalities who call a rare steak a bloody steak. There are two cultural elements that need addressing right there).

There‘s probably also a question on sticking up two fingers and ordering two tickets, too. That nearly got a German relative thrown out of the Royal Albert Hall.

Look if eg Reform came in and changed it to a C1 language (uni and professional standard English requirements) then you might have cause to complain. But this little test to revise is in its current form straight forward and pretty accessible and certainly not out of sorts with most of Europe.

The language requirement is around B1 - that is not hard!

I’m Australian and have never lived in the UK although my DH is English. I passed with 75%. Our political system is based on yours so that helped but a lot of the questions were just general knowledge.

The French, German and Swiss also do this. Heck most European countries do? In France you have to go for a formal interview (so it becomes more subjective). The English one is straight forward!

No it’s practical. It is also fair to treat everyone the same. Where do you draw the line between who should be tested and who shouldn’t? Should we draw the line at 1 year? 5 years? 10years? What level of job? A cleaner? A shop worker? A CEO?

inappropriate use of the word “racism” in cheap and undermines those actually suffering racism.

A system that can’t differentiate between someone who speaks (& writes) English fluently, has worked here, brought up children here, and lived here for decades and others who have (perhaps fleeing from war) arrived not speaking English isn’t fit for purpose. Maybe we should accept the former without the need for tests (a 3 minute conversation would be enough), and focus on English lessons for the latter instead? Or is this just another Reform inspired piece of racism?🤔