To resent the Life in the UK test?

[MooseBreath]

I will preface this by saying I am Canadian and have lived in the UK on a variety of visas for about 10 years. At 32 years old, this is basically my entire adult life.

I am finally at a point where I can become a permanent resident and can then apply for citizenship. In order to do this, I have to take the Life in the UK test. It is scheduled for later this month and I have bought the study guide and I am preparing to take the test so that I can continue living in the country with my DH and two British children.

Some of the knowledge required is absolutely ridiculous and a massive barrier to those with learning difficulties, those who speak English as a second language, or simply aren't highly educated. For example:

True or False: In 1500 the English defeated a large French fleet of ships that intended to land an army in England.

Which TWO facts relate to the UK's national heritage?
a. There are 25 national parks in England, Scotland and Wales.
b. All national parks are run by the National Trust.
c. There are 15 national parks in England, Scotland and Wales.
d. The National Trust is a charity that maintains much land and many historic properties.

Which TWO are famous British artists?
a. Thomas Gainsborough
b. Sir John Lavery
c. Benjamin Britten
d. Graham Greene

How many years did Mary Queen of Scots spend in prison?
a. 4
b. 11
c. 30
d. 20

How is this even remotely relevant to living in the United Kingdom in the 21st century? My DH (British born and bred, University educated to PhD level, excellent job) failed the practice test.

AIBU to be so resentful of having to learn all of this information to simply continue to live with my husband and children (and pay for the privilege)? I know I didn't have to move here and I didn't have to stay, but I met my DH whilst studying abroad and this is where life has led.

I have an entire degree in History from a good UK university and I don't know the answer to the Mary Queen of Scots question. You can understand more about the relationship now between Scotland and England by learning about Mary Queen of Scots but being able to put an exact number on the time she spent imprisoned tells you absolutely nothing useful at all. And as @SarahAndQuack says describing it as "in prison" shows a fundamental lack of understanding of the period and the situation on the part of the question writer.

More fundamentally I don't actually care if DH's foreign-born oncologist has even heard of Mary Queen of Scots. He knows exactly how to make bowel cancer shrivel up and fuck off and we as a nation should be bending over backwards to hang on to him and others like him, not chucking obstacles in their way. We are cutting our noses off to spite our faces so that successive anti-immigration Home Secretaries can look like they're Doing Something.

I've just done a practice test and passed easily so it looks like they are really extreme examples. I got questions like
'Which date is Christmas Eve?'
'Which of these landmarks is in Wales?'
'Which flag is a white cross on a blue background?'
'What is not a fundamental principle of British life?' (Answer is driving a car, the others were things like looking after your family)
'What is the capital of England?'
'Roast beef is a traditional good in which country?'

It could be worse, they could be asking you questions about the Beatles:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2003/aug/23/arts.thebeatles

Although I would stand a good chance of answering Beatles questions whereas I would struggle to answer some of yours.

I support the test in principle - there should be a bar to clear and it shouldn't just be a rubber stamp exercise. But some of those questions, I'm not so sure about.

Thank you for starting this thread, OP. I've just done the test and got one wrong, despite having a pretty good knowledge of UK history etc. A weirdly high proportion of the questions were about religion.

Next time my racist SIL & BIL start going on about how this country lets anyone in and then gives them UK citizenship, I'll get them to do the test and see if they'd pass!

Lol the whole point is to revise for it.

You don't need to obtain citizenship to live permanently in the UK it's an optional product and unless you depart the UK for a period of over 2 years without coming back once even for a day don't lost your settled status.
Nobody in here who is moaning on behalf of spouses or themselves needs citizenship they just want it, but aren't prepared to do the extra work just like in most countries do before obtaining citizenship which should be a privilege.

I just did an online test and got asked when the first Christian communities were settled.

WHO BLOODY CARES.

Honesty, give me an hour and I could come up with a modern, practical test that wouldn't require people to waste hours of their lives learning pointless and obscure facts.

Everyone saying 'oh, I couldn't answer those'. Of course you couldn't, you don't have the research.

But you don't go into these blind. You are given the information to learn. Just like, in Canada, you're given the information that the test will be based on (this is straight from the Canadian government site linking to the information the test is based on Study Guide – Discover Canada – The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship - Canada.ca)

It's like saying 'oh I couldn't answer any A level history questions' without studying A level history or 'I couldn't pass my driving test theory' without reading the highway code.

Whether it's right or wrong to have a citizenship test is a different question. But other countries, including Canada (which I saw you said you disagreed with) have them so I don't see the problem.

I think people forget that "these are basic history" applies to someone goimg through UK school. Never heard of most of these things in my history abroad. Well heard but basic. We had our own history to learn. So until the test, I had no reason to ever know who was architect for St Paul's cathedral. And frankly, it was no use to me after the test either

The question about artist should read: Do we in the UK consider composers and writers to be artists?

I welcome that it is not an easy test. You can pass it if you practice and revise.

Sadly we are governed entirely by people who view the world through the prism of the humanities - so, English, History etc.

I wouldn't have the first idea on any of that. I gave up History at 13 because it was taught by the PE teachers who had to do a classroom lesson.

If you are generally of a science/maths view, then you view all the questions as pointless crap.

Sorry we make you jump through these useless hoops.

I absolutely agree with you OP

I am British, born and bred, and even I wouldn't know a few of those answers at all..

You are correct, as well, in what has any of that to do with Life in the UK now.

With this gov it is becoming more necessity to have it than option to ensure your status is permanent. For example EUSS is only online for EU people and I have seen MANY reporting that they have issues with acces, it suddenly shows as application rather than granted etc. It's Windrush 2.0 waiting to happen.

I would think it being the most expensive citizenship (but not the strongest passport) , paying for it, working here, assimilating and fitting ever changing details of requirements would show enough "extra work" rather than learning who farted in 1789 towards royalty. 🤷

YANBU - DH is Australian and we’ve been through this and about to do it in the opposite direction. The thousands we have spent and that ridiculous test - we have often joked he would have been better off getting on a bloody dinghy in France.

DH has also put £££ into the economy as a high rate tax payer since day one.

I just did the test twice,
First time I got a mere 16/24
Second time 23/24 (with a few lucky guesses)

The biggest thing though is the utterly terrible english (in fact downright incorrect) littered with typos. Who was it that Queen Mark persecuted again?!

My cousin’s wife has taken this test so many times and just can’t pass it. The tears and frustration have been real. She’s not educated, lived in the arse end of Eastern Europe, left school at 15 and has worked in cafes and supermarkets all of her adult life. Her spoken English is very, very fluent, but she struggles to read in English (different alphabet for a start). Should we penalise people like her? I don’t think so.

YANBU! Thr cynical side of me thinks it is a ploy to get even more money out of people trying to become citizens. You HAVE to buy the book in order to pass since the questions are a random selection of dates and numbers and as long as you have remembered enough of the 'facts' (some of which are more opinion than fact) you will pass...It is a glorified memory test.

The thing that gets me is that the multiple choice questions are just plain sneaky. For example, if the question was "When did the Tudor reign begin?" the multiple choice should give 4 options like a)1085 b)1485 c)1785 d)1985 with only one option being anywhere near the Tudors. Instead they go with something like a)1484 b)1485 c)1486 d)1487 which turns into a pointless test of memory.

And don't get me started on why knowing how many ski centres there are in Scotland is helpful to anyone wishing to become a citizen!

The old Life in the UK test was similar tobthe German one . There were some questions about national traditions but much of it concerned tenants’ rights, labour laws, the health care system, etc. The content of the current test is a fairly recent Tory innovation.

@Fallenangelofthenorth your DP will have passed the test once to get Indefinite Leave to Remain, which isn’t easy to revoke. That should carry over. But those wishing to stay in the UK as spouses, whether as citizens or not. also need to pass it. Personally I would not be eager to test HMG on this

*John Constable would have been a better example”

Or even Tracey Emin, Bridget Riley, Rachel Whiteread, Maggi Hambling…….

I didn't study the Tudors per se at school, they weren't part of the history syllabus for the exam board we did in secondary and we didn't study them in primary (we did Romans, Saxons and Normans). We studied the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in RE though, so got the general gist.

Most of what I know I learned later, from the tv series about the six wives and subsequently my own reading.

It's really not at all relevant though. I guess it's helpful to know that the UK is, nominally at least, a protestant country, but it's surely more important to know that it's a multi-faith country where people have the right to follow any religion or none.

I believe that the number of people with no religion is catching up the number of Christians pretty rapidly.

Isn’t getting a passport and citizenship worth spending a few hours learning pointless facts ? Presumably it is.

Dh did this about 20 years ago, but it might have changed since then. He finished the test really early. I remember one of the questions he revised was what to do if you spill someone's pint. Correct answer- buy them a new one.

It's to keep the brown and black people out.

My husband had to do it.

I'm just glad the entry bar is the same for all. Not sure what relevance being Canadian or Australian or having 2 british kids or a British husband has.

Most who have to do it will be married to someone british or have british kids. Whether they are from Nigeria or Australia.

So did I. The two I got wrong were one about Gertrude Jekyll and what field of the arts she is famous in (never heard of her) and an English king one.

I got the artist one by elimination but I’ve never heard of one of the people listed. I’ve got two humanities degrees. They should be testing on useful stuff eg which id do you need to vote with, when can we vote the Tories out, what are your rights if stopped by the police.