to ask you, if you are British born, to answer these six questions without Googling?

[IceLollyMolly]

Just a small experiment. Not a marketing gimmick, but I will explain shortly, once a few people have answered. Or not answered!
If you are British born, can you answer these five questions without Googling or using any other materials for the answers?
(1) Who was the first person to circumnavigate the world without stopping?
(2) What date was the Battle of Boyne?
(3) How many local authorities are there in London?
(4) Which composer composed music for George the I?
(5) What significant event took place in 1284?
(6) Who is the paralympian who won six gold medals over two Paralympic Games?

zero

Is 1284 the Magna Carta?
And is the first person to go around the world the Lion Philleous Fogg in top 80’s kids telly, Around the World in 80 days?

I've just had a go at some of the online tests. In Test 2, it asks " Women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote as a result of their contribution towards the war effort. Which war was that?"

Really? That's why they were given the right to vote? All the women campaigning, signing petitions, marching, breaking windows, going to prison, hunger striking, had nothing to do with it?

People get to write whole essays on it, so I'd agree it is not a single, settled reason.

Indeed. I, for one, would have been the kind of suffragette who said she’d contemplate engaging in war work if and when she was treated as an equal citizen. If that wasn’t forthcoming, she was happy to see if our new German overlords were more receptive.

I can answer the first five, easily, but I have a history degree and have been a huge history nerd since I was 9 years old.

I have no idea about the last one because it's not a subject that interests me.

I got 3.

You can learn everything you need for the test from the handbook, so it's really just a test of your ability to learn a list of facts rather than whether you're deeply engaged in UK culture. I don't think it's really about saying people ought to know this stuff before they become citizens- it's more (positive spin) making sure people have engaged with the process to the extent that they are willing to learn what they need, or (negative spin) giving people another hoop to jump through.

But people do actually get a book to study with everything that might be in the test in it.

That was the official line from the government at the time. They made it very clear it was because of women's war effort that they were given the vote, and not because of all the campaigning. Which is expected from a government of the time who didn't want to encourage campaigns of that sort.

It's nonsense though. Young women did a massive share of the work in the factories and weren't given the vote, neither were working class women who drove the buses and delivered the mail. And women in other European countries, who put in just as much war effort but who didn't have the same kind of campaigning before WW1 were not given the vote by their governments.

Basically, they knew votes for women were inevitable, they knew they would lose the fight. Society was being more democratic, the class system was slowly fading. The war provided a convenient excuse to (partially) give in without committing the ultimate Edwardian sin - looking weak.

Not British born but i didn't need to do any of this shit for my British passport, thankfully, or I'd still not be British

Right, haven;t read the thread, and I'm going to have a go.
I am guessing these are the British citizenship test?

(1) Who was the first person to circumnavigate the world without stopping?
no idea, was it Columbus? Was it much much later? Haven't a clue
(2) What date was the Battle of Boyne?
don't know, the only battle date I know is 1066. I can't even guess at an era.
(3) How many local authorities are there in London?
I used to live there, and was brought up there, but it is a complete guess - 15?
(4) Which composer composed music for George the I?
Don;t know, and I can't quite pinpoint when George the 1st was date wise, so I am not going to make a good guess. Umm, was he 1700 ish? Are we talking a British composer? The only 2 British composers I know are Elgar and Vaughan Willimas, and they are both later.
(5) What significant event took place in 1284?
Is this the signing of the Magna Cater?
(6) Who is the paralympian who won six gold medals over two Paralympic Games?
I am guessing Ellie Simmons?

I am a teacher. I like facts and history. I also helped a friend revise for her citizenship test, but that was about 10 years ago.
Some of the things missing from the test are strange, and some of hte things included are just bizarre!

well I went back and read the thread, so I see that I scored 0!

So I went and did 2 practice tests and scored 67% and 75%.

However I was particularly outraged by one question.

In the UK it is illegal to discriminate against someone based on their marital status or their gender.
True or False.

I do find the knowledge expected strange, and very picky. So I get it that you might say when was the magna carter signed - 850, 1215, 1520, 1900
In other words, some expectation of the general era.
But these questions are all: when was it signed - 1210, 1215, 1220, 1225
and that feels like a GCSE history exam, and quite unnecessary.

I remember helping my friend, her English was good, but the level of English needed to get the questions and really understand the book, was really high.

This is when you need the laughing emoji…

When I sat the Australian Citizenship test, I did several practice tests first - not one of my actual Aussie mates could answer the majority of the questions on that!

I’d have got some of them from a multiple choice, but I’ve never even heard of the 1284 one.

I was going with "foundation of Peterhouse", which is probably a bit niche even for a random facts about the UK quiz

That's 1294, though.

No! It was 1284! Apologies.

Got 1 (Handel). Reform voters should be made to sit the test and be deported if they fail it.

Not a Scooby Doo on any of them and without googling I don’t even know what the word Circumnavigate means.

Only 3. Thankfully not in the US so hopefully won’t be thrown out (family tree goes back to the early 16th century in Britain 😁)

I can’t answer any of them, not British born but I’ve been here for yonks

Yes ! 😁

3! Clever shite there 🤣

(1) Who was the first person to circumnavigate the world without stopping?
-- Magellan. The one that lots of map styles are named after.

(2) What date was the Battle of Boyne?
-- late 17th century. But honestly, I'm not good at this period of history at all.

(3) How many local authorities are there in London?
-- I want to say it is over 30. So guessing 32? (It'll probably be 28 now)

(4) Which composer composed music for George the I?
-- Handel

(5) What significant event took place in 1284?
-- could be a couple of things. There was the Statute of Rhuddlan sometimes around then, but doubt that will be the answer. I suspect Magna Carta

(6) Who is the paralympian who won six gold medals over two Paralympic Games?
-- Dame Tani Grey Thompson? I'm sure there must be a few paralympians who have done this?