I failed my life in Britain mock test

[Britishfailure]

So I am a European citizen who has lived in London for 3 decades married to a Brit and raised 2 children. I have been toying with the idea of citizenship I light
of the Reform “we want to deport you all” rhetoric.

I took the mock citizenship test tonight and scored 71% which was not enough to pass. However, I made my British DH and children take it too and I actually scored way higher than they did.

The test is honestly crazy. Questions about roast beef. Honestly so weird. I think I won’t bother becoming a British citizen as I really don’t like roast beef 😂

I'm an European citizen, currently reluctantly applying for a British passport (after 25 years). This test is a part of it. It needs to be learned, simple as that.
There's no way my husband would score 50%, but that's the way it is.

Ooooh trick question, love it! This is the kind of thing we want, knowing how that vote went makes you proud to be british 😂

But the tests are really simple. There’s a couple with dates in that you would know if you studied for the test but even just general knowledge and using the 5min of the 45 min allowed I was getting between 8@-85% I can’t believe anyone who is vaguely intelligent and has lived their life in the UK couldn’t get a pass mark. What sort of questions are people failing?

Well I failed the question above. I think the answer is Boaty McBoatface? I thought that was just a joke answer and I think I went for the HMS Enterprise.
It’s multiple choice so ofc you can be lucky and get a high score.

If you think having knowledge about your chosen country irrelevant then what can I say?

I had three questions with dates and got them all wrong. You’d better believe it because I’ve lived in the UK for 72 years and have a Masters. I suspect I’m vaguely intelligent which is no help at all for what is essentially a general knowledge quiz.

I thoight everyone knew about Boaty McBoatface😂
You should look at Scottish gritters' names.
British public can be hilarious with names. If it's names by public it will be the odd name.

It’s supposed to be a light hearted thread btw

I don’t think having knowledge about the country is irrelevant, but I think the type of knowledge I need to have to pass this test is irrelevant. It could have been put to better use surely. I mean, Boaty McBoatface? 😅

No but I am glad I know now 😂

What do you consider knowledge? When I did mine I had to learn lies about history in NI, is that knowledge?

what can carry on be associated with

Was the answer aeroplane luggage or bawdy films?

Hitler stuff is to train fixation on WW2, an essential part of being British.

Films. Can't remember the other options, but I don't think it included anything luggage-related.

I seem to recall that having decided a poll would be good for publicity and engagement, the stuffy, self-important powers-that-be decided they couldn't possibly go with the name the public voted for (Boaty McBoatface), so they went for the Sir David Attenborough, but as a nod to placate the masses they called the small boat carried on the main ship 'The Boaty'.

Now that tells you a lot about Britain.

It is really difficult to think up questions that:

1. genuinely test knowledge of life in modern Britain
2. are things that at least 80-90% of native British would know
3. but are NOT things that any foreign person with a good education would probably know.

What color were public telephone boxes?
What is the spelling mistake in the above question?

"Color".

I got 92%, but my DD's DH did it for real and got 100%. He's very proud to have his British passport now.

But why does it matter if people know telephone boxes used to be red? It’s not relevant. Same as whatever David hulme did in the period of enlightenment isn’t particularly relevant. You could still be a model citizen without knowing that. Or alternatively you could be an absolute waster but know the answer.

i guess I’d like more questions on what’s considered acceptable behaviour (like the not listening to music on public transport without headphones) but I guess the issue is the answers may be more subjective.

Is it acceptable to queue jump?

Is it acceptable to put a sofa in your front garden and your whole extended family sit on it drinking and talking loudly till 1am every night?

Maybe some questions about laws, what you are allowed or not allowed to do? They should be less subjective and useful to know.

a bit like I wouldn’t necessarily expect Scottish people to know how many people were on an English jury)

Why do you think Scottish people wouldn't know how many people sit on an English jury? It's basic knowledge - it's 12. Scitland has 15

I got my indefintie leave to remain in 2005

When I took the test it asked stupid questions about sport and national flowers. Nothing about democracy, democratic processes and values which i would argue strongly are alot more important.

I thought it was the most unbelievable waste of time and actually just a thinly disguised English test.

I only knew some of the answers as I’d done gcse history, ie the Factories Act one and some other historical one. I probably only knew one of the Black Death questions because I’ve visited Eyam village.

It’s not day to day Uk knowledge at all. Felt like it was questions like you’d get on The Chase to be honest….in fact they have had the Boaty McBoatface question on the Chase so maybe that’s where they’re getting their material from!

I just did the mock test someone post on page 1 and got 78% which I think is a pass? I'm incredibly bad at remembering dates (one of the reasons I didn't do History O level!) so that was my downfall on the mistakes.

I had some on democracy and how things work. It's luck of a draw.

I just did my Australian citizenship test and got 100%. It was easy. I then did a British one and only got 75% (I am British) it was ridiculous.

For comparison I just did the mock test for the Netherlands. It's an easier structure - at A2 language level and has A/B questions. It includes actually useful things such as:

How to register with a GP, how to make a medical appointment, how to get emergency help.
Where to renew your passport, where to get legal assistance, how to apply for child benefit.
How to get a job, validation of foreign qualifications, compulsory education age, where to apply for a student loan.
How to report a gas leak, how to read a gas meter.
Can men marry each other, do women get to choose who they marry, does the Netherlands have separation of church and state.

All of the above would be far more useful to life in the UK than extremely niche cultural questions. It should be a life quiz, not a pub quiz.

In case anyone wants to give it a go
https://oefenexamensduo.optimumassessment.com/spa/assessment-login/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJjb250ZXh0IjoiVlkySyJ9._lDFdnq0xhaSjrxGhvbDaqW4FsBsUREFbHBHxbzdZy4