Life in the UK Test

Recently released figures revealed that in 2009 just under a third of all foreigners applying for residency or citizenship in the UK failed the ‘Life in the UK Test’. Of the 906,464 applicants, 263,641 failed the UK citizenship test which is a key requirement for those seeking to obtain British citizenship or settlement. It was designed to test migrants’ knowledge of  not only the English language but also important information about British society. Previous Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose Labour government implemented the ‘Life in the UK Test’ requirement, insisted that ‘Becoming a citizen is an important act, because they are getting rights and in return for that they have to accept responsibilities’. He claimed that ‘You should be able to speak the English language, you should be able to understand and speak about British cultural traditions’.

In 2009 the highest number of applications came from India, with 79.2% of the 100,001 who sat the test passing. Elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan provided the second most (63.8% of 68,279) and Bangladesh the fifth most although with a much lower success rate (44% of 38,085).

The third most came from the Philippines where 78.1% of the 53,609 passed the test, and the forth from Iraq with only 47.9% of the 40,200 applicants achieved the 75% pass mark. There appears a correlation between language proficiency and success in the test, with applicants from English-speaking countries in general faring much better. Applicants from the USA, Canada and Australia, for example, scored 97.7%, 96.9% and 98.0% respectively. Turkey (30,014) and Afghanistan (29,650), although providing the eighth and ninth most applicants, only achieved pass rates of 45.% and 47.8% respectively.

The multiple-choice test, which comprises 24 questions covering such subjects as the politics, culture and history of the UK and lasts 45 minutes, has faced its fair share of criticism since its introduction in 2005.

The scarcity of questions related to key moments in British history has been met with disapproval, especially when obscure questions ask, for example, what year British women were given the right to divorce their husbands (answer: 1857). According to historian Dominic Sandbrook, ‘the questions betray a  weird obsession with immigration, multiculturalism and the intimate workings of the welfare system’. Critics have argued that in attempting to capture the essence of ‘Britishness’ the makers of the test missed the mark, with the result an irrelevant quiz which the majority of British citizens by birth would probably fail.
The scepticism of the ‘Life in the UK Test’ was recently echoed by American author Bill Bryson, a long-time resident in the UK. He recently told an audience that although he is eligible for British citizenship and would like to apply, he is afraid of failing the ‘Life in the UK Test’ and what the reaction in the media would be.

Dominic Sandbrook, Daily Mail

Life in the UK Test Results in Full