Could YOU pass the British citizenship test?

The UK citizenship test is to be rewritten after complaints it is so difficult that even British people would struggle to pass it.

Applicants must study the Life in the UK handbook and then pay £50 to take the test before they can obtain British citizenship or settlement in this country. The pass mark is currently 75 per cent. 

Last year, a Lords committee said the test should be urgently reviewed because some of its content was inaccurate, trivial and misleading. 

‘The UK today is about more than stereotypes such as roast beef and pantomimes,’ said committee chair, the Lib Dem peer Sally Hamwee.

‘The content of the history chapter is so insensitive as to be offensive. It urgently needs replacing.’

Home Office minister Simon Murray is promising a review of the test by June, according to The Mirror.

The House of Lords justice and home affairs committee report, published in June, said: ‘The content of the current edition of the Life in the UK handbook comes across as a random selection of obscure facts and subjective assertions that most people would not know, trivialising the process.

‘The content of the history chapter is so insensitive as to be offensive. It urgently needs replacing.’

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘The Life in the UK test is important for anyone applying to settle permanently in the UK to ensure they have an understanding of the democratic principles underlying British society and aspects of our culture and traditions.

‘We are planning to set out the process for reviewing the Life in the UK handbook in the first half of this year.’

Could YOU pass UK citizenship test? 

1. Which of Shakespeare’s plays contains the line ‘To be or not to be?’

A Romeo and Juliet

B Henry V

C Macbeth

D Hamlet

2. Great Britain was created in what year?

A 1677

B 1687

C 1697

D 1707

3. In the Second World War the Allies fought the Axis powers. Which one of these was not an Axis power?

A Italy

B Hungary

C Japan

D Germany

4. Many of the members of Charles I’s Parliament belonged to a Christian group who advocated a strict and simple religious doctrine. What were they called?

A Presbyterians

B Methodists

C Baptists

D Puritans

5. When did people start farming in Britain? 

A Around 7,000 years ago

B Around 6,000 years ago

C Around 4,000 years ago

D Around 5,000 years ago

6. What was the biggest source of employment in Britain before the Industrial Revolution? 

A Coal mining

B Metalworking

C Agriculture

D Cotton production

7. What happened after the General Election in May 2010?

A Labour and Liberal Democrat parties formed a coalition government

B Conservatives and Labour parties formed a coalition government

C Conservatives and Liberal Democrat parties formed a coalition government

D Conservatives party won a majority

8. What happened in 1400? 

A England lost the 100 year war

B Romans invaded England

C English replaced Norman French in Parliament and the royal court in England

D The battle of Hastings occurred

9. In which battle did the Scottish defeat the English in 1314?

A The battle of Caernarfon

B The battle of Rhuddlan

C The battle of Bannockburn

D The battle of Conwy

10. What was the name of the first Prime Minister?

A Sir Francis Drake

B Robert Walpole

C Oliver Cromwell

D Charles Edward Stuart

11. What time do pubs usually open on Mondays to Saturdays? 

A 10am

B 11am

C 12pm

D 1pm

12. Which of these expressions does not come from cricket? 

A ‘Batting on a sticky wicket’

B ‘Rain stopped play’

C ‘Hole in one’

D ‘Playing a straight bat’

13. In what two months can Diwali fall? 

A April or May

B September or October

C May or June

D October or November

14. Which of these statements about the EU is false? 

A It was founded by six western European countries

B It was founded by the countries who signed the Treaty of Rome in 1957

C There are 18 member states

D EU law is legally binding in the UK

15. What’s the capital city of Scotland?

A London

B Edinburgh

C Cardiff

D Belfast

16. Which one of these concerns criminal law, not civil law? 

A Employment law

B Drinking in an alcohol-free zone

C Debt

D Housing law

17. Civil servants must belong to a political party. 

True or false?

18. When do young people receive their National Insurance Number? 

A Before their 15th birthday

B Before their 17th birthday

C Before their 18th birthday

D Before their 16th birthday

19. Free press means what is written in the newspaper is out of the government’s control.

True or false? 

20. MPs from the second-largest party form their own cabinet. What is it called? 

A The opposing cabinet

B The shadow cabinet

C The secondary cabinet

D The deputy cabinet

21. What do young children believe that Father Christmas brings them on the night before Christmas Day? 

A Presents

B A Christmas tree

C Sweets

D Cakes

22. John O’Groats is in which country?

A Ireland

B Wales

C England

D Scotland

23. What is the name of the Paralympian who has won the London Marathon six times and holds 16 Paralympic medals? 

A David Weir

B Sir Chris Hoy

C Dame Kelly Holmes

D Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson

24. What was the name of the 1833 Act which abolished slavery throughout the British Empire? 

A The Emancipation Act

B The Freedom Act

C The Act of Rights

D The Abolition Act