UK citizenship test is a ‘bad pub quiz in need of an overhaul’, finds report

The UK citizenship test, a crucial element of the application for British residency, is a tangle of errors, omissions, and “mundane trivia” – likened in a new report to a “bad pub quiz”.

This was the damning verdict passed down today by a law professor who closely analysed the Life in the UK test, which must normally be passed by anyone seeking permanent residency or wanting to become a British citizen.

Thom Brooks, a professor of law and government at the University of Durham, pointed to “serious problems” with the content of the test and the revision materials supplied to candidates.

He described the assessment as a “test for British citizenship that few British citizens can pass”, and claimed to have found “factual mistakes” in the official test handbook and test materials.

Professor Brooks was also concerned that the test information has become “increasingly outdated”.

“This report exposes for the first time that information about the UK’s EU membership was removed months before Brexit happened,” the report also states.

Proposals for the test were mooted by Labour in 2002. Then home secretary David Blunkett announced the plans with the intention of ensuring that new citizens had good knowledge of life in Britain.

The test was instated for citizenship applications in 2005 and for indefinite leave to remain applications in 2007.

Candidates do not need to take the test if they are under 18, 65 and over, or if they have passed it before. Those with a long-term physical or mental condition are able to provide a form or a letter from a doctor in place of the test, however.

Candidates are given 45 minutes to answer 24 questions about British traditions and customs. They can sit the test as many times as they wish but must pay a £50 fee each time.

But professor Brooks worries that its contents have become increasingly “impractical” over time.

“If citizenship tests are to continue, then their contents, use and impact need to be taken more seriously following this report’s recommendations,” he writes.

The citizenship test “appears to be the only such test in the world that does not even ask, nor require, new applicants to know who is the head of state, how many MPs sit in parliament nor which court sits atop the judiciary”, the academic notes.

Mr Brookes says “there is perhaps no clearer example in the test of triviality” than having to commit to memory two dozen facts about the life of Sake Dean Mahomet, who opened London’s first curry house and popularised the use of shampoo above Europe.

Other “mundane” information candidates must memorise includes the height of the London Eye (443 feet) and approximate age of the Big Ben clock tower (over 150 years).

Candidates must also be able to reel of the dates Boris Johnson and Theresa May became prime minister – though “no one else in British history”.

The report found, too, that “no one need know how to contact emergency services, report a crime or register with a GP”.

Professor Brooks said: “The Life in the UK test is essential for permanent residency and citizenship…[It] matters and should be taken seriously. The government is urged to accept the recommendations in my report to improve the test, its monitoring and inspections.”