Life in the UK test/exam - best way to wing it?

[Panos]

Hi

As title, I am looking for some advice on the best way to pass this test with the least amount of study time i.e. maximum efficiency. Please no disrespectful replies or attempts to take this post off-topic to the usual areas of immigration etc. I am simply looking for the best method of studying to pass this exam that is the most time efficient.

Thanks

Read the whole book twice. Go give the exam.
Thats what I did in 2007 and took me 5 minutes to fill all the answers 100% succesfully to the sheer surprise to the guy who had to validate the electronic test and print the result page.

In the mean time everyone else in the room was trying to talk to the examiners for gazillion things. Including several had no idea which book were giving (there was a transition between books) as their only material were questions & correct answers some also in their own language and not english which had no idea.

 

[Panos]

I took the 1st test and got 15 out of 24. As a Brit. Yes people need to know when Christmas Eve is and that Wales is in the UK and who the Queen is married to, but what was the point in the rest of the questions? Do people really need to know that roast beef is an English roast? Or that the first Christian communions happened in 3rd/4th century? No, I mean, REALLY guys?

The pre-2007 book was pretty interesting. Still have it. First half had censuses, cultural information, folkore. Second half the functioning of the UK government from the Queen down to the Commons. Including the rights of the Queen, whips, processes.

Ofc always was the weird "immigrant", who remembers every monarch of England from William the Battard onwards and still remembering over half the Saxons and the history around them, not just the names.

 

[A2Z]

I did mine about 18 months ago. You do not need the actual physical book. Search online for a version of it, can't remember exactly which site I used but there are loads. I read it all over one weekend while at work, so a good few hours solid reading. Did a few practice tests online. Passed the actual test a couple days later easily.

 

[Theophany]

Is there a question about whether or not an aircraft on a treadmill would be able to take off?

 

[Puzzled]

Only got 18/24 and lived here all my life

Very odd selection of questions and no mention of really British things like avoiding eye contact and queuing

 

[fretted]

22/24 - pretty standard stuff if you went to school in the UK but difficult for a foreigner new to the country.

 

[413x]

Hmmm tricky one!

None of those are very British.

Environment.. Nope no care for that by mps
Treating others with fairness?? Definitely nope

The first one probably is most applicable Public transport is naff

 

[Haggisman]

It it's anything like the practice questions online then it's a massive pile of ****. The questions are either so obvious they are pointless, or so obscure and irrelevant that you're unlikely to know the answer unless you have a degree in history or spend you're whole day watching daytime TV.

How about some useful questions around... Well... "life in the UK"... rather than testing whether you know the name of the dog owned by the second cousin (twice removed) of the Roman Emperor at 14:28 (EST) on the 16th of January 1756

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

I've taken the first 6 tests and failed all of them. That means I'm an illegal!

Further to my other post though, these are more like pub quiz questions. 2nd prize is a round of free drinks for the group, and 1st prize is £20 for each group member. It shouldn't be necessary for foreigners to know most of these answers. The main thing for them is being able to read, write and speak in English. Then knowing some of these question answers would be a gradual process as they live longer and longer in the UK, but it shouldn't be a pre-requisite imo.

 

[rubberduck]

Thanks for the replies, this is not a troll post - am asking on behalf of a family member who needs to take the test. I am UK citizen but was unable to pass the test when I tried it a few times.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Update: I have now taken 15 tests, and I have failed all of them

 

[SexyGreyFox]

You answered 16 of 24 questions correctly, (66.67%) and a couple of them were guesses.

 

[Supercow]

Thanks for the replies, this is not a troll post - am asking on behalf of a family member who needs to take the test. I am UK citizen but was unable to pass the test when I tried it a few times.

I did it years ago - you just need to read the book to be able to pass. It's not even a long book!

 

[FoxEye]

Hmmm tricky one!

I'd say "driving a car" and "looking after yourself (only)" are the most fundamental of all of those.

"Treating others with fairness" is positively discouraged, whilst "looking after the environment" only extends as far as putting your dog crap in a plastic bag before you throw it in the nearest tree.

 

[antijoke]

30/24

 

[Raymond Lin]

I took the mock and passed first time.

 

[Jean-F]

23 out of 24, but I’m ambivalent about being British, I’m glad that I live here, with all that entails.
I have much more pride in my soupçon of French blood.
When I hear “God save the Queen”, I shrug, when I hear the first notes of La Marseillaise, I well up.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

A lot of people who live in the U.K. wouldn’t get most of them answers right.

That is no way a valid test to see if you know about life in the U.K.

 

[Angilion]

I took the 1st test and got 15 out of 24. As a Brit. Yes people need to know when Christmas Eve is and that Wales is in the UK and who the Queen is married to, but what was the point in the rest of the questions? Do people really need to know that roast beef is an English roast? Or that the first Christian communions happened in 3rd/4th century? No, I mean, REALLY guys?

I'm British, I read a lot, I have an amateur interest in English history and I'm old enough to have picked up a few things...and I scored 20/24 on that test. St David's Day? First Briton to win a gold medal in the 10,000 metres? Why would I know or care? Things like that aren't about being British. They're about having specific interests. As for the first Christianity thing, I'm not even sure the official answer is right. I'd be willing to bet there was Christianity going on somewhere in Britain in the 2nd century. That gives ~150 years for at least a few Christians to travel from one part of the Roman empire to another part of the Roman empire. I'd be surprised if that didn't happen. Some Christians believe Jesus came to Britain in person! Maybe he did - assuming he was a real person, it would have been possible. There were boats. There was trade between the easrtern mediterranean and Britain. Allegedly one of his relatives was a merchant and took him on a trip to Britain in his youth.

23 out of 24, but I’m ambivalent about being British, I’m glad that I live here, with all that entails.
I have much more pride in my soupçon of French blood.
When I hear “God save the Queen”, I shrug, when I hear the first notes of La Marseillaise, I well up.

Is that about the countries or the anthems, though? "God save the Queen" is a mediocre anthem. I find "Scotland the Brave" more moving and I'm not at all Scottish.

 

[FoxEye]

Is that about the countries or the anthems, though? "God save the Queen" is a mediocre anthem. I find "Scotland the Brave" more moving and I'm not at all Scottish.

The only thing GStQ has going for it, is that it's short. Often only playing the very first section and ditching the rest.

Some national anthems go on for hours...

But yeah, GStQ is not something that will inspire many people, tbh. I have no ill feeling to the Queen and her brood, but it's time for our national anthem to be changed to something more appropriate. Maybe God Save Wetherspoons?