Life In The UK Test

I'm starting to read Irish history but don't know about the language! 

My girlfriend goes weak at the knees over José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. I quite like him too. (In a manly way, you understand?)

I'm 100% British, born and raised and always taken pride in English history, after all, I'm proud to be English.

I read some of the questions featured in this so-called 'British' test and I didn't know the answer to a lot of them.

Don't beat yourself up if you fail, chances are that you already know more about the country than the average 16 year old there.

It's a ridiculous test purely to milk the cash cow for all its worth, little thought really went into it and as such, you guys who take it are the ones who are seriously paying for and not in monetary value either.

Like the rest of most of the crap that filters out of the Government, its completely stupid.

stevewishart, having studied for it, taken the exam and now am applying for my perement residence, I don't think everything you say hold water in my opinion.

I actually looked forward to it.  £34 is arguable if it is a cash cow...  I think the vast majority of it is retained by the test centre and doesn't end up in the coffers.  If I were to tackle something that is disporportionate cost, I would tackle the visa fees.  There is no way the real cost of getting a visa costs £750.  Visa service fees amount to over £600,000,000 in revenue for HO every year.  £34 is the least of my worries.

The questions try their best to run the gamut of life in the UK.  Banal at times, there is a lot of good stuff in there.  I actually am proud that I took the exam and I actually cherish my certificate.  I don't think it is all bad.  I personally feel that there should be some standards in your progression towards Citizenship, I just disagree with some of the ways they wish to measure them, not accounting for how people actually contribute to society.  But for a government run programme, it is one of the better ones.

[Edit to correct data because I can't count, thanks ptc]

£60 million?  Phil Woolas says £650 million (visas + in-country applications):

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2008-10-28b.227532.h&s=home+office+fees

Have to disagree with you about the value of this test.  The information I was required to memorize was largely irrelevant and bizarrely selective.  (Why do I have to learn the age at which someone can legally buy themselves a lottery ticket, but not at which they can have sex? - not that this is relevant to me, as my partner is well above the age of consent, but the latter seems far more useful!)   

£60 million?  Phil Woolas says £650 million (visas + in-country applications):

Ooops, I left a zero off...  I know I read the RH Mr. Woolas comment the other day.

Since the test was introduced several years ago, have you seen any groundswells of patriotism in the UK's ethnic enclaves?  No.  If anything there's been a regression.

Is there anything at all in the material that addresses the core values and national aspirations of the British people?  No.

Are recent immigrants now highly informed about day-to-day life in the UK?  No.  It still takes about 7 - 10 years of living here to get informed on everything you need to know.

I have asked them why the date when women received the right to vote is more significant than the date when men received the right to vote.  No answer.

I have put it to the MAC straight out that

[1] the test material is largely irrelevant to native Britons, most of whom would not pass;
[2] the test material is largely irrelevant to immigrants, who need practical information.

So you have something which is relevant only to civil servants who administer the test and doesn't accomplish its purpose anyway.

And what's to be done about it?  Nada.  It's just 'what is'.  Mood music for middle Britiannia.

They are not going to change it.

And why do they excuse immigrants 65 and over from taking the test?  I imagine they would not welcome an influx of wrinklies (I can say that -- I am one) who would have nothing to contribute to the economy, so why is it easier for them?  Or are there other, more insidious, hurdles for them?

Kitsonk, I wasn't trying to belittle your accomplishment whatsoever. If you passed, you passed. Well done, give yourself a pat on the back along with staring at your certificate.

My point was mainly that the test is an utter joke and people shouldn't get so disheartened for failing the test because I can guarantee that most British people wouldn't even pass it. Sure, get upset at not passing and thus having to retake it, but don't kick yourself thinking that its both easy and valuable information to learn.

Because it really isn't.

I couldn't give a monkey's chuff about when the Church of England was set up in the same way that I couldn't give a chuff about which monarch holds the longest reign in England. That's just my outlook, others will no doubt have different opinions.

Truth is, the majority of England couldn't give a toss about half the rubbish that test throws up, most is entirely irrelevant to daily life in Britain. Questions such as 'what number do you have to dial to call the emergency services?' are needed, questions such as 'what year were women first allowed to vote?' are not.

[irony]
But we've got to do something to make acquiring citizenship difficult!
[/irony]

[irony]
But we've got to do something to make acquiring citizenship difficult!
[/irony]

Yeah, like charge a lot of money?