Are you fit for the UK?

A British passport with the name of European U...
Do you deserve one of these?

@LDN on Twitter pointed out the following link today, asking readers – UK citizens and not – to click away and give it a go. I don’t know how many replies they got (“inundated” was the word used), but not a single person passed.

The link? A trial version of the UK Citizenship test which those applying for UK citizenship have to pass.

There are 24 questions with a passmark of 75%. I got nine (38%) and therefor failed miserably. I reckon I’m fairly well informed about my country but there you go.

My issue is the relevance of some of the questions to potential citizens. I mean, what on earth does it matter whether or not you know how many people claimed to be Muslims in the UK in 1981? Really? Knowing the unposted national speed limit is getting there – but only of complete relevance to drivers. Anyone who doesn’t have a drive will learn this as part of the driving license procedure.

In addition, on going through the correct answers at the end, I am informed that the questions I got wrong on the European Parliament should have been “B and D”. However, I was only given A, B and C to choose from.

Needs more work. And thought. And care. But then again, it’s been dreamed up by one of our mad government departments so one can hardly expect it to be remotely sensible.

If I fail the official test, will my government help fund my move to Hanoi or Bangkok please?

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