Life in the UK test. What's all the fuss about?

[MORBULOUS_PRIME]

Well I sat down and wrote the "Life in the UK" test today. I timed myself while writing it; I passed and it took all of 3mins 49 secs to complete.

For preparation I simply read the relevant chapters of the guide ONCE yesterday.

I don't understand what all the fuss is about to be honest, I even picked up a couple of tidbits of info that I did not know about. Fancy that.

[anjali_devi]

3mins 49 secs is too slow...
I was under 2 mins.... I would echo your feeling..... ???

[John]

Do appreciate that those who do not have a perfect command of English and/or don't come from a Commonwealth country, or an ex-colony, are likely to find it much more of a real task, than clearly the two of you did.

I certainly know of people where the starting point was that they knew nothing, or very little, in the book, and accordingly it took weeks to study. And no doubt the test took a lot longer than 4 minutes.

[luky-marina]

Well I sat down and wrote the "Life in the UK" test today. I timed myself while writing it; I passed and it took all of 3mins 49 secs to complete.

For preparation I simply read the relevant chapters of the guide ONCE yesterday.

I don't understand what all the fuss is about to be honest, I even picked up a couple of tidbits of info that I did not know about. Fancy that.

A real challenge to me regarding to that test was not English by itslelf but remembering all those stupid percentages/statistics . So I'm quite impressed by somebody who had read it just ONCE

[jei2]

Well I sat down and wrote the "Life in the UK" test today. I timed myself while writing it; I passed and it took all of 3mins 49 secs to complete.

For preparation I simply read the relevant chapters of the guide ONCE yesterday.

I don't understand what all the fuss is about to be honest, I even picked up a couple of tidbits of info that I did not know about. Fancy that.

A real challenge to me regarding to that test was not English by itslelf but remembering all those stupid percentages/statistics . So I'm quite impressed by somebody who had read it just ONCE

Hmm.. but evidently somebody with fluent English, a good knowledge of colloquialisms and a fair grasp of language awareness.

MORBULOUS_PRIME and anjali_devi, well done to both of you.

Now just stop the childish bragging. You're going to set a bad example!

[jonbon]

well i had a lady (of middle eastern descent i suspect) in my test centre..she was sitting it for the 4th time..so its not that easy for everyone i think

[macaroni]

Anyone having to write that test should take the time to study properly. As this is the big bad internet, we have no way of knowing whether anyone is being truthful or not. Also, what works for one person, may not work for another.


I find it rather incredible that reading all those chapters ONCE(including the neverending statistics as well as the rather insipid data about councils) in one day did not result in a migraine followed by a coma.


The OP must have a photographic memory. How blessed.

[jei2]

Anyone having to write that test should take the time to study properly. As this is the big bad internet, we have no way of knowing whether anyone is being truthful or not. Also, what works for one person, may not work for another.


I find it rather incredible that reading all those chapters ONCE(including the neverending statistics as well as the rather insipid data about councils) in one day did not result in a migraine followed by a coma.


The OP must have a photographic memory. How blessed.

[global gypsy]

I find it rather incredible that reading all those chapters ONCE(including the neverending statistics as well as the rather insipid data about councils) in one day did not result in a migraine followed by a coma.

Well said. If someone can memorise stats to the last decimal place [e.g. what's the proportion of people under 18 in the UK: a) 12% b) 14% c) 18% d) 20% etc etc] then they are really geniuses!
Or liars.

[mayc2208]

I passed yesterday!

Anyone having to write that test should take the time to study properly.

I agree you should study it properly. There was a guy sitting near me who didn't pass it, so he will have to pay another £34 to take it again...I too think the test is very easy as long as you read the official 2nd Ed book. Also found the 'Essential Study Guide for the Life in the UK Test' by Henry Dillon very useful (easier to be carried around) with the official studyig material and practise questions (I came across the same questions during the real test!) Glad I now passed and can forget about all the stats, off to sell my books on ebay now. Good luck everyone!

[StellaRose]

Well I had no idea if it was hard or easy, by my standard. I am a tertiary educated Australian, been in the UK for 4 years. I passed the test today on the first try, in less than 5 minutes.

I read the book twice, then made notes according to the Home Office guidelines on 'what you need to know', read and reread the notes, until I was comfortable. As a result, the test was a breeze for me, and though the actual mark wasn't known, I have a feeling that I probably got 100%. Being Australian, I have some knowledge of culture and law that also applied at home, where we copied a lot from the British.

I can see how if you don't memorise every single detail, you could get caught out. It's not a test of IQ so much as a test of conscientiousness. There was a Kurdish guy at my test centre who was doing it for the upteenth time and failed again. He was very angry and challenged the personnel on the validity of the result as he was sure he passed.. caching!

I found the waiting the real pain of the experience. About 10 of us waited in a tiny little room with little ventilation and bright light, staring at eachother and the wall, before registration, after registration, and when waiting for everybody to finish to get the result for each.

[Casa]

Well done, but would you have found it as easy if the questions had been in Arabic...Chinese..Japanese etc? That's the reality for some taking the test where English (written in Roman script) isn't their 1st language.