News Archive - January 2013

UK citizenship test revised

28 Jan 2013 | Posted by Carl Thomas

The UK citizenship test has been revised and given a change in focus, according to reports from the Home Office.

Life in the UK, the test which those looking for leave to remain will need to pass, now has a focus on the "values and principles at the heart of being British". Ministers said that the new version has had "mundane" subjects stripped out and no longer covers things like job interviews and water meters.

Mark Harper, UK immigration minister, commented on the updated test: "We've stripped out mundane information about water meters, how to find train timetables, and using the internet.

"The new book rightly focuses on values and principles at the heart of being British. Instead of telling people how to claim benefits it encourages participation in British life."

He added, however, that the revised test is part of the Home Office plans to 'break the automatic link between temporary and permanent migration'.

The new Life in the UK quiz will include questions like 'Which landmark is a prehistoric monument which still stands in the English county of Wiltshire?' and 'Who is the Patron Saint of Scotland?'.

The response to the updated survey has been mixed with some groups praising it for asking more relevant questions of migrants, while others, including Don Flynn, director of the Migrants' Rights Network, have compared the approach to "an entrance examination for an elite public school".

Mr Flynn added: "This looks to us like a big step backwards from the concerns with integration which the government is supposed to have in this area.

"Naturalisation procedures have already been sharply criticised for coming up with tests which have very little to do with the things that most British people feel are important about their lives."