About the Official Test

Life in the UK is a 24 question multiple choice online test that needs to be passed as part of the requirements to attain Settlement in the UK (Indefinite Leave to Remain) or British Citizenship. The official test can only be taken at approved centres within the UK at a cost of £50. A 75% Pass mark is required in the 45 minute test. https://www.gov.uk/life-in-the-uk-test

The questions are based on Life in the United Kingdom: A guide for new residents, 3rd Edition (This was published in 2013 and the content has not changed since then).

Official copies of the handbook and other publications that include practice test are available from the The Stationary Office (TSO). https://www.officiallifeintheuk.co.uk/shop

A number of companies also offer online practice tests and mobile apps of varying quality. https://lifeintheuktests.co.uk/study-guide/. The official Study Guide should also be used to aid learning.

Site Search ONE Demo

Go to search demo page

Our Site Search ONE demo does NOT cover all of the material in the official handbook, it is being expanded all the time, currently it is focused on people that appear in the index of the official handbook. It is designed to show how facets and other search features of our SiteSearchONE WordPress plugin can be used as an aid to learning, for example:

Facets: The People index has facets of Sport, Artists, Authors, etc. so they can be studied in small groups at a time.

Sorting: This allows sorting alphabetically or chronologically. The initial results that appear are sorted chronologically with the most recent at the top. You can select sorting in the opposite direction or A to Z if you prefer.

Search: can be used as an aid to learning on a topic, for example:

• You may want to recall who invented IVF, simply enter ivf and press enter, this will return results on Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe.
• Enter the search term British Poetry, a link to Wilfred Owen will appear, click on the link and you will see his page also contains a section about British poetry history.
• Enter a search on Literature, a link to Jane Austen will appear, click on the link to also find information on other authors, take note of the way in which poets, authors and others are recognized and honoured in the UK.

Related material: pages may include links to related material, for example Lord Nelson has a link to the artist Turner who was a contemporary of Nelson and painted a picture of Nelsons ship Victory.

Media: Some search results include an image, and some articles include links to videos or music to assist memorizing.

Wikipedia: Each page usually has a link to a Wikipedia article for more in-depth information. To pass the “Life in the UK” exam you are not expected to know more than is written in the official Life in the UK handbook, but if you have time, your long-term memory will benefit from a wide knowledge of how people, events and places are related.

A good example of related people and events is that of the English theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, he doesn’t feature in the Life in the UK exam, however he was listed at 25 in the 2002 BBC list of 100 Greatest Britons. The interesting relationship between his birth and death dates are shown below.

Errors and omissions

• Please contact us if you find errors in any of the material, our pages contain brief extracts from the official handbook, but may not be complete.
• Always read the official handbook if you have to take the exam. We hope our pages help you to pass the exam, and also to have a better understanding of just some of the people, events and places mentioned in the handbook. Welcome to the UK!
• The official handbook may contain errors, for example our page on Ellen McArthur states she became the fastest person to sail round the world single-handed in 2005. The Life in the UK handbook states 2004, which is the year she started the voyage.