From tomorrow those wishing to take up British citizenship will have to pass a test. The BBC have produced a test based on the book which needs to be studied. How would you do in such a test? This is really aimed at Brits but feel free to take the test regardless of your nationality.

I got 9 correct out of 14.

Er, I didn't know where the origins of Father Christmas came from, although I did know where he lives! I also didn't know the order of the British saints' days.

If these are samples of what a person needs to know in order to become a British citizen I guess they need to chuck a lot of us out!

So how did you fare?

I got 6. Not bad for an American.

Sorry to say. I only got 3. I guess I better just stay in the USA.

I got 6 as well. That was interesting!

I got 8, which I guess befits my status a Colonial! No dog licences? That's odd...do you still have to get a TV licence?

Oh yes. Mind you that test doesn't cover the whole of the British Isles, some of the information is different for where I live - we do have dog licences and you have to be married for three years before you can get divorced.

5! I guess I have been away too long.

Take the patron saints, now I expect the Welsh, Irish and Scots might know when their own patron saint's day is but I guarantee that most English people couldn't even give you the month for St George's day. As for knowing when the other countries saints' days are, no chance!

Funny, that's one I got right, Sue.

Quote:

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You got 11 right!
0-5: Seat in Heathrow arrivals.... 6-10: Seat on the district council......11-13: Seat in Parliament.....14: Seat on the throne

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The title the" right honourable damnsuicidalroos" has a nice ring to it.

In Australia some many years ago we had similar tests for people wishing to emigrate here. One of the interesting things about the tests was the fact that the test could be given to the applicant in any language, if the official handing out the test was a firm believer in the "white Australia policy" he could give ,for example, a Chinese person the test but it was written in Swahili not English.

This British test is of course different as they are no doubt handing the "book" out for people to study before they take the test, though I do wonder if it`s being translated into other languages.

I think it's important to realise the BBC test is not the official citizenship test, but one they've made up from the citizenship literature provided to applicants. I'd like to see the official version if and when it's available.
I see no value whatsoever in tests of this nature, as they prove nothing except how good a memory an applicant may have. What matters most of all is whether or not applicants for citizenship are committed to the country to whom they are applying. They should be required to publicly swear loyalty to that country and it's people, in the full understanding that betraying that promise will lead their citizenship being revoked.

Hmm... Should natural citizens also be made to promise fealty, and what exactly would that entail?

Granted that this is the BBC's test based on the official book but I still maintain that the average British person would not be able to answer all those questions without looking them up. I am not saying that no one will get them all correct, just that the average person won't.

It would be interesting to see the official set but presumably they will change so that people do not learn the answers from people who have taken the test already.

Basically the test is a nonsense if it bears any resemblance to the BBC specimen.

I got 11, which is apparently good enough for a seat in Parliament (though I'd love to know how many MPs would qualify on the strength of this test).

Lord Tebbit will no doubt be disappointed to see that they've made no use of his "cricket test."

I got 10 - not bad for a colonial who has never been to England. I earned a seat on the district council which is probably better than getting one in Parliament!

A potential Member of Parliament here. Scored 11.

If that test had been submitted as a quiz to FT I'd have rejected it. There are two problems:

1. It doesn't test how 'British one is' or whether one is fit for naturalization, but tries to test the contents of just one book whose authors think it's about that kind of thing.

2. One has to guess what's going on in the quiz (or book) authors' minds. Take that question about what one should ask lawyers. Surely, it important to ask about all the points mentioned, but there's no "all of these" option. I suspect the quiz is getting at the point that in England and Wales the Law Society's rules require solicitors to inform would be clients of any conflict of interest but not of their fees. My reaction: Shame on the Law Society! Just imagine trying to run a shop without displaying the prices ...

With that same question, I thought one might need to know if the lawyer had any expertise in the branch of law relevent to the case - who wants a commercial lawyer handling a personal injury case or a personal injury or family law expert handling a multi-million pound fraud defence?

My experience in my work would lead me to say that very few 'average' citizens would score well in that test, or a similar test, even if they were born in Britain. Heck, given my own occupation and I scored 9? For those who don't know, I specialise in information, I research constantly and provide information for many thousands of people each year. Unless you NEED to know something you probably won't know the answer, for instance how long a person needs to be married before they can get divorced - unless you are interested in divorce you probably don't know plus in recent years the time frame changed and people might remember what it used to be, not what it is now.

As for the emergency telephone number, just about anyone would tell you that it is 999, they don't NEED to know an alternative number that was introduced to give a common number for our European friends, those who didn't know to call 999.

I got 9. I suppose I can still keep my passport?? I'm afraid I put PG down as a kind of tea!!

And a very good cup of tea it makes too!

The answer to that question is of little interest to someone like me, I almost never go to the cinema, I don't rent videos or DVDs and rarely buy them. I have no young children. If I had children then I would know the answer - I knew it anyway but I don't NEED to know it.

Another 6 here.