Poll: UK Citizenship Quiz

[Benkin Manfish]

17/24. Not bad for someone who lives in colonies.

 

[Benkin Manfish]

same here, thank god for British comedy

 

[suitepee7]

11/24, and a uk citizen. that test is a pile of arse....

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

17 out of 24

But we were talking about this quiz in the office yesterday, and so I probably would have got lower if we hadn't been.

So according to Mister Cameron I do not possess sufficient knowledge of the English language or culture in order to live in the country of my birth and where I have lived for the last 22 years.

 

[b3nn3tt]

Failed, 12 out of 24. That was ridiculously hard, I have no idea what year stuff happened. Bloody glad that I don't have to actually take that test.

EDIT: Just let my mum try, she only managed 13 out of 24. That is a damn hard test!

 

[ikabodjohn]

crap only 5/24, i'm from UK

 

[Kiardras]

13/24. Born in UK.

Slightly worrying.

 

[Rooster Cogburn]

I believe the United States has a similar test, reportedly difficult. But it focuses on things like our founding documents, system of government, and national anthem. Having some familiarity with such things would probably be beneficial. I would look into it, but I'm having very strange... browser... issues.

Also, the Halloween question sounds silly until you consider the motivation behind it. Suppose you have no idea what Halloween is. Suddenly, a gang of very threatening looking kids is messing around on your doorstep. I wonder how many innocent trick-or-treaters get chased off with a rolling pin and broken English.

11/24 by the way. Looks like I won't be returning to the ancestral haunts. Not for long anyway.

 

[Esotera]

A better method of testing would be one on one interviews with trained immigration officers. Questions would be asked, questions with no right answer such as "you hear a scream coming from your neighbour's flat, what do you do", and the reasoning behind the answer should count more than the answer itself. This might take longer but with something as important as this, it is worth it.

Unfortunately it'd be more expensive, doubt this would ever happen. The majority of good people would probably pass as well, it'd be more selective, and in a better way, than the current test.

OT, but for the sake of comparison:

Spoiler

In Canada, the few people who don't celebrate it generally leave as many lights off around the front of the house as they can to indicate "not here, please," and may just go out for the night. Otherwise, trick-or-treating can start early in the day for very little ones (the trend where I live right now is for parents to bring them to the shopping mall as a "safe" place, and stores give out candy during the day), and go very late for older children. Many people decorate the outside of their house at least a bit (and some a LOT), and there's always a few people who run their own "haunted house" out of their home. Adults may throw parties or go to various events - one year I worked as an actor at Project X, which was then a two-story paid haunted house run out of old army barracks. There was a top-floor ("less scary" stuff) matinee version for kids (with their parents), and the two-floor version that started at 5 or 6 was 13+ or something like that, and ran until 3 in the morning.

As for treating. The general idea is to cover as much ground as you can - every house for blocks and blocks, so kids will be ringing your bell continuously for hours. Generally, people don't "trick," (unless they're complete jerks), but when I was a kid, there was the occasional person who invited us to "trick" them in order to get candy - once a friend of mine and I completely wrapped a man up like a mummy in the rolls and rolls of toilet paper we had on hand.

I guess it is rude...? But I wouldn't usually think of it that way. I would really only consider people rude if they try to grab more than their fair share of candy, and it is also really rude to persist (knock more than once or twice, really) at a home where no one responds. (If you have a reason to think that someone is there giving out treats - decorations, lights on - then not leaving might be okay, as the person giving out candy and manning the door might have run off and will be back. If that's not the case though, you should assume people don't celebrate it and leave without fuss.) Otherwise, it's not considered rude for that one night. I guess everyone understands it as a tradition, so the usual rules of behaviour don't apply.

This sounds awesome, I wish it was celebrated that much over here. I wish I could wrap my neighbours up like mummies...

Anyone get the feeling from this that the UK education system needs some help?

Not particularly. To pass this all you need to do is memorise a load of random facts, and our education system is already too focused on that.

I believe the United States has a similar test, reportedly difficult. But it focuses on things like our founding documents, system of government, and national anthem. Having some familiarity with such things would probably be beneficial. I would look into it, but I'm having very strange... browser... issues.

Yeah, there are a few threads for the US citizenship test now, and it's much easier than this one. It's also much more relevant.

 

[The Electro Gypsy]

*snip*

5. Bacon sandwich is always served with lettuce and tomato's. Hence BLT. Tbh, Bacon, veg, and fruit in a sandwich, isn't bad.

Sorry, but you disgust me. BLT is a heathen sandwich while a Proper Bacon Sandwich is Godlike

 

[Angry Camel]

Australian here, 9 out of 24. How does knowing how many parliamentary constituencies there are or knowing when women could divorce validate my suitability to being a citizen? I would've have been worried if I passed, frankly.

 

[MrNickster]

That was hard. I don't know the specifics of British history and I have a feeling most existing citizens in the U.K would probably fail that test. Does not knowing the exact year when women could divorce their husbands just alienate you from everyone in the U.K?

It reminds of my dear country of Australias old method of screening immigrants-They were given a test in a random language. If you were from China and wanted to get in, you'd probably end up with a test written in Welsh.

 

[Stu35]

Passed with 21/24 - However. I studied British History 1800-1918 at College, and in University I had a module on Britain in the 20th century, these helped considerably with a lot of those questions, otherwise I would have undoubtedly failed.

These questions do seem to be rather biased towards those who are students of British history, which the vast majority of our own people are not (the majority dropping history in Year 9 in my High School, by which time they had been taught "We won World War 1 and 2, Nazis are Bad".

 

[Batou667]

11/24 and I live here. What a ridiculous load of tosh.

 

[Doktor Sleepless]

UK citizen, 12/24, so I can go to Jamaica now?

 

[kickassfrog]

I'm surprised the giving children sweets is an actual question. Most days taking sweets from a stranger is considered dangerous.

 

[gellert1984]

10/24 Fail and a british citizen.

This test needs more questions about situations you may find yourself in and needs more open answers.

For example, where I live, at halloween we lock our doors and windows, tape the letterbox closed, stock up on cleaning products and pray the kids can't find any loose bricks.

 

[thom_cat_]

You scored 9 out of a possible 24 yeaaahno

 

[JMeganSnow]

It's funny how most of you Brits couldn't pass a citizen test for your own country, but then are so quick to stick your nose up, and tell us about how little Americans know about their own history.

If they asked me questions this arcane about American history, I'd probably be baffled.

 

[skeliton112]

9/24, I'm an Ausie so its kind of bad, seeing as though our government is fairly similar.