Practice and questions
The Life in the UK handbook, third edition
One book defines everything the test can ask. Here is how to identify the right edition, what each chapter covers, and how to read it with a pencil in hand.
How much of a mock comes from one chapter?
Questions in this chapter
60
| Share of our bank | 20% |
| Expected in a 24-question mock | about 5 |
| Whole bank | 300 |
Our mocks draw from each chapter in proportion to our bank. The official spread by chapter is not published.
The Life in the UK Test is based on a single book: Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents, 3rd edition, published by TSO (The Stationery Office), on behalf of the Life in the UK Advisory Group, ISBN 978-0-11-341313-3. gov.uk states that you will only be tested on information from this Guide for New Residents and that it comes as a book, eBook or audio recording. The Home Office's Guide AN recommends familiarising yourself with it before attempting the test and says it does not recommend unofficial study guides. The handbook has five chapters: the values and principles of the UK; what the UK is; a long and illustrious history; a modern, thriving society; and the UK government, the law and your role. History and modern society hold most of the dates, names, festivals and works to remember, yet our bank of 300 practice questions gives each chapter equal room, 60 questions apiece. Check the ISBN when buying: it is the simplest way to be sure you have the edition the test follows.
Your score
0 / 0
0 / 10 answered
Choose an answer to begin
| Practice set of 10 questions |
| You can still get 2 wrong |
Practice questions written by Radif Partners from the facts of the official handbook. They are not the questions of the official test.
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Identity card of the book
| Detail | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Title | Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents |
| Edition | third edition |
| Publisher | TSO (The Stationery Office), on behalf of the Life in the UK Advisory Group |
| ISBN (print) | 978-0-11-341313-3 |
| Formats | book, eBook and audio |
| Covers | everything the test can ask, and nothing else |
The five chapters and what they ask of you
1. The values and principles of the UK. The fundamental principles of British life, the responsibilities and freedoms of residents, and the steps to settlement and citizenship, including the test and the ceremony. Ideas rather than facts; our bank checks, for instance, that tolerance and individual liberty are both on the list of principles. Chapter 1 questions.
2. What is the UK? The four nations, Great Britain versus the United Kingdom, Crown dependencies and overseas territories, and some landmarks. A compact chapter of names and places. Chapter 2 questions.
3. A long and illustrious history. From prehistoric Britain to the late twentieth century: Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, the Normans, the Tudors and Stuarts, union, empire, industry, the world wars and the post-war state. The densest chapter for dates. Chapter 3 questions.
4. A modern, thriving society. Religion, festivals and saints' days, sport, the arts, literature, food, leisure and inventions. Wide and varied. Chapter 4 questions.
5. The UK government, the law and your role. Monarchy and Parliament, elections, devolution, the courts in the UK's legal systems, international bodies, and everyday duties such as tax and driving. Chapter 5 questions.
gov.uk does not publish how many test questions come from each chapter. The calculator above shows how our own mocks split their 24 questions, which is proportional to our bank.
How to read it for the test
Read each chapter twice, a few days apart. On the first pass, read for the story without notes. On the second, keep a sheet beside you and write down every fact that could become a question: a number, a date with its event, a name with what the person did, a place with its nation. That sheet, not the book, is what you will revise from in the last week.
Then test yourself. After each chapter, work through its questions in our question bank or with the practice set at the foot of this page, which starts on chapter 1. Facts you missed go back on the sheet, underlined. The study plan spreads this over the days before your booking.
Audio, eBook or paper?
All three hold the same content. Paper suits annotating and flicking back to check a date. The eBook can be searched, which is handy for checking a single fact after a practice question. Audio fits a commute and helps with pronunciation of names, but makes dates harder to keep; pair it with written notes.
Why we do not reproduce it
The handbook is Crown copyright and sold by its publisher, so we reproduce none of its text and give no summaries that could replace it. Our 300 questions each check one fact it states, in our own wording, with a short explanation. They help you find what you do not know yet; the book is where you learn it properly. Official references: the gov.uk Life in the UK Test page and Guide AN, section on the Life in the UK test.