Any Cambodians in the UK

farang · Post by **farang** » Fri Oct 21, 2016 7:41 pm

Hello,

Are there any Cambodians in the UK who have taken the Life in the UK Test. It is something like this: http://britishcitizenshiptests.co.uk/li ... uk-test-1/. How easy is it to pass and how much does it cost to get the British citizenship?

walkjivefly · Post by **walkjivefly** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 1:19 pm

Ha ha! I just tried tests 1,2 and 3 and only passed one of them! Intrigued I took the other 7 and ended up passing a total of three of ten.

They're each 24 multiple choice questions and you need to score 75% to pass. All those I failed I failed by 1 question. That website says they're representative of the actual tests, not the actual tests.

The chances of anyone leaving school in the UK this year passing any of these tests is probably less than 10%. I'm pretty sure the history curriculum was more rigorous when I was at school than it is now and it didn't cover several of the history topics tested. Likewise with the geography and political questions.

The chances of a foreigner, including any who have lived in the UK for a period of time, randomly having the "general knowledge" to pass any of the tests is miniscule. But with concentrated study of certain topics a pass would be achievable. The tests will exclude frivolous applicants but having the knowledge to pass won't automatically make for a good citizen.

The gov.uk website explains the method and cost of acquiring citizenship. Off the top of my head the number £790 rings a bell but maybe I just imagined that.

springrain · Post by **springrain** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 1:37 pm

walkjivefly wrote: I'm pretty sure the history curriculum was more rigorous when I was at school than it is now and it didn't cover several of the history topics tested. Likewise with the geography and political questions.

I'm convinced of that. I can give an example. One of the Depth Studies for IGCSE History is the 'USA 1919 - 1941'. We are issued with a course book (or rather, unit of a course book) that is fairly recent - published just a couple of years ago. It is very thin on detail - with a paucity of challenging material. I dug out, from under a pile of discarded resources, a much older book, which has infinitely more detail and which requires students to think. The details in the older book (published in the late 1990s) would be enough for a student taking the exam 15 years ago, but they could now get by with scant understanding of the facts. Even so, the depth of study nowadays is not a patch on what was required when I took similar exams in the 1970s.

I suspect that the dumbing-down of education extends right across the curriculum.

walkjivefly · Post by **walkjivefly** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 2:12 pm

Oh yeah, and one of the questions was:

How many candles a day are lit during the Hanukkah festival?

WTF has that got to do with anything British?

Jessb52 · Post by **Jessb52** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 5:57 pm

walkjivefly wrote:Oh yeah, and one of the questions was:

How many candles a day are lit during the Hanukkah festival?

WTF has that got to do with anything British?

Erm.....because there are no British jews at all, right?

walkjivefly · Post by **walkjivefly** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:10 pm

Jessb52 wrote:
walkjivefly wrote:Oh yeah, and one of the questions was:

How many candles a day are lit during the Hanukkah festival?

WTF has that got to do with anything British?
Erm.....because there are no British jews at all, right?

Because there is nothing inherently British about a Jewish festival. Unlike, say, what percentage of the population were killed by the Plague, or what year Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. I had no idea how many candles are lit during the Hanukkah festival and I bet most non-Jews, British or otherwise, don't know either.

pedros · Post by **pedros** » Sun Oct 23, 2016 6:30 pm

Like a pub quiz... 5?

A good friend of mine (australian by birth) but a product of late 70s/early 80s english public school. Became a punk and new age traveller etc etc, did bird and sorted himself out. Had kids and suddenly found out he needed a citizenship test.

He passed, and the photos of a semi-toothless, londener, tatooed 45 year old white pwoper geeza guy (who'd been in living in
London since 6 months old) getting his cert of 'britishness' certificate at a ceremony from a brown council official from hackney borough council, with a fellow alumni of ethinics was quite ironic, and very amusing.

Jamie_Lambo · Post by **Jamie_Lambo** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 1:01 am

fuck that test!
i started well but its too time consuming with stupid questions

EdinWigan · Post by **EdinWigan** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 8:38 pm

walkjivefly wrote:
Jessb52 wrote:
walkjivefly wrote:Oh yeah, and one of the questions was:

How many candles a day are lit during the Hanukkah festival?

WTF has that got to do with anything British?
Erm.....because there are no British jews at all, right?
Because there is nothing inherently British about a Jewish festival. Unlike, say, what percentage of the population were killed by the Plague, or what year Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. I had no idea how many candles are lit during the Hanukkah festival and I bet most non-Jews, British or otherwise, don't know either.

Maybe it is more a test of religious tolerance or at least understanding. Albeit common sense would say correctly, one.

YaTingPom · Post by **YaTingPom** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 9:47 pm

1995 called and wants their website back!

Khmerhamster · Post by **Khmerhamster** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 10:31 pm

EdinWigan wrote:
walkjivefly wrote:
Jessb52 wrote:
walkjivefly wrote:Oh yeah, and one of the questions was:

How many candles a day are lit during the Hanukkah festival?

WTF has that got to do with anything British?
Erm.....because there are no British jews at all, right?
Because there is nothing inherently British about a Jewish festival. Unlike, say, what percentage of the population were killed by the Plague, or what year Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. I had no idea how many candles are lit during the Hanukkah festival and I bet most non-Jews, British or otherwise, don't know either.
Maybe it is more a test of religious tolerance or at least understanding. Albeit common sense would say correctly, one.

I remember studying this in school. It isn't one, it's quite a few and it's an odd number, pretty sure it's 9, if not 9 then maybe 11.
Stupid question - it certainly doesn't make me more British for maybe knowing this.

dom_wave · Post by **dom_wave** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 5:22 pm

It isn't really designed for you to just walk in and pass it.

It's like any standardised test these days. Buy the revision book if there is one, go through all the multiple choice sample questions until you can answer every one of them correctly, and then walk in and blitz the actual test.

I remember trying to do it a few years back and I failed miserably. My Indian colleague got 100% each time as he had been studying the sample questions.