I’m always amazed by what is considered necessary knowledge in a citizenship test. I am British and I “passed”, but I don’t know how many constituencies there are, nor do I care, nor has it ever been necessary for me to know! Many of the others also seem like random trivia rather than key knowledge for being a successful and integrated citizen.
I agree about the random trivia. I've seen the US test, and I recall it's much more focused on history and the nature of the US government. This test seems to dip into the realm of pub trivia. Very odd.
Although I had over two minutes to spare with the constituency question so kept guessing until I got it right. I knew it had to be around that number when the Scottish Welsh etc constituencies are taken from the 650 in the UK overall.
Not getting why there's a question about lent there though. Isn't that a season observed by Christians worldwide?
I had to guess on the constituencies and Maiden Castle. Fortunately I started in Cornwall and was working my way up the map, which made that one quick!
Regarding Lent, the citizenship test includes some cultural questions about religion, values, law, hobbies, etc, that apply to the UK, but aren't necessarily UK-only. In this case, since not all immigrants are from Christian countries, they might not be familiar with Christian holidays. Personally, I think those kinds of questions are more relevant than the random history or sports trivia, since they can affect your daily life and interactions.
It turns out that observing Lent is quite a British thing, at least as far as I can find out. Christians from other countries where it's not observed in my experience are surprised to see all sorts of people who would never darken the door of a church observing it. It seems to be more of a cultural thing than a religious one.
The U.K. is so backwards it requires religious tests for citizenship? Some of these questions are meaningless like a horse race and vehicle registration questions that will simply be a requirement when you go to register it. You don't have to know, because they're going to tell you regardless.
It's not a religious test, it's about knowing something about the culture you're moving to. Even if most people aren't particularly religious anymore, the Christian calendar still affects things like school and bank holidays. There are also questions about things like queuing and pets, which aren't strictly necessary, but useful for understanding the people around you.
The fact that you dismiss some questions as 'religious' shows how sensible it is to have them on the test - they are about culture first and foremost, and that is the main thing that needs to be understood. Lent in particular is observed by all manner of people regardless of religious belief - and if you were planning to become a British citizen it would definitely be a useful thing for you to know if you have any intention of integrating. I would expect, if I were going to naturalise as a Saudi, say, that the test might contain things like "when is Eid al Fitr", because it would be relevant to my life there regardless of my religious beliefs.
In any case in a general sense it seems much more backward to me not to have any questions in the test about widely-held religious beliefs. How can you culturally integrate if you don't have the first idea about widespread religion(s) in the country you're going to be living in?
On a separate note I feel as if we should be focusing more on cultural integration rather than peoples ability to study and regurgitate information.
Not bad for someone who isn't British.
Although I had over two minutes to spare with the constituency question so kept guessing until I got it right. I knew it had to be around that number when the Scottish Welsh etc constituencies are taken from the 650 in the UK overall.
Not getting why there's a question about lent there though. Isn't that a season observed by Christians worldwide?
Regarding Lent, the citizenship test includes some cultural questions about religion, values, law, hobbies, etc, that apply to the UK, but aren't necessarily UK-only. In this case, since not all immigrants are from Christian countries, they might not be familiar with Christian holidays. Personally, I think those kinds of questions are more relevant than the random history or sports trivia, since they can affect your daily life and interactions.
In any case in a general sense it seems much more backward to me not to have any questions in the test about widely-held religious beliefs. How can you culturally integrate if you don't have the first idea about widespread religion(s) in the country you're going to be living in?