A lot of people are failing the UK citizenship test

A quarter of the people who took the British citizenship test in Merseyside failed last year.

But could you pass it?

Here are some examples of typical questions: (answers below)

1) What created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland?

2) Which of these is an Anglo-Saxon poem? a) Beowulf, b) Mr Hyde, c) Jude the Obscure, d) Pride and Prejudice

3) How many member states does the Commonwealth have?

4) What did the Chartists campaign for?

5) What Palace was a cast-iron and plate-glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851?

Scroll down to the take the test

Exclusive figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws show a total of 1,917 tests were taken in Merseyside in the financial year 2018/19.

People failed on 471 occasions, around 25% of the time.

However, the rate of people failing the test has actually gone down compared to 2017/18, when people failed on 33% of all tries.

Liverpool saw the highest proportion of people failing the test in the area, with a failure rate of 26% down from 34% in the previous year.

Wirral and Sefton saw the second highest rate locally with 24% of people failing the test, down from 31% in Wirral and 30% in Sefton.

St Helens followed with the third highest failure rate at 18% – down from 29%.

The correct answers to the questions posed above are:

1) The Acts of Union 1800; 2) Beowulf; 3) 53; 4) Political reform; 5) Crystal Palace.

What is the citizenship test?

Passing the citizenship test, also known as the “Life in the UK” test, is one of the criteria for becoming a British citizen or settling in the UK.

You must also have spent a certain period of time in the country, pass an English language test, and not have any criminal convictions.

The test includes questions on a range of aspects of British culture and history.

People who failed can take the test as many times as they like, but each attempt to pass the test costs £50.

There are over 30 test centres in the UK.

Across the UK, 170,986 tests were taken in 2018/19, with 18% of people failing, or 31,559 in total.

The test was taken more times in the last financial year than it was in 2017/18, when it was taken 135,552 times. That year, the failure rate was 26%.

Question –1 of 24 Score –0 of 0

Which was the last successful invasion of Britain?

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The Life in the UK test has 24 questions that must be completed within 45 minutes and the applicant needs to get at least 75% of questions right to pass.

In October last year, the government announced stricter immigration and citizenship rules to come into place after Brexit.

The Home Office said the proposals would ensure that the test will be more relevant to daily life and culture in the UK.

The reforms include tougher English language requirements for people applying for British citizenship. It also wants to reform the Life in the UK test to give greater prominence to the British values and principles expected of those wishing to call the UK their permanent home.

A public consultation will be brought forward on the Life in the UK test.