Half of young people would fail the national citizenship test

August 21, 2014, 7:00 AM GMT+0

YouGov tested a representative sample of British adults on the revamped citizenship test for aspiring immigrants and found that 1 in 2 young people would fail

Theresa May recently revamped the 'Life in the UK' test that all aspiring UK immigrants must pass to gain citizenship, to place more emphasis on British history and achievements. One needs to achieve 75% correct to pass, but only 49% of the 18 to 24 age group managed that. The older you are, the better you are likely to do: 65% of 25-39s, 78% of 40-59s, and 92% of the over-sixties achieved the required passing grade on our test.


The question that fewest people were able to answer actually had just two options: are magistrates specially trained solicitors? Or are they usually unpaid and without any legal qualifications? Only 53% were able to choose the right answer (the second one). By contrast, 97% managed to say that the Premier League is linked to football. 37% believe - incorrectly, it seems necessary to add - that Cyprus is a British territory.

The test was a sample practise test provided by the latest official practise handbook.