UK Citizenship Test

If you use Twitter, you've probably noticed that you can have a go at the UK Citizenship Test, which decides (with a pass rate of 75%) whether or not people should be allowed to stay in the UK.  You can try the test here, if you like, but be warned: I don't know a single person yet who made the 75% barrier!
The questions include:

• In which year did married women get the right to divorce their husbands?
• The percentage of people in the UK in 2001 who said they were Muslims was...?
• The official report of the proceedings of Parliament is know as what?

If any of you readers got all three of those correct then you're well on you're way to earning your right to live in the UK.  If, like me, you took a guess at 2 out of the 3 and were wrong then you could find yourself kicked out faster than an X Factor contestant on finals night.

I think a citizenship test isn't necessarily a bad idea - if nothing else it might encourage people to improve their English language skills before moving here, which can only stand them in good stead...but, why can't it be fair?

 

Why don't they ask you stuff about how you would enroll your kid in school, how to sign up with your local GP, how to find English classes at your local college and how you might get funding to help you with the cost?

This test appears to have been written by someone who is pretty much out of touch with people's actual lives, not to mention the knowledge they have about their country's history.  Some of the questions on this were easily enough answered, but the whole thing has a feel of a particularly hard pub quiz.  I wonder if the person who wrote it knew all the answers off the top of his head, or if he had to look any of them up to confirm...?

I'd love to know how everyone else gets on in this quiz.  If anyone actually passes (without cheating) I'll break out the Union Jack bunting and bake a Victoria Sponge in your honour.