United Kingdom
The Life in the UK handbook
The quiz above opens on the history chapter, the longest in the book. Below: which book to use, what each chapter is about, and a reading method that turns it into answers.
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| Practice set of 10 questions |
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Practice questions written by Radif Partners from the facts of the official guide. Not the official test.
The Life in the UK handbook is the official study guide for the Life in the UK Test: Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents, 3rd edition (TSO, ISBN 9780113413409). gov.uk says you will only be tested on information from this Guide for New Residents and that you should study it to prepare; it is available as a printed book, an eBook or in audio formats. It is divided into five chapters: The values and principles of the UK; What is the UK?; A long and illustrious history; A modern, thriving society; The UK government, the law and your role. The test sets 24 questions drawn from those chapters, and gov.uk says you need 75% or more to pass, which is 18 correct answers. Because the book is the sole source of questions, a fact it states is the answer the test expects, even where public life has moved on since it was written. The handbook is under copyright and nothing from it is reproduced here: our 200 practice questions were written by Radif Partners from its facts, in our own words, to check your reading chapter by chapter.
Questions, dates and fees by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the questions and dates are built
Which book, in which format
The study guide that gov.uk names is Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents, 3rd edition (TSO, ISBN 9780113413409). It is published by TSO, and gov.uk lists it as a book, an eBook or in audio formats. The edition matters: the test is set from this one, and gov.uk tells candidates to study it to prepare. We do not link to any shop or sell the book; any bookseller can find it by its ISBN.
The handbook is not free to copy. That is why this site reproduces none of its text: what you read here describes the chapters in our own words, and our questions test the facts, not the sentences.
The five chapters, briefly
Each chapter has its own tone, and each calls for a different way of reading.
| Chapter | In a sentence | Read it for | Our questions |
|---|---|---|---|
| The values and principles of the UK | The principles that British society asks residents to share, and the steps to becoming a permanent resident or citizen. | meanings and examples | 40 |
| What is the UK? | A short portrait of the country: its four nations, the islands linked to it and the territories overseas. | names, places and symbols | 40 |
| A long and illustrious history | A long narrative running from prehistory to modern times, by far the densest chapter. | dates, rulers and turning points | 40 |
| A modern, thriving society | Everyday and cultural life: faiths, festivals, sport, arts, literature, places to visit and a few landmarks of science. | isolated facts and famous names | 40 |
| The UK government, the law and your role | How the state works and how a resident takes part: Parliament, devolution, courts, public services and civic duties. | structures and the numbers attached | 40 |
The only source of questions
gov.uk is explicit: you will only be tested on information from the Guide for New Residents. This has two consequences. First, you do not need anything beyond it: no wider history reading, no current affairs. Second, the book's version of a fact is the one that counts, even when the world has moved on. If the handbook gives a figure, a title or a description, that is the answer expected on the day.
This is also why a good practice question must stay inside the handbook. Our question bank leaves out anything the book does not cover and anything that depends on who holds a post today, so that the answer you learn here and the answer the test expects cannot diverge.
A dated book, and how to handle it
The 3rd edition has not been reissued every time something changed, so a few passages describe arrangements in the way they stood when it was written. Do not let this unsettle you. Learn the book's statement for the test, and keep any newer knowledge for life outside the exam room. Where you notice a gap between the two, it is worth a line in your notes, so that you do not answer from the news by reflex.
A reading method in four passes
- Skim the whole book once, quickly, without notes, to see its shape and how the chapters link.
- Read one chapter closely per session, writing down every date, number and proper name in a list of your own.
- Test that chapter the same day with the quiz at the top of this page or the chapter practice, from memory, book closed.
- Reread only what you missed, then move to the next chapter. Finish with full timed mock tests that mix all five.
The history chapter deserves several sessions on its own. Breaking it at natural boundaries (before the Normans, the Middle Ages, the Tudors and Stuarts, the modern era) makes it far easier to hold in mind.
If you are exempt
Some people do not need the test at all: those under 18, those aged 65 or over, those who passed before, and those with a long-term condition backed by a form or a doctor's letter. The exemption page sets out the rules. For everyone else, the handbook is the whole syllabus, and the Life in the UK Test page explains the test it leads to.