Hey, guys, welcome back
to the Girl Gone London channel today I'm doing kind of a vlog and kind
of an informational video about a super important test that every expat who wants
to become a UK citizen eventually has to take.
That test is called the Life in the UK Test.
I have scheduled mine for tomorrow and I'm starting to study today because that is
what I used to do in high school and college.
And so I thought, why not cram for another test?
I haven't taken a test in a long time.
I think the last one would have been
my theory test for my driving license, which I think was multiple choice.
I'm pretty good at multiple choice, so I'm not too stressed and I have lived
in the UK for almost 10 years now, which I'll explain in a second.
I want to explain it,
but I'll explain why I'm taking the test now when I've been here for 10 years.
And I will kind of go through some practice tests with you.
You can do a little bit of studying with me and then I will take you
to the test center tomorrow and hopefully I pass all the way.
This will be a very embarrassing video.
So the life in the UK test is 24, a multiple choice questions.
And they all come from a book called The Life in the UK.
And so I've got my notebook,
I've got a highlighter, I've got a pencil, and I've actually got
most of the text of the book just on my phone.
I am going to read the entire book and I'm going to make notes.
And then there are lots of practice exam questions that you can take.
I've heard that most of the questions are
kind of recycled from the same bank of like three hundred questions.
And so really it's about memorization as
opposed to having to, like, write a long form answer.
So that should make it a bit easier because you can kind of pick and choose
the answer as opposed to needing to recite all the answers to somebody.
But yeah, the life in the UK test is basically what you have to take before you
apply for what's called indefinite leave to remain.
And so it is a prerequisite
for citizenship, but only because you can only apply for citizenship after you have
your indefinite leave to remain, if that makes sense.
So a lot of people think that I'm actually
taking this citizenship test and then that means that I'll become a citizen.
But I first have to apply for my indefinite leave to remain.
And then if I get that, I can apply for citizenship if I want to.
Indefinite leave to remain only comes after five years.
The current the current immigration track is five years for me.
I've done that five years on a partner
visa, starting with an unmarried partner visa with my then boyfriend.
And now it's technically a married partner visa because we got married.
But at the whole time it's been the same partner visa route.
You can also do a work visa route.
So if you've been in the UK for work, there are other stipulations regarding
like ongoing employment and there's all kinds of financial requirements.
I'll do another video about indefinite leave to remain.
But the reason that I have been in the UK for almost ten years,
which I can't even believe, but almost 10 years and I'm only now
applying for indefinite leave, is because my first like four ish years
were actually on visas that didn't count towards the indefinite leave to remain.
They were not settlement visas,
so they were student visas, multiple short term student visas.
I did a masters in the UK, which was at the time a Tier four student visa.
But again, those aren't settlement visa.
So they basically expect you to come
and then to go back home for the purposes of immigration.
Obviously, there are ways to extend your
stay, a lot of times to switch into another visa category.
But let's say you came as a student doing
a master's degree and then you did find a job to sponsor you after you finished.
You would then switch into a different visa and that would then usually start
your clock on that five years that you need for indefinite leave.
So I do feel like I've been here
an eternity and I'm just now getting around to this test into this process.
But I'm really ready for it to be done because it has definitely been a stressful
nine to ten years of visa applications and making sure everything is in order.
So like I said today,
I am studying for the test and I will go ahead and start studying.
Now, I've got my blanket because it's
January in the UK, which means it's cold and wet and gray and gloomy outside.
So I've turned on our day light bulbs
to kind of bring some light in here and you can study with me.
How do you feel right now?
How do I feel like I have a lot of dates to memorize?
It goes from World War two
to Alexander Fleming discovering penicillin.
There's a lot that happened in the British Empire that I need to know.
But tomorrow at 11, 15.
OK, update, so I've been studying since
maybe nine a.m., and it's about to now I've had some lunch, I think,
or had a late breakfast, and I basically read through the entire
life in the UK test book as well as made notes.
My hand really hurts.
I haven't taken notes like that in a long time.
I am about to take you along with me on some practice tests so you can actually
see the questions and see if you might be able to pass.
Now there are twenty four questions
in the life in the UK test and you have to get 17 to pass.
So I have found some free practice exams.
There's also an app that I've been using that has practice test and ASM.
As I've done some previous practice questions, I can kind of tell,
they really have all come from the life in the UK book.
So if you're wondering, like, do I need to go visit some castles to study for this or
I need to watch some British television, that's all great.
But I can definitely kind of tell already
that that is not going to be useful whatsoever.
So really, the life in the UK textbook book is where it's at.
I am going to go ahead and pop this
on the screen so you can see what I'm looking at.
The time limit has started for me because I set this up a couple of minutes ago.
It is forty five minutes that you get for your test.
So let's start.
So we're taking test number seven.
As a British citizen, you should.
So just choose one.
Respect and obey the law,
yes, vote in all elections, take part in religious activities.
How many do I get to choose?
OK, you should respect and obey the law.
Yes.
Vote in all elections.
You should, but is not on the same should as respect and obey the law.
Look after the area in which you live.
Yes, vote no.
I mean, I feel like they're not going
to say you should vote in all elections just when it's Halloween.
Hello, American.
Over here at thirty fourth of October,
the Bill of Rights and 16 89 gave women the right to vote.
No, it did not.
What is the name of the most famous cricket competition?
The Ashes.
What was the biggest source of employment during the 18th century manufacturing
and 13 14, the Scottish,
led by Robert the Bruce, defeated the English at the Battle
of Bannockburn in Scotland, remained unconquered by the English.
Properties
like.
True, yes.
Which of the following is an example
of a criminal offense, it's going to be smoking in public places,
which Scottish clan was killed for not taking the oath?
The McDonald's of Glencoe?
I remember reading that.
Which two issues can the devolved
administrations pass? Laws on health and education.
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand led to which of the following wars?
The First World War.
Capital city of Scotland, Edinburgh.
In 1833, the Emancipation Act abolished slavery throughout the British Empire.
True,
what is the name of the process
by which many Scottish landlords destroyed individual small farms?
That was called the Highland Clearances.
The Falkland Islands are a British
overseas territory and are part of the United Kingdom.
They're not part of the United Kingdom.
So false.
Which two of the following are civil war battles?
I remember reading this.
This one and this one.
Yes,
what was the name of the activist group
who fought for the women's right to vote suffragettes,
what you Kalyn Mark was voted as Britain's favorite view.
It was actually the Lake District,
which I would highly recommend if you've never been
who were the first people to live in Britain and what we call the Stone Age.
Hunter gatherer pirates, no.
The first people to live in Britain were hunter gatherers.
I'm assuming that that was called the Stone Age.
What is the name of the movement against the authority of the pope and the ideas
of the Catholic Church that was called the Reformation?
What do you need to apply for a national insurance number?
What do you need to do to apply contact the DWP?
Which of the following is a major horse racing event, Royal Ascot?
How many members form a jury in Scotland?
Pretty sure it's 12 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and 15 in Scotland.
Hmm. Yes,
what is known as Lent, the 40 days know the 40 days before Easter.
When was the last successful foreign invasion of England?
Ten sixty six.
OK, OK, so based on these practice tests,
I'm feeling very confident about tomorrow, but also I'm not feeling confident because
I feel like it's just spitting out the same questions at me.
And there's a lot in that book.
So hopefully what comes out tomorrow is
similar to these practice tests and doesn't come out
with like 24 questions about the 24 topics that I don't remember.
I am going to go ahead and continue
studying for the rest of the day off and on.
I'm not going to go too crazy because I find that often when it comes to tests
for me, like it's usually better to just follow my gut and at a certain point,
like no amount of studying is going to help me.
So.
So I will see you tomorrow on the way to the exam.
OK, so I'm on the way to the tests.
My lovely chauffeur, my husband is driving me.
I am taking my test in the Oxford center.
I think there are like 30 different places
you can take the tests based on where you're closest to at the time.
You also can take the tests over and over
again if you fail, but it is 50 pounds each time.
So I'm definitely going to pass
for the sake of not wanting to pay fifty pounds again.
I did a little bit more studying yesterday, but not a ton.
I kind of got to a point where
I thought I probably wasn't going to learn anything new.
And there are still some of the dates and like the kings and Queens that I'm not
one hundred percent sure about, but I was doing well in the practice test.
So I figure
if even if I miss kind of a specific date one, it should be fine.
So I'll give you a little bit of a view of this gorgeous January day that is
really making me question why I'm taking this test to live in the UK full time.
You'll see what I mean.
And then I can't take anything into the test center besides my idea.
Like, no, I'm not going to take my phone or anything.
And so I will not see you until after I finish my test.
So hopefully the next time I'm on screen, I have good news.
So enjoy this little bit of our journey and I'll see you in a second.
OK, actually, I haven't taken my test yet, but I wanted to interject and say
that the footage you just saw that looked like we were passing a lake or a river was
actually just fields that are completely flooded.
So I'll try and show you some more.
So if anyone is wondering what UK life is like in January, that is OK.
Now, I will actually see you when I'm done.
OK, so I just got finished and I actually
had to wait for my test results to be emailed to me, I think they used to give
you a piece of paper, but we are in different times now,
which is also why my face has gotten super red, because I've been wearing a really
intense mask while I was in the testing center, but I passed.
So my email just said Passa didn't tell me how many I got right or wrong.
I'm pretty sure I did pretty well.
I didn't really not know any of them.
Thank God I didn't get any particular date ones that I was worried about before.
And all of the questions really did come exactly from the life in the UK Test Study
book, as well as the website that I used that you saw me take practice test on.
So that was a sigh of relief.
I never have to take it again.
Once you pass, you've basically passed for life so you can take it whenever you
want to in the run up to getting your indefinite leave.
I'm taking it a bit closer to when I
needed it just because I was a little bit lazy.
But I have passed.
I am done and that is my life in the UK test experience.
It didn't take me.
You have forty five minutes.
It only took me a couple of minutes,
but I am typically someone who is not really anxious about testing
and I just kind of was confident when I chose to answer and moved on.
But you do have forty five minutes to use
if you are not confident in testing or do you really want to take your time.
If you have any questions about my experience or what was on the test or
how to prepare, definitely leave them below.
If you want more information and blogs and videos about life in the UK as
an expat, if you subscribe and you'll be notified when new videos come out.
And otherwise, I'll see you guys next time.