The UK citizenship is becoming like a bad pub quiz and has to change – Thom Brooks

Thos Brooks on some of the absurdities of the current British citizenship test and finding the right balance and focus for such tests:

The first version of the test was launched in 2005 and a second edition published in 2007. Both were notable by their errors. They included mistakes like getting wrong the number of MPs in Parliament or asking about government departments and programmes that had been closed or stopped.

When I sat the test in 2009, it was possible to sit a test where the correct answers were all factually false. And remember this was supposed to be about ensuring people integrated into society, not failing them on false pretences because no-one can be bothered to see what is actually on the test that migrants must pass to become residents or citizens.

The citizenship tests demanded little knowledge of British history and culture. I campaigned for a change in 2011 and welcomed the coalition government’s commitment to revising the test so it includes these missing features closing this important gap.

However, the pendulum has swung too far in this new direction.

The citizenship test has gone from a test of practical trivia to the more purely trivial. The test handbook has grown to 180 pages crammed with about 3,000 facts and over 250 dates that few native-born British citizens will know.

Gone is information about contacting emergency services, reporting a crime or registering with a GP. In its place, we learn the approximate age of Big Ben’s clock and the height of the London Eye. Telephone numbers like 999 are out, but the front desk of the Scottish Parliament is included to ‘book tickets or arrange tours’. Or that Sake Dean Mahomet came to Britain from Bengal in 1782 to set up Britain’s first curry house in 1810 – the Hindoostane Coffee House – on George Street, London.

Few, if any, British citizens know any of these facts that seem fit only for a bad pub quiz – nor should any be expected to. Nor is it obvious why knowing such trivia foster integration.

In writing my new book Becoming British, I interviewed hundreds of people across the country. Native- born citizens expressed surprise – sometimes horror – about what the test asks in their name. There is something anti-British in lacking any sense of fair play, or as one person said: ‘It’s just not on’.

Turning to migrants like me who became British citizens, the common view is the test and accompanying rules are hurdles to be jumped and endured. People line up to become British not because they want to, but because they seek to hop off the rollercoaster of constant visa applications where the price only goes up – and Home Office service in the opposite direction. Becoming British has become more a necessity than a choice. It’s time action was taken.

The founding purpose of the British citizenship test – and much else in our wider immigration policy – now seems in jeopardy. The citizenship test has become unfit for purpose. It’s time the government puts this right.

Over ten years ago, Crick led an Advisory Group that published a report setting out recommendations for how the test should look and how citizenship ceremonies are run. It is high time there was a fundamental review into how our citizenship policies a decade later.

Not only has immigration to Britain been transformed over this time, but its importance as an issue of real concern for the public. The times have changed and a review is now urgently required.

Crucially, a new review of the citizenship test and naturalisation policies more generally must consult with naturalised British citizens, especially migrants that have sat the test and become British. Our policies – like the use of the test to assist integration – would benefit enormously by seeking feedback from the very people it aims to address.

Only then can we gain a better understanding of how the test and related procedures help or hinder integration. Immigrants who became British citizens should have a front seat to help drive improvement. Now.

My research suggests that the current procedures may be counterproductive. The effect of making many new citizens pass knowledge tests that no born British citizen could runs the serious risk of not bringing future British citizens together, but helping push them apart. It builds a barrier where we need a bridge.

This is not an argument for making the test less difficult or important. I believe it should continue to play a role in immigration policy.

But we need to consider more seriously whether the current test does more harm than good – and the measures we should adopt to ensure it fulfils its original purpose.

Becoming British is an important milestone and we honour that by treating the test and our naturalisation policies with the respect they deserve.

Source: The UK citizenship is becoming like a bad pub quiz and has to change – Thom Brooks – Chronicle Live