# My Life in the UK Test for ILR experience!



## Monty79 (May 30, 2012)

Hi everyone, I'm posting this on behalf of my wife, who is a US citizen living in the UK. We're in the process of applying for her indefinite leave to remain and thought her experience with the Life in the UK Test might be helpful! The test took place earlier this week. This is what she had to say:

I'm from the USA and applying for indefinite leave to remain via my British husband. I just found out last week that I needed to pass a Life in the UK test for my permanent residency. On Monday - I passed! Here's what happened in between:

-Booked my test online (can only book for 7 days later, which is what I did)
-Purchased the pdf Official Handbook, Study Guide and Practice test (20 pounds) then downloaded Bluefire reader so that I could access them on my ipad
-Downloaded the iphone Official practice test app (4 pounds I think)

-Read through the entire Official Handbook and Study Guide (they are both under 200 pages on the ipad), took notes, reviewed notes (was able to get through everything tues-fri nights after work. all during the prettiest, sunniest week of the year in Scotland might I add)
-Took about 30 practice tests, made my husband take them too - we both failed the first few.
-Confirmed on the phone that my Provisional license (with paper license) would suffice for proof of address

Monday morning:
-Got on the Edinburgh Tram at Haymarket, expecting a 15 minute trip to the test center at York Place (it is a 30 minute walk)
-Got stuck on the tram for 45 minutes, called test center, they said that if I was not there by the test time they would start without me and I'd need to rebook
-Freaked out
-Finally got off the tram, sprinted to the test center only to realise it had been moved to a new location
-Sprinted to the new location, got in covered in sweat on the minute of my test time - luckily the people were nice, let me in, commiserated about the uselessness of Edinburgh's billion pound tram system
-They checked my ID to the info I filled out when I booked. There was a issue that my passport said place of birth: Virginia and I had filled in my place of birth as the city in Virginia where I was born. They were able to override the issue so that I could take my test
-Took the test on the computer, it only took about 15 minutes, although some of the questions were tricky (one about the electoral register process and another about the responsibilities of the Home office stand out)
-Finished the exam, waited for a few minutes then got confirmation that I passed (yay!) and a print out copy of my certificate with the warning that if I lose it, I would not get another copy. 

Then I needed to wait two days until I can book an in-person review of my permanent residency application. 


Advice:
- All of my court/legal questions were specific to Scotland. If you are in Northern Ireland or Wales memorize what is different from England (for example, in Scotland max small claims suit is 3k, 15 people on a jury, minor crimes go through Justice of the Peace, devolved gov is in Holyrood, that kind of stuff)
- Read the whole Official book. Questions come up from the whole thing. Don't skim over the sports/arts/inventors lists because the names will come up! Review by reading the Study Guide, but don't just read that bc it's shorter. There are questions about info from the full guide that aren't included in the study version.
-Give yourself as much time as possible to get to your test center!!! Learn from my mistake, please. I nearly went into cardiac arrest before the exam even started! Wish I'd had 10 minutes or so to get to the test center, collect my thoughts, etc.


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## WestCoastCanadianGirl (Mar 17, 2012)

Congratulations to your wife on her pass!  :cheer2:

It's a shame that she didn't sit the exam prior to the change in the Spring of 2013... there was practically _no_ history in the book or on the exam (well, no further back than the mid 19th Century) and the subject matter that was covered in the older edition exam was more topical to modern day life in the UK than what the new edition exam covers (and you'd probably have finished the older version exam in <10 minutes... sample "old test" questions here).

Yes, I'm all for immigrants having to know about the history of the UK (I was a history nut in school and I was the granddaughter of immigrants to Canada), but I don't see how knowing how many Georges there have been on the throne or what years Oliver Cromwell was in power or when the FA was created is really helpful when dealing with day to day life in 21st Century UK (well, all things FA might be important to your husband if he's as much of a football nut as mine is), especially when so many native born people couldn't pass the test and they seem to get on with with no problems. 

Ah well, it's all water under the bridge and life can go back to normal. 

Congratulations again and good luck on your ILR application!


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## murtle_007 (Dec 23, 2011)

Congrats 

I studied the books, took practice tests and hady husband quiz me like mad just before my test, te buildup was stressful but when you pass, you wonder why you worried so much haha! 
So is it not taken at Pitman Training centre anymore? That is where I took it in April.


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

There is no limit. You can sit as often as you need to pass. 
Get official test handbook and study it thoroughly. All questions will be taken from that book.


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## rosiefie (Oct 9, 2015)

Congrats, I'm also preparing from online resources which provide free Uk life test questions. Also i bought updated edition book from amazon to prepare test.


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## Water Dragon (Jun 28, 2011)

Thank you for your post! I'm scheduled to take the test on Oct. 27th and am extremely nervous about it. At 60 years old, and afflicted with PTSD-induced memory issues, I'm so afraid I'm not going to remember enough to pass. But, I'm studying the book, dvd, and practice tests so am hoping for the best. Although I don't apply for ILR for another 3 years, I want to get it out of the way before they raise the fee or rewrite it again making it even more difficult!!

In my registration, the address is listed as Conference House, 152 Morrison St. Could you let me know if that is where you went? I have a phobia of not finding the right place in time and being late also!!!


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## Joppa (Sep 7, 2009)

Don't worry. US citizens have something like 97% pass rate for the LITUK test.


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## salix (Apr 27, 2014)

Water Dragon said:


> Thank you for your post! I'm scheduled to take the test on Oct. 27th and am extremely nervous about it. At 60 years old, and afflicted with PTSD-induced memory issues, I'm so afraid I'm not going to remember enough to pass. But, I'm studying the book, dvd, and practice tests so am hoping for the best. Although I don't apply for ILR for another 3 years, I want to get it out of the way before they raise the fee or rewrite it again making it even more difficult!!
> 
> In my registration, the address is listed as Conference House, 152 Morrison St. Could you let me know if that is where you went? I have a phobia of not finding the right place in time and being late also!!!


I think I read you no longer have to take the test at 65, I'll be 67 when I qualify for ILR.


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## Water Dragon (Jun 28, 2011)

salix said:


> I think I read you no longer have to take the test at 65, I'll be 67 when I qualify for ILR.


Yes, you are correct. Lucky you!!! I miss the 65 mark by 2 years.


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