Life in The United Kingdom Test - Errors and Inaccuracies in The Material

Errors and Inaccuracies in The Material

There were many critics of the first edition study materials for the test. Some of the claims in the handbook were factually incorrect, as an article in The Guardian pointed out. Crick justified the errors on the basis that the handbook "was done fairly quickly because we didn't want to keep immigrants waiting for their citizenship." The second edition corrected most of these errors, however a number still remain:

• Claim: The law states that children between the ages of 5 and 16 must attend school.
  • Fact: According to Section 7 of the Education Act 1996, children between the ages of 5 and 16 must be educated. This education may be provided at school or otherwise (for example, home education or private tutoring). Many questions state or suggest that school attendance is compulsory, which is untrue.
• Claim: Births must be registered within 6 weeks (42 days).
  • Fact: Births in England, Wales and Northern Ireland must be registered within 6 weeks. In Scotland this figure is 21 days.
• Claim: You can attend a hospital without a GP's letter only in the case of an emergency.
  • Fact: Although a referral from a GP is normally required, this is not always necessary. For example, other doctors may refer for abortions, and self-referral is possible for physiotherapy, therapy and sexual health clinics. It is also possible to be referred from Accident and Emergency (as opposed to being referred to Accident and Emergency in order to receive the initial emergency treatment). And this only applies to treatment on the NHS - whilst a GP referral is still recommended for private treatment, it is not required.
• Claim: Information about the census is kept secret for 100 years (as opposed to being made available immediately).
  • Fact: In fact both are true, and the question is ambiguous. The full set of answers are not released until after 100 years, but generalised information from the census is certainly made available sooner (after all, otherwise there would be little point in the census).
• Claim: That only two groups of people receive prescriptions free of charge.
  • Fact: Prescriptions are free for all residents of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Only England has a means-test.

Further information in the current handbook, including the number of MPs in the House of Commons, and the Government's plan to introduce a UK Identity Card, is no longer valid as of the 2010 general election. Nevertheless, candidates are tested solely on their "knowledge of the official Life in the UK Handbook. No appeal will be accepted on the basis of a challenge to the validity of the information contained in the handbook."