China takes the Pole position in Brit Test

Oct. 31, 2010 - PRLog -- LONDON, Nov. 1 -  The Chinese know more about life and culture in the UK than the British according to new research. Similar research two years ago placed Poland in the top spot, however they have been overtaken.

The news comes as the Home Office celebrates the fifth anniversary of the test this month. The pass mark is 18 for the test, and the Chinese scored an impressive 19.01, on average. Poland, meanwhile, plummeted to 29th place.

The Philippines and Jamaica came second and third, respectively. British born citizens achieved a dismal ranking of 40th with 15.14, although this was an improvement on Germany’s 43rd and France’s 46th.

Iran and Iraq both passed on average, and even Afghanistan scored 15.54 - a clear half a mark ahead of the British. Some continuity was preserved in that the US remain at the bottom of the table, although Argentina took last place.

The multiple-choice exam was based on the Home Office’s ‘Life in the UK Test’; questions included ‘When is the national day for England?’ (23rd April) and ‘What is the largest ethnic minority in Britain?’ (Indian).

George Sandison, Managing Editor of Red Squirrel Publishing, which carried out the test, said: ‘This shows the test is far from straightforward and the average Brit would fail.’

‘But these figures also reflect people who haven’t studied for the test and with effective study a pass is achievable.’ Sandison said.

Further details about the research are available on the company's website http://www.redsquirrelbooks.com/press.

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Red Squirrel Publishing is a UK based publishing house specialising in citizenship test study guides. Its Life in the UK Test study guides have sold over 350,000 copies, helping thousands of people achieve their goal of becoming British, and Australian.