British citizenship test questions do not reflect society, Lord Dubs claims

Lord Alf Dubs has issued a scathing critique of the British citizenship test, claiming questions asked of applicants do not on the whole reflect society.

In order to qualify for citizenship, applicants must answer correctly at least 18 out of 24 questions from the book “Life in the UK, A Guide for New Residents.”

Questions posed to applicants “do not on the whole seem to me to reflect the society we live in,” the Labour peer wrote for PoliticsHome today. 

While applicants should have “some understanding of life in Britain,” the test should be updated to “better reflect” society, Lord Dubs suggested. 

“Personally I would struggle to give the correct answers to the questions ‘when was the Giant Causeway formed’ or ‘the Romans remained in Britain for how many years’,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, “almost all” the examples given of eminent Britons are men, he continued, giving a “distorted impression of the society we live in” and contributions made by women.

Lord Dubs also praised the achievements of Britain’s “many prominent women”, including Jane Austen, Ada Lovelace, Emmeline Pankhurst and Agatha Christie.