With our ILR visa applications looming on the horizon to a greater or lesser degree, myslef and a few friends have been buying books/practice questions etc for the Life In The UK Test. I'd be very interested in anyone's experience of some of the software packages which are starting to appear on this subject.
It struck me that as this is a computer based test, software practice and learning programs may be a really good way to learn the subject and the keyboard.
So it would be great to find a good one first time !

John
If you have bought some books then look at Life In The UK Tests to see if you can use any of the free tests here (on the right "Ready to take the test?").

You will need to sign up:

Register now and get
- A FREE practice sample test
- Unlimited access to full practice tests from only £2.99
- Register any Red Squirrel book and get a FREE subscription

If you have bought one of their books you can log on and use the tests just by entering a word from a page, there is no need to pay anything. Make sure you use the third option in red here.

My wife uses this site for the 2nd edition Study Guide I bought her (must get the latest one).
Gary

bee used lots of these practice tests to try and prepare for her life in the uk exam but managed to fail the test 5 times.

the only way we could get her to pass the test was by studying the blue book in depth.

i think the grammar on some of these practice tests was misleading her and luring her into a false sense of security.

she was constantly getting 100% on these practice tests yet was failing the exam when she took it for real.
beware of differences in the grammar....

my only real tip is to ignore these practice tests as they are a waste of money. concentrate on learning and understanding the blue book. go through all the important points on there and make notes. it will help your mrs understand what she is writing, rather than learning parrott fashion.

Axel

quote:

Originally posted by axel1974:
my only real tip is to ignore these practice tests as they are a waste of money.

If you have already bought the book (as mentioned in original post) then the tests are free, how is this a waste of money

my wife did these "free" tests and i found that they were responsible for her failing her test a couple more times than she should have, as the grammar was a lot different on the site

therefore they cost me at least an extra 70 quid and were not free

by all means have a go at these tests. just don't take the questions as gospel for what the real test is like. the sites use will depend on how good the grammar of the test participant is. my wife struggles a bit with her grammar, yet was able to consistently get 100% on these tests online.

use the book and make notes instead. thais naturally struggle with english grammar due to the way their language translates to ours

Axel
It would be good if your wife can give some examples of the real questions (those that she remembers ) and if possible where the differences in grammar made the difference.

Ash

what i found helped Bus wasa cd rom from
www.britishness-test.co.uk
the disc costs £20 and is virtually an identical set up to the real test but with a learning mode aswell.

I think there was at least one question containing a false positive designed to trip people up. I doubt if she will remember the rest but you never know. Hopefully she will read this before I arrive back home and she will post a reply.

Axel

hi ash, before your wife star do the test they will ask her one by one show passport, give them money £ 34 ( if they chang yet ),what her name, present nationality, date of birth,town of birth, country of birth, current postcode,her do the test what she stand for (citizenship), and then they will give examples for her 4 choice and after then they will real test for her, Her cant look round, the real test is 24 choice you must pass 20 choice you will pass the test, examples for real test,
The women in Britain were given the right to vote in ....? What is the state pension age for women?
When is Remembrance day?
A census of the population in Britain been taken verey ..... since 1801?
What do pressure groups do?
Local authorities are responsible for providing? ( choose two choice ),
How long should a man work for an employer before he bocomes entitled to paternity leave?
What type of job porticulary requires a CRB check?
How often are elections for members of the European Parliament held?
how many member are there in the House of commons?
Women in Britain make up...... per cent of the population? What percentage of children live within a step family?
When was the Scottish parliament created?
How many percentage have no religion?
How you can visit Parliament and Devolved Administrations?
If you do have problems with your who you can speak to ?
There you go,i just give examples for you but all most she must read chapter 2,3,4,5,6,if she understand at all she will fine GOOD LUCK TO YOU BOTH

I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT WRITE FOR YOU, IF NOT AM SO SORRY BECAUSE I KONOW MY ENGLISH NO GOOD

BEE

Bee
The English is fine and thanks very much
Cheers
ash

quote:

The women in Britain were given the right to vote in ....? What is the state pension age for women?
When is Remembrance day?
A census of the population in Britain been taken verey ..... since 1801?
What do pressure groups do?
Local authorities are responsible for providing? ( choose two choice ),
How long should a man work for an employer before he bocomes entitled to paternity leave?
What type of job porticulary requires a CRB check?
How often are elections for members of the European Parliament held?
how many member are there in the House of commons?
Women in Britain make up...... per cent of the population? What percentage of children live within a step family?
When was the Scottish parliament created?
How many percentage have no religion?
How you can visit Parliament and Devolved Administrations?
If you do have problems with your who you can speak to ?

Hey chaps and chapesses ! I think I've just failed the Test. When can I be expected to be deported to Thailand ?
Honestly this is such cr*p. Why should our wives be ecpected to learn what probably 90% of UK citizens do not ?

Remember John, that part of the purpose of the test is to demonstrate that the one sitting it demonstrates they have an understanding of English.

I agree with you that some of the content appears irrelevant and is certainly in need of updating, but if an individual studies the relevant sections of the study guide (chapters 2 to 6) then passing is a distinct possibility.

I'm certain I would fail the test if I took it without first studying the relevant material. In fact I took one of the CD tests a couple of weeks ago and failed! I even got an answer wrong on the English legal system - although I know I answered the question correctly, but that wasn't the answer the CD Test was wanting!

Be careful with these unofficial practise tests - not always helpful.

Well done to Bee there for trying to write some questions. Her memory must be better than mine.

She just told me in the car what she had written, so i popped on to have a look.

Bee's English understanding of written text is much better than her writing. She understands pretty much everything has trouble with grammar sometimes. I am proud of how far she has come in the last 3 years anyway.

I agree..... I would probably have got about 60% without studying for the test, as some of the questions are towards the higher end of the scale of the "who wants to be a millionaire" pay scale. I am now confident that I could volunteer to be someone's phone a friend if they had a question on the life in the uk test for 1 million pounds.

Axel

ps.. if anyone decides to do the test in Stockton on Tees, there is a lovely lady working on the desk at the place. Bee enjoyed bringing her apples from our tree in the garden every time she failed the test. Lucky we had a lot of apples.

Axel