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| Life in the United Kingdom: A Journey to Citizenship - 2nd Edition (2007) | 
 enlarge | Author: The Home Office - Life In The Uk Advisor
Publisher: TSO (The Stationery Office)
Category: Book
List Price: £9.99
Buy New: £6.68
You Save: £3.31 (33%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 817
Languages: English (Unknown), English (Original Language), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd Edition (2007)
Pages: 145
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
Dimensions (in): 10.9 x 8.4 x 0.5
ISBN: 0113413130
EAN: 9780113413133
ASIN: 0113413130
Publication Date: March 27, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 A necessary evil April 27, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Here it is, the cure for insomnia!
Given that one of the aims of the Life in the UK test is to test English literacy, you would think the official guide would be written in accessible English! Instead, we are handed this sloppy compilation of pointless statistics, useless abbreviations, dry facts with little context and advice that will make you slap your forehead and scowl: 'Well, OBVIOUSLY!'
A blue box pops up every so often asking the reader 'check that you understand...', but oftentimes what is listed has NOT been explained or even mentioned in what you've just finished reading. I defy anyone to explain to me the differences between the Council of Europe, the Council of the EU, the EU, the EC and the European Parliament at the best of times, but especially after reading the few paragraphs in this book!
Most sections have been plopped in at random, with lots of repitition. Then just when you get to the good bits...such as, what are my rights when dealing with the police...what are my rights as a consumer...and what IS Red Nose Day all about?? Well, by that point you no longer actually need to read any further because the test is only based on chapters 2-6!
But you'll be thankful to have read this, because trust your luck the test will quiz you on some arcane statistic - something that no other Briton would know, but which is somehow meant to be an indication that you are ready to assimilate into UK society.
It would have been far better if the book talked about cultural concepts and examples of British ideals, instead of repeating dull census figures and listing in detail when Welsh schoolchildren sit their exams. It's a shame the test does not cover any aspect of British history, literature or culture which would help someone to take pride in wanting to live here.
So read it, because you have to. Then get out there and LIVE IT!
 Big and cumbersome January 10, 2008
3 out of 7 found this review helpful
Although this is the official book, it is not the best buy. It is A4 size and therefore too big to pop into you bag so that you can read it on the bus or train. You only need to study chapters 2,3,4,5 and 6, but the book contains 9 chapters, 4 of which are not required to be read for the test. The book also contains no questions and answers. You would be far better off buying one of the smaller books. They contain the required study material and one of them even has a CD that contains Question and answer tests with hundreds of questions that you can practice to make sure that you are completely ready for the test.
Only buy if you need a UK passport or Indefinite Leave to Remain October 7, 2007
63 out of 72 found this review helpful
The 'Life in the UK test' itself has audio. However, the Government has elected not to make available any official audio materials with this publication. That is is a real pity.
This book is the only offical study material for the 'Life in the UK test' and it is only sensible to review it in that context.
From April 2007 most categories of migrants to the UK will have to pass the 'Life in the UK' test if they want Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) or a UK Passport. For those seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain the requirement has, unusually for UK law, been applied retrospectively so that, for example, a spouse entering the UK as far back as November 2005 and applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain in October 2007 is still required to have passed the test even though that was not a part of the process on initial entry to the UK. In all other areas this would be called 'changing the goal-posts'.
Questions for the 'Life in the UK test' are taken from Chapters 2 through to 6. If English is your first language you are likely to be able to read this title and go on to pass the test. If English is your second language then it is probably worth getting someone whose first language is English to study with and signing up for one of the online question services.
Written by the Home Office Life in the UK Advisory Group, the people who set the citizenship test, the book is, sadly, exactly what you might expect from this sort of committee. While it might be argued that the book contains lots of useful material about accessing help, unemployment and employment rights if you find yourself in those kinds of positions there are a great many better more user-friendly sources of advice and real help.
I firmly believe that many UK citizens would not be able to answer questions taken from this title. For example, I doubt if that many UK pasport holders know what year women first gained the right to vote or own property. The choice of language, while typical of government material, is very dry and not accessible even to those with very good English. I am afraid to say this book is very dull.
In research conducted on Facebook, press released 13 Jan 08, of 11,118 British people who sat a sample test based on the home office citizenship test only 1,585, or 14 per cent, achieved a pass score. Albeit that these people didn't study for the test but this reinforces the disconnection between the content of the title and the knowledge of Britizh citizens.
The Gunning Fog Index is a recognised measure of readability. The randomly chosen left hand column of Page 39 of the Life in UK publication comes out at a Gunning Fog Index of 11.33 using the free Wikipedia calculator, excluding the tables. Typical Fog Index Scores for other publications are: TV guides (6), The Bible (6), Mark Twain (6), Reader's Digest (8), Most popular novels (8-10), Time (10), Newsweek (10), Wall Street Journal (11), The Times (14), The Guardian (14), Academic Papers (15-20). Draw your own conclusions about how accessible the offical guidance has been made to those whose first language isn't English. Why is that?
If the government was serious about encouraging immigrants to learn about the UK they would have employed journalists from the Sun or the Mirror to write interesting useful relevant material. It is not an accident that these newspapers are written expertly to a reading age of about 8 years. According to the Audit Commission 75 per cent of UK residents have a reading age of between eight and eleven years and will be able to understand text containing short sentences with few words of three or more syllables.
Parts of the material are now out of date. For example the age at which you can buy cigarettes has now been raised from 16 to 18. Furthermore, the Northern Ireland Assembly is no longer suspended.
Finally, the title makes no mention of the other way that those seeking Indefinite Leave to Remain can meet the English Language Requirement. That is by reaching a minimum of ESOL Entry Level 1 in 'Speaking and Listening' (certificate required) and producing a letter from their place of study reporting 'progress' and stating that the course includes 'citizenship materials'.
Regrettably the ill conceived 'Life in the UK test' looks here to stay for the moment. Therefore, do buy this title because otherwise you won't have a clue what you are likely to be tested on. Good luck with the test (currently 34) - you can take it as many times as you have to.
Not as bad as the press might make you think October 6, 2007
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book certainly contains mistakes, both grammatical and factual, but it does actually collate some useful information about the UK. At times it does tie itself in knots as it tries to fit in what is clearly a politically motivated syllabus, as well as making some aspects of life in the UK unnecessarily complicated. For example, there is a section that attempts to explain the role of the Lord Chancellor in the context of the situation as it was at the beginning of 2007. A much clearer explanation would have been possible simply by explaining the intention of the changes and the new role of the Minister of Justice. The figures also get confusing: there are far too many to absorb, and many could have been omitted or summarised (for example, is it necessary to know that 0.2 million people or 0.4% of the population categorise themselves as "other asian" according to the 2001 census?). Recent changes in legislation are not included, so there are errors concerning maternity entitlement and the laws pertaining to smoking. The role of government is overemphasised, presumably as the book was written by the government, and the whole of the chapter 4 is dedicated to it. There are some good practical chapters, although certain parts dip in rather than explain fully: for example, expect to know that there are such things as class 2 and class 4 NICs, but not precisely what they are (for those that do not know, they are to do with taxation for the self-employed). So all in all a mixed bag. It is embarrassing that the government force people to learn some of this information; it is old fashioned history with dates, fact, figures and years but next to no historical background.
For those taking the Life in the UK test, note that the book contains no sample questions whatsoever. The book advises you to think carefully about buying complementary study guides, but you may find it more reassuring to buy a guide with some sample questions. It is probably best to buy this book in any case, as it is the official guide, and compared to the other costs associated with gaining residency or citizenship, it is very good value.
Warning - You'll need perfect eyesight for this book! October 3, 2007
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
I'm absolutely disgusted that a book which is a legal requirement to study for many people uses such a ridiculous font and colour scheme. The font is very narrow and pale grey colour making it appear very blurry to me. On top of that it contains sections with such gems of common sense as "white text on a pale grey background on glossy paper" and "spidery thin white text on a powerful bold blue backgroung on the same glossy paper". This is no doubt attempting to be all trendy and modern and Web2.0 style, but this is hardly the place for such things. There is also a "large print" version which is not stocked by Amazon. I have asked the publisher for a sample of it and hope it will be more sensible.
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