Pass the Life in the UK test the first time
The official test costs £50 every time you sit it, and roughly one in three people do not pass first time. Practise here for nothing; the whole question bank is £11.99, paid once.
- 391 questions free
- 24 full mock tests
- No account, no card
The £50 buys you one sitting rather than a result, so it is charged again for every attempt. How hard the test really is sets out where the published pass rates come from, and why we will not quote you a single number.
What makes this different from a list of questions
Anyone can publish questions. The useful part is knowing which ones you keep getting wrong, and why.
It finds your weak spots for you
Every answer you give is scored against its handbook topic. Full access then builds papers out of the topics you keep dropping marks on, instead of asking you the same easy questions again.
It rehearses the real exam
24 questions, 45 minutes, 18 correct to pass. Every mock test here runs the official format, timed and marked the same way, so nothing about the day is new.
It explains, rather than just marks
Every question tells you why the right answer is right, in plain English and in short sentences, and names the handbook section it came from. Guessing teaches you nothing.
1062 questions, all five chapters
Written by us from the facts in the official handbook, covering every chapter it tests. 391 of them are free to read without an account of any kind.
Try three questions now
These are real practice questions with their real explanations, readable here without an account. The rest of the free bank reads exactly like this.
How did the first people reach Britain in the Stone Age?
- They were brought by Roman ships
- They crossed the Channel in iron boats
- They arrived from Ireland by bridge
- They walked across a land bridge that joined Britain to the continent — correct answer
For most of the Stone Age, Britain was joined to the continent by a land bridge. The first people simply walked across it. Handbook section 3.1.
How did the first people in Britain get their food?
- They ran large farms
- They hunted animals and gathered wild plants — correct answer
- They bought it in markets
- They imported it from Europe
The first people in Britain were hunter-gatherers. They hunted animals and collected wild plants, and they moved around to follow the food. Handbook section 3.1.
About how long ago did Britain become permanently separated from the continent by the Channel?
- About 1,000 years ago
- About 3,000 years ago
- About 10,000 years ago — correct answer
- About 100,000 years ago
About 10,000 years ago the sea rose and the land bridge disappeared. Britain has been an island separated by the Channel ever since. Handbook section 3.1.
£11.99 against a £50 retake
Sitting the official test again
£50every attempt
You pay it again for every attempt, and you have to wait 7 days after a fail before you are allowed to rebook.
BritWise Full Access
£11.99once, for good
24% of one retake — 4 of these cost less than sitting the test a second time.
Stop one retake and you are £38.01 better off. That is the whole calculation. It does not have to save you two.
How this compares with the free question lists
We are not going to name other sites or invent statistics about them. This is the difference between a list of questions and something that tells you what to do next — and every line of the right-hand column can be checked on the free pages.
| What matters | A static question list | BritWise |
|---|---|---|
| Knowing what to revise next | You mark your own answers and guess which chapter let you down. | Every answer is scored against its handbook topic, and practice comes back to your weakest ones. |
| Why an answer is right | Usually the correct letter, and often nothing after it. | A plain-English explanation on every question, naming the handbook section it came from. |
| Sitting it like the real thing | An open-ended list you scroll through at your own pace. | 24 questions, 45 minutes, 18 to pass — timed and marked like the official test. |
| Reading it in a second language | Long sentences, written for people who already read English fluently. | Short sentences, no jargon, and one idea at a time. |
| What you can see before paying | Often a sample, and then an email address before you go further. | 391 questions and 24 full mock tests, with no account and no card. |
| What it costs | Usually adverts, or a subscription you have to remember to cancel. | £11.99 once for the rest of the bank, or nothing at all if the free tier is enough. |
Questions people ask before they start
- Is the practice on BritWise free?
Yes. 391 questions and all 24 full mock tests are free, each with the explanation for its answer. You do not need an account, an email address or a card to use any of it, and none of it is a trial that runs out.
- Do I have to sign up before I start?
No. Pick a practice test and start answering. Your progress is kept in this browser, so you can close the tab and pick the paper up where you left it. If you make an account later, the practice you have already done moves onto it.
- How many questions are in the real Life in the UK test?
24 questions in 45 minutes, and you need 18 of them right to pass — 75%. The mock tests here use those same numbers, so a score on this site means the same thing as a score at the test centre.
- How much does the official test cost?
£50 for every attempt, paid to GOV.UK when you book. The fee is set nationally, so it is the same at every test centre. If you do not pass you wait 7 days and pay £50 again — the fee pays for the sitting, not for the result.
- How many people fail the test?
Enough that retakes are ordinary. Home Office figures published at different times have put the first-attempt pass rate somewhere between roughly two thirds and four fifths, so roughly one in three people does not pass first time. We will not quote you one number to a decimal place, because the figure moves and most of the ones you will see quoted are out of date.
- What does £11.99 unlock?
All 1062 questions — the 671 the free tier holds back as well as the 391 it does not — and practice that comes back to the topics you keep getting wrong. It is one payment rather than a subscription, there is nothing to cancel, and you can have the whole amount back within 7 days.
- Are these the questions from the real test?
No, and nobody has them: the official question bank is not published. Every question here is written by us from the facts in the official handbook, chapter by chapter, and each one names the handbook section it came from. The material is the same even though the wording is ours.
- How long does it take to get ready?
That depends on how much of the handbook is new to you, so find out rather than guess. One mock test tells you where you actually stand in under an hour. You can then spend your time on the chapters that cost you marks instead of rereading the ones that did not.
Everything on BritWise
Free mock tests, questions grouped by handbook topic, a study guide for every chapter, plain answers about booking and retakes, and a page for each city you can sit the test near.
Free mock tests
Questions by topic
Study the handbook
Guides to the test
- All Life in the UK guides
- A two-week study plan for the Life in the UK test
- How hard is the Life in the UK test, really?
- How to book the Life in the UK test
- How much does the Life in the UK test cost?
- What ID do you need for the Life in the UK test?
- What to expect on the day of your Life in the UK test
- What happens if you fail the Life in the UK test?
- What happens after you pass the Life in the UK test
Test centres
Ready when you are
Sit one of the 24 free mock tests in the official format. It takes 45 minutes and tells you where you actually stand, which is worth more than a guess. When you want the other 671 questions, full access is £11.99 — paid once, kept for good.