How much does the Life in the UK test cost?

The test fee is £50. That is the number to plan around, and it is charged per sitting rather than per person. Confirm it on GOV.UK before you book — the Home Office sets it and has changed it before.

What the £50 buys

One sitting. That is all.

It covers your seat at a test centre, the 24 questions, the 45 minutes, and the result you are given on the day. It does not cover a second attempt, the handbook, or any of the immigration fees that come after.

When you get it back, and when you do not

You get your £50 back in one situation only: you cancel at least 3 days — 72 hours — before your test.

You get nothing back if you:

• fail the test
• do not turn up
• arrive too late to be let in
• bring the wrong ID or no ID
• refuse to have your photo taken at the centre

GOV.UK sets this out on its cancellations and refunds page. It is worth reading once, because most of those are avoidable.

The costs people forget

The handbook. The test is written from the official handbook, and the handbook is sold separately in print, ebook and audio. You are not required to buy it. Everything it teaches is also covered free in our five study guides.

Proving your English. Most people also have to show English at B1 level or above. That usually means a test with its own fee, though a degree taught in English can count instead. GOV.UK explains how to prove your knowledge of English, including who does not have to.

Travel and a day off. There are over 30 test centres, but not one in every town. Add the train fare and the lost hours to your real total. Our test centre pages set out the journey city by city, from Leeds to Belfast. The fee never changes with the distance you travel.

The application itself. Settlement and citizenship each carry a Home Office fee, and those fees are far larger than £50. They change, so check the current figure on GOV.UK when you are ready to apply. What to do after you pass covers the order to do things in.

How to spend less

The single biggest saving is not failing. A retake costs the same £50 as the first attempt, and about a third of people need one.

So the cheapest route through this is to be over-prepared before you book:

• Work through the free mock tests, starting with test 1.
• Read the chapter that catches most people out — the history of Britain — twice rather than once.
• Drill the topics you keep dropping, such as the Tudors or how Parliament works.
• If you are short on time, follow the two-week study plan rather than reading at random.