Democracy
People choose the government.
The values and principles of the UK
British life rests on five shared principles. Residents accept duties; the UK offers freedoms in return.
No matching topics in this chapter.
Five pillars of British life
Rule of law
The law applies to everyone, including the monarch.
Individual liberty
Freedom to think, speak, and live within the law.
Tolerance
Different faiths and beliefs are respected.
Community
Take part in local life.
Citizenship pledge
“I will give my loyalty to the United Kingdom and respect its rights and freedoms. I will uphold its democratic values. I will observe its laws faithfully and fulfil my duties and obligations as a British citizen.”
You should
- 1 Respect and obey the law
- 2 Respect others’ rights and opinions
- 3 Treat others with fairness
- 4 Look after yourself and your family
- 5 Look after your area and the environment
The UK offers
- A Freedom of belief and religion
- B Freedom of speech
- C Freedom from unfair discrimination
- D A right to a fair trial
- E A right to join in electing a government
Path to settlement or citizenship
-
Step 1
English B1
Speaking and listening at ESOL Entry Level 3.
-
Step 2
Life in the UK test
24 questions, 45 minutes, 75% (18/24). Book only at registered centres via GOV.UK.
-
Step 3
ID and address
Bring identification and proof of address to the test centre.
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Result
ILR or citizenship
A pass is part of showing you are ready for permanent residence.
The test can be taken in English, or by special arrangement in Welsh or Scottish Gaelic. There are about 30 registered centres. Questions come from the whole handbook.
What is the UK?
Four nations, one parliament at Westminster, plus linked islands that are not part of the UK.
No matching topics in this chapter.
How the names nest
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Great Britain = England + Scotland + Wales
England
Scotland
Wales
+ Northern Ireland
The rest of Ireland is an independent country (the Republic of Ireland). “Britain” and “British” in the handbook usually mean everyone in the UK.
Crown Dependencies
Closely linked, own governments, not part of the UK.
Channel Islands
Isle of Man
British Overseas Territories
Linked to the UK but not part of it.
St Helena
Falkland Islands
Westminster plus devolved powers
UK Parliament, Westminster
Governs the whole UK. Defence, foreign affairs, most tax and social security stay here.
Scotland
Scottish Parliament, Holyrood
Wales
Senedd, Cardiff
Northern Ireland
Assembly, Stormont
England
No separate parliament; Westminster legislates
A long and illustrious history
From Stonehenge to Brexit: people, dates, and turning points the test likes to ask.
No matching topics in this chapter.
Early Britain
Stone Age
Land bridge; Channel ~10,000 years ago. Farmers 6,000 years ago. Stonehenge (Wiltshire), Skara Brae (Orkney).
Land bridge; Channel ~10,000 years ago. Farmers 6,000 years ago. Stonehenge (Wiltshire), Skara Brae (Orkney).
Bronze Age
~4,000 years ago. Roundhouses, round barrows, gold and bronze metalwork.
~4,000 years ago. Roundhouses, round barrows, gold and bronze metalwork.
Iron Age
Hill forts (Maiden Castle, Dorset). Celtic languages. First coins minted in Britain.
Hill forts (Maiden Castle, Dorset). Celtic languages. First coins minted in Britain.
Romans — 55 BC to AD 410
55 BC
Julius Caesar invades; fails.
Julius Caesar invades; fails.
AD 43
Emperor Claudius occupies almost all of Britain.
Emperor Claudius occupies almost all of Britain.
Boudicca
Queen of the Iceni. Statue on Westminster Bridge.
Queen of the Iceni. Statue on Westminster Bridge.
Hadrian’s Wall
Keeps out the Picts. Housesteads, Vindolanda. UNESCO site.
Keeps out the Picts. Housesteads, Vindolanda. UNESCO site.
400 years: roads, public buildings, law, new plants and animals, first Christian communities in the 3rd–4th centuries. Army leaves in AD 410.
Anglo-Saxons and Vikings
- Jutes, Angles, Saxons from northern Europe. Languages form the basis of English. Sutton Hoo ship burial. Wales and much of Scotland stay free of Anglo-Saxon rule.
- Christianity: St Patrick (Ireland), St Columba (Iona), St Augustine (first Archbishop of Canterbury).
- Vikings from Denmark and Norway from AD 789. Danelaw in the east and north. Alfred the Great unites Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. Danish king Cnut (Canute). Kenneth MacAlpin unites people in the north; the name Scotland is used.
Norman Conquest and Middle Ages — 1066 to 1485
1066 Hastings — William of Normandy defeats Harold. Last successful foreign invasion. Bayeux Tapestry. Domesday Book.
Wales: Statute of Rhuddlan 1284 (Edward I). Castles at Conwy and Caernarvon. Scotland: Robert the Bruce wins Bannockburn 1314.
1215 Magna Carta — King John; even the king is subject to the law. Parliament splits into Lords and Commons. Scotland has three Estates.
1348 Black Death — about one third die. Labour shortages, higher wages, gentry and a town middle class. Feudalism / serfs / clans.
Hundred Years War lasts 116 years. Agincourt 1415, Henry V. English leave France in the 1450s. Crusades.
English language: Norman French + Anglo-Saxon. Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. William Caxton’s printing press. Common law in England; codified law in Scotland.
Wars of the Roses and the Tudors
Lancaster red rose
+
York white rose
=
Tudor rose · Bosworth 1485 · Henry VII
Henry VII marries Elizabeth of York. Henry VIII breaks from Rome, creates the Church of England, and unites Wales with England (Welsh MPs in the Commons).
Henry VIII’s six wives
Catherine of Aragon
Spanish. Daughter Mary. Divorced.
Spanish. Daughter Mary. Divorced.
Anne Boleyn
Daughter Elizabeth. Executed.
Daughter Elizabeth. Executed.
Jane Seymour
Son Edward. Died after birth.
Son Edward. Died after birth.
Anne of Cleves
German. Political marriage. Divorced.
German. Political marriage. Divorced.
Catherine Howard
Executed.
Executed.
Catherine Parr
Survived Henry.
Survived Henry.
Edward VI — Protestant, Book of Common Prayer. Mary I — Catholic, “Bloody Mary”. Elizabeth I — Protestant balance; 1588 Spanish Armada; Sir Francis Drake and the Golden Hind; Shakespeare (Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet).
Mary, Queen of Scots flees to England, later executed. James VI of Scotland becomes James I of England (1603). King James Bible. Ulster plantations of Protestant settlers.
Civil War, republic, Restoration, Glorious Revolution
- Charles I believes in the Divine Right of Kings. Tries to rule without Parliament. Cavaliers (king) vs Roundheads (Parliament), 1642. Marston Moor and Naseby. Charles executed 1649. No monarch has entered the Commons since he tried to arrest five MPs.
- Oliver Cromwell — Lord Protector of the Commonwealth (republic). Controversial in Ireland. Defeats Charles II at Dunbar and Worcester (oak tree story).
- Restoration 1660 — Charles II invited back. 1665 plague, 1666 Great Fire of London, St Paul’s rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren, Samuel Pepys’ diary. 1679 Habeas Corpus Act. Royal Society: Isaac Newton, Edmond Halley.
- Glorious Revolution 1688 — William of Orange and Mary replace Catholic James II with almost no fighting in England. Bill of Rights 1689. Battle of the Boyne 1690. Constitutional monarchy begins. Whigs and Tories. Free press from 1695.
Union, industry, empire
1707 Act of Union creates Great Britain. Scotland keeps law, education, Presbyterian Church. First Prime Minister: Sir Robert Walpole, 1721–1742 (George I).
1745 Jacobites — Bonnie Prince Charlie defeated at Culloden 1746. Highland Clearances. Robert Burns (“Auld Lang Syne”).
Enlightenment — Adam Smith, David Hume, James Watt (steam). Industrial Revolution: Richard Arkwright, Bessemer steel, canals. Sake Dean Mahomet opens the Hindoostane Coffee House (1810) and introduces shampooing.
Slavery abolished in British ships/ports 1807; Emancipation Act 1833 (Wilberforce, Quakers). American independence 1776/1783. Trafalgar 1805 (Nelson). Waterloo 1815 (Wellington).
Union Flag, 1801
Act of Union 1800 joins Ireland with Great Britain, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
The Welsh dragon is not on the Union Flag because Wales was already united with England when the first Union Flag was made in 1606.
Victorian Age and the vote
Queen Victoria 1837–1901 (~64 years). Empire of 400 million. Corn Laws repealed 1846. 10-hour factory day for women and children, 1847. Stephensons’ railways. Isambard Kingdom Brunel (Great Western Railway, Clifton Suspension Bridge). Great Exhibition 1851, Crystal Palace. Crimean War 1853–56: Victoria Cross, Florence Nightingale. Irish potato famine. Boer War 1899–1902. Rudyard Kipling.
Franchise ladder
- 1832 Reform Act — more voters; pocket and rotten boroughs go.
- Chartists demand votes for all men, secret ballots, paid MPs.
- 1867 Reform Act — more urban seats, lower property bar.
- 1870 / 1882 wives keep their own earnings and property.
- 1903 Emmeline Pankhurst founds the WSPU (suffragettes).
- 1918 women over 30 vote. 1928 equal vote at 21. 1969 voting age 18.
20th century to today
WWI 1914–18 — Franz Ferdinand, Allied Powers vs Central Powers. Somme 1916. Ends 11 November 1918 at 11:00.
Ireland — Easter Rising 1916. Treaty 1921. 1922: Northern Ireland stays in the UK; rest becomes Irish Free State (republic 1949). Later “the Troubles”.
Inter-war — BBC radio 1922, TV 1936. Great Depression 1929. Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin 1928.
WWII 1939–45 — Hitler invades Poland. Churchill: “blood, toil, tears and sweat”; “we shall fight on the beaches”; “so much owed by so many to so few”. Dunkirk evacuates 300,000. Battle of Britain (Spitfire, Hurricane). The Blitz. D-Day 6 June 1944. Atom bomb ends the war with Japan, August 1945.
Welfare state — 1945 Clement Attlee. Beveridge Report 1942: Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor, Idleness. NHS 1948 (Aneurin Bevan). Butler Education Act 1944. NATO. Empire to Commonwealth.
1960s — Beatles, Rolling Stones, equal pay, Concorde. Post-war migration from Ireland, Europe, West Indies, India, Pakistan, later Bangladesh.
British inventions of the 20th century
TV — John Logie Baird
Radar — Robert Watson-Watt
Jodrell Bank — Bernard Lovell
Turing machine — Alan Turing
Insulin — John Macleod
DNA structure — Francis Crick
Jet engine — Frank Whittle
Hovercraft — Christopher Cockerell
Concorde / Harrier jump jet
ATM — James Goodfellow (1967)
IVF — Edwards & Steptoe (1978)
Dolly the sheep — Wilmut & Campbell
MRI — Peter Mansfield
World Wide Web — Tim Berners-Lee (1990)
1979–90 Margaret Thatcher (first woman PM; Falklands 1982). John Major and the NI peace process. 1997 Tony Blair: Scottish Parliament, Welsh Assembly, Good Friday Agreement 1998. Gordon Brown 2007. 2010 Cameron–Clegg coalition. 2016 EU referendum 51.9% Leave. UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.
A modern, thriving society
Nations, faiths, festivals, sport, arts, food, media, and famous places.
No matching topics in this chapter.
🌹
England
~84% of UK population
- Capital: London (also UK capital)
- Saint: George · 23 April
- Flower: rose
- Food: roast beef & Yorkshire pudding; fish and chips
- Cities: Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds…
🌿
Scotland
just over 8%
- Capital: Edinburgh
- Saint: Andrew · 30 November (holiday)
- Flower: thistle
- Food: haggis
- Languages: English, Gaelic, Scots
🌼
Wales
around 5%
- Capital: Cardiff
- Saint: David · 1 March
- Flower: daffodil
- Food: Welsh cakes
- Language: Welsh taught in schools
☘️
Northern Ireland
less than 3%
- Capital: Belfast
- Saint: Patrick · 17 March (holiday)
- Flower: shamrock
- Food: Ulster fry
- Language: some Irish Gaelic
Currency and people
Pound sterling (£). 100 pence = £1. Coins: 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2. Notes: £5, £10, £20, £50. Scottish and Northern Irish notes are valid UK-wide, but shops need not accept them. John O’Groats to Land’s End ≈ 870 miles (1,400 km).
Population growth
16004m
18018m
190140m
195150m
201766m+
Growth from migration and longer life. Record numbers aged 85+ affect pensions and health care. Equal rights for men and women; women are about half the workforce.
Religion and festivals
Church of England (Anglican)
Established Church in England since the 1530s. Monarch is head. Spiritual leader: Archbishop of Canterbury. Bishops sit in the Lords. No established Church in Wales or Northern Ireland.
Church of Scotland
Presbyterian national Church. Led by ministers and elders. Moderator of the General Assembly is appointed for one year.
2011 Census: 59% Christian, 25% no religion, 4.8% Muslim, 1.5% Hindu, 0.8% Sikh, Jewish and Buddhist each under 0.5%. Everyone may choose a religion or none. Other groups: Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Quakers, Roman Catholics.
Christmas 25 Dec · public holiday. Boxing Day 26 Dec.
Easter Mar/Apr · Good Friday & Easter Monday. Lent 40 days. Pancake Day = Shrove Tuesday.
Diwali Oct/Nov · Festival of Lights (Hindus & Sikhs).
Hanukkah Nov/Dec · eight candles on a menorah.
Eid al-Fitr end of Ramadan.
Eid ul-Adha Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice.
Vaisakhi 14 April · founding of the Khalsa.
Hogmanay 31 Dec in Scotland; 2 Jan also a holiday.
Bonfire Night 5 Nov · Guy Fawkes, 1605.
Remembrance Day 11 Nov · poppies, two-minute silence, Cenotaph.
Halloween 31 Oct · trick or treat, pumpkins.
Bank holidays May, late May/June, August; Battle of the Boyne in NI (July).
Sport
Cricket, football, lawn tennis, golf and rugby began in Britain. Olympics hosted 1908, 1948, 2012 (Stratford). Paralympics grew from Dr Ludwig Guttmann’s work at Stoke Mandeville.
Cricket The Ashes vs Australia
Football Premier League; 1966 World Cup (Bobby Moore)
Rugby union & league; Six Nations
Racing Royal Ascot, Grand National (Aintree)
Golf St Andrews, The Open
Tennis Wimbledon, on grass
Rowing Oxford vs Cambridge on the Thames
F1 Hill, Hamilton, Button
Roger Bannister — sub-4-minute mile, 1954
Jackie Stewart — 3× F1 champion
Ian Botham — cricket records
Torvill & Dean — ice dance gold 1984
Steve Redgrave — 5 Olympic rowing golds
Tanni Grey-Thompson — 11 Paralympic golds
Kelly Holmes — 2004 double gold
Ellen MacArthur — solo round-the-world
Chris Hoy — cycling golds
David Weir — 6 Paralympic golds
Bradley Wiggins — Tour de France 2012
Mo Farah — 5,000 & 10,000 m
Jessica Ennis-Hill — heptathlon 2012
Andy Murray — Wimbledon 2013 & 2016
Ellie Simmonds — Paralympic swimming
Music, theatre, art, architecture
Music
Proms at the Royal Albert Hall (BBC since 1927). Purcell, Handel (Messiah, Water Music), Holst (The Planets), Elgar (Land of Hope and Glory), Vaughan Williams, Walton, Britten (Aldeburgh Festival). Beatles, Rolling Stones, punk, Brit Awards, Mercury Prize, Glastonbury, National Eisteddfod of Wales.
Theatre
West End “Theatreland”. The Mousetrap (Agatha Christie) since 1952. Gilbert & Sullivan. Andrew Lloyd Webber. Christmas pantomime (Dame played by a man). Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Laurence Olivier Awards.
Art
National Gallery, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, National Museum Cardiff, Scottish National Gallery. Gainsborough, David Allan, Turner, Constable, Pre-Raphaelites, Lavery, Henry Moore, John Petts, Lucian Freud, David Hockney. Turner Prize (Hirst, Wright).
Architecture & gardens
Cathedrals; White Tower. Inigo Jones, Christopher Wren, Robert Adam (Royal Crescent, Bath), Gothic revival Houses of Parliament & St Pancras, Lutyens (Cenotaph, New Delhi), Foster, Rogers, Zaha Hadid. Capability Brown, Gertrude Jekyll, Chelsea Flower Show. Chippendale, Clarice Cliff, Mary Quant, McQueen, Westwood.
Literature, film, leisure, landmarks
Writers: Austen, Dickens, Stevenson, Hardy, Conan Doyle, Waugh, Kingsley Amis, Graham Greene, J. K. Rowling, Tolkien (The Lord of the Rings voted best-loved novel in 2003), William Golding, Seamus Heaney, Harold Pinter, Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie. Man Booker Prize.
Poets: Beowulf, Chaucer, Shakespeare sonnets, Milton, Wordsworth, Scott, Blake, Byron, Browning, Wilfred Owen, Sassoon. Poet’s Corner, Westminster Abbey.
Film: Chaplin, Hitchcock, Korda, David Lean, Ridley Scott, Nick Park (Wallace and Gromit). Harry Potter and James Bond made in the UK. BAFTAs. TV licence funds the BBC (fine up to £1,000; free at 75; 50% if blind). Soaps: Coronation Street, EastEnders.
Pubs: 18 to buy alcohol; 16 may drink beer or wine with a meal if with an adult 18+. Gambling and National Lottery: 18+. Dogs in public need a collar with the owner’s name and address.
Big Ben — bell of Elizabeth Tower
Eden Project — Cornwall biomes
Edinburgh Castle
Giant’s Causeway — NI lava columns
Loch Lomond & Trossachs
London Eye — 135 m
Snowdonia — highest mountain in Wales
Tower of London — Crown Jewels, Beefeaters
Lake District — Windermere, Wastwater
15 national parks in England, Wales and Scotland. National Trust / National Trust for Scotland look after many places.
The UK government, the law and your role
An unwritten constitution, two Houses, elections, courts, tax, driving, and how to take part.
No matching topics in this chapter.
How power is arranged
The UK constitution is unwritten — no single document. Institutions grew over centuries: monarchy, Parliament, Prime Minister, cabinet, judiciary, police, civil service, local government, plus devolved administrations.
Head of state
King Charles III
Constitutional monarch. Appoints the PM chosen by voters. Opens Parliament. All Acts are made in his name. Queen Camilla; heir is Prince William. National anthem: God Save the King.
House of Commons
- Elected MPs, one per constituency
- First past the post; General Election at least every 5 years
- By-election if an MP dies or resigns
- PM and almost all cabinet sit here
- Speaker is neutral, chosen by secret ballot
House of Lords
- Not elected; does not represent a constituency
- Life peers since 1958 (PM advises the monarch)
- Hereditary peers lost automatic seats in 1999
- Church of England bishops
- Checks and amends laws; Commons can overrule
Prime Minister — party leader in power. Lives at 10 Downing Street; country house Chequers. Appoints the cabinet.
Cabinet — about 20 ministers: Chancellor (economy), Home Secretary (crime, policing, immigration), Foreign Secretary, plus education, health, defence.
Opposition — second-largest party. Shadow cabinet. Prime Minister’s Questions each sitting week. Civil servants: integrity, honesty, objectivity, impartiality.
Main parties: Conservative (Tories), Labour, Liberal Democrats, plus Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish parties. Independents. Pressure groups include the CBI, Greenpeace, Liberty. Free press; TV and radio must give balanced party coverage. Hansard records debates.
Devolved administrations
| Body | Where | Members | Can decide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scottish Parliament | Holyrood, Edinburgh | 129 MSPs, PR | Civil & criminal law, health, education, extra tax |
| Senedd | Cardiff | 60 SMs, every 4 years | 21 areas: education, health, housing; bilingual |
| NI Assembly | Stormont, Belfast | 90 MLAs, PR, power-sharing | Education, agriculture, environment, health |
Reserved to Westminster: defence, foreign affairs, social security, most taxation. UK government can suspend assemblies (used several times in Northern Ireland). London: 33 local authorities plus the Mayor and Greater London Authority.
Voting
- Who
18+. UK, Irish and Commonwealth citizens resident in the UK. - Register
Electoral register via the local council. NI uses individual registration. - Polls
7:00 am–10:00 pm. Photo ID. Secret ballot. Postal vote available. - Stand
Most UK, Irish or Commonwealth citizens 18+. Not armed forces, civil servants, or some convicted people. Lords cannot stand for the Commons.
Commonwealth
56
Voluntary. King is ceremonial head. Democracy and the rule of law.
Council of Europe
47
Cannot make laws. Drew up the European Convention on Human Rights.
United Nations
190+
UK is one of 5 permanent Security Council members.
NATO
Defence
Europe and North America help each other if attacked.
Criminal or civil?
Criminal law
Police investigate; courts punish. Examples: carrying a weapon (even for self-defence), buying/selling illegal drugs, racial crime, selling tobacco or alcohol to under-18s, smoking in enclosed public places, drinking in alcohol-free zones.
Civil law
Settles disputes between people. Examples: housing (repairs, eviction), consumer rights, employment (wages, unfair dismissal), debt.
Police protect life and property, keep the peace, prevent and detect crime. Independent of government. PCCs elected in England and Wales. PCSOs support officers. Judges interpret the law; government cannot interfere.
| Case | England, Wales, NI | Scotland |
|---|---|---|
| Minor crime | Magistrates’ Court | Justice of the Peace Court |
| Serious crime | Crown Court · jury of 12 | Sheriff Court or High Court · jury of 15 · third verdict: not proven |
| Young people | Youth Court (10–17) | Children’s Hearings |
| Civil | County Court / High Court | Sheriff Court / Court of Session |
| Small claims | under £10,000 | under £5,000 (also NI) |
Rights and equalities
Human Rights Act 1998 puts the ECHR into UK law: life, no torture, no slavery, liberty, fair trial, thought, expression. Discrimination is unlawful. Domestic violence, FGM, and forced marriage are crimes. Arranged marriage with free consent is legal. Forced Marriage Protection Orders from 2008 (Scotland 2011).
Tax and National Insurance
Income tax on wages, self-employment, pensions, property, savings. PAYE for employees; self-assessment if self-employed. HMRC. NI pays for the state pension and NHS. NI number just before age 16, or via DWP if you start work. Not paying enough NI can cut benefits.
Driving
Moped 16. Car or motorcycle 17, after a test. Licence until 70, then every 3 years. NI new drivers show an R plate for 1 year. Foreign licence up to 12 months. DVLA: tax, SORN if off-road, insurance (criminal without it), MOT each year if the vehicle is over 3 years old.
Your role in the community
Jury service (electoral register; 18–75 in E&W, 18–70 elsewhere)
Help in schools, PTAs, school governors (18+)
Join a party; canvass at elections
Special constable, magistrate, local boards
Donate blood or register as an organ donor
National Citizen Service (16–17)
Charities often seen in questions: British Red Cross, Age UK, NSPCC, Crisis, Shelter, Cancer Research UK, National Trust, Friends of the Earth, PDSA. Recycle, shop locally, walk or use public transport.
Next step
Turn these pictures into exam marks
Work through 40 practice papers in the same 24-question, 75% format as the official test.