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Life in the UK Practice Test 7 (2026) — free, with answers

24 original practice questions in the official Life in the UK Test formats — multiple choice, select TWO, TRUE or FALSE and “which statement is correct”. The real test has 24 questions in 45 minutes with a 75% pass mark (18 of 24). Every answer below includes an explanation. Written from the official study material; no log-in, completely free.

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1. Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. The Act of Union of 1707 joined England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain.
  2. The Act of Union of 1707 joined England and Ireland into the Kingdom of Great Britain.
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Answer: A — The Act of Union of 1707 joined England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The 1707 Act, known to Scots as the Treaty of Union, made the two kingdoms one Kingdom of Great Britain.

2. Which TWO of the following did Scotland keep after the Act of Union of 1707?

  1. Its own legal system
  2. Its own parliament
  3. Its own education system
  4. Its own separate monarch
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Answer: A and C — Its own legal system; Its own education system

Scotland surrendered its independence but retained its legal system, its education system and the Presbyterian Church.

3. Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE? The Huguenots who came to Britain between 1680 and 1720 were Catholic refugees escaping religious persecution in France.

  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
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Answer: B — FALSE

FALSE — the Huguenots were PROTESTANTS fleeing religious persecution in France. Many were educated, skilled people who worked as scientists, in banking and in weaving.

4. At which battle in 1746 did George II's army destroy the force raised by Bonnie Prince Charlie?

  1. The Battle of Waterloo
  2. The Battle of Trafalgar
  3. The Battle of Culloden
  4. The Battle of Hastings
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Answer: C — The Battle of Culloden

Culloden ended the 1745 Jacobite rising and broke the power of the Highland clans.

5. Which song by Robert Burns is still sung in the UK and around the world at New Year?

  1. Flower of Scotland
  2. Auld Lang Syne
  3. Rule, Britannia!
  4. God Save the Queen
Show answer

Answer: B — Auld Lang Syne

Auld Lang Syne is Burns's most famous song, sung at Hogmanay and at New Year worldwide.

6. Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. France was the first country in the world to industrialise on a large scale.
  2. Britain was the first country in the world to industrialise on a large scale.
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Answer: B — Britain was the first country in the world to industrialise on a large scale.

Britain led the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, mechanising farming and manufacturing before anyone else.

7. In which year did the Emancipation Act abolish slavery throughout the British Empire?

  1. 1776
  2. 1807
  3. 1815
  4. 1833
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Answer: D — 1833

Trading slaves on British ships became illegal in 1807, and the Emancipation Act of 1833 abolished slavery across the Empire.

8. How many American colonies declared their independence in 1776?

  1. 10
  2. 12
  3. 13
  4. 15
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Answer: C — 13

Thirteen American colonies declared their independence in 1776, insisting that people have the right to set up their own governments. The colonists went on to defeat the British army, and Britain recognised their independence in 1783.

9. Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE? Admiral Nelson defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815.

  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
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Answer: B — FALSE

Waterloo was won by the Duke of Wellington; Nelson had been killed a decade earlier at the naval Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.

10. On the Union Flag, whose cross is the diagonal red cross on a white ground?

  1. St George
  2. St Andrew
  3. St David
  4. St Patrick
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Answer: D — St Patrick

The diagonal red cross on a white ground is the cross of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. St Andrew's cross for Scotland is also diagonal, but it is white on a blue ground, and St George's cross for England is an upright red cross on a white ground.

11. In which year did Queen Victoria come to the throne?

  1. 1832
  2. 1837
  3. 1846
  4. 1851
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Answer: B — 1837

Victoria became queen at 18 in 1837 and reigned until 1901, almost 64 years.

12. Which TWO of the following groups came to live in Britain during the Victorian period?

  1. Russian and Polish Jews escaping persecution
  2. Huguenot refugees from France
  3. People from across the Empire, including India and Africa
  4. Boer settlers from South Africa
Show answer

Answer: A and C — Russian and Polish Jews escaping persecution; People from across the Empire, including India and Africa

Around 120,000 Russian and Polish Jews arrived between 1870 and 1914, and people from across the Empire came to Britain to live, work and study. The Huguenots arrived far earlier, between 1680 and 1720.

13. In which year were the Corn Laws, which had kept cheap grain out of the country, repealed?

  1. 1832
  2. 1846
  3. 1867
  4. 1882
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Answer: B — 1846

Repealing the Corn Laws in 1846 was the best-known step in the Victorian move towards free trade.

14. From which London station did Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Great Western Railway run?

  1. King's Cross Station
  2. Euston Station
  3. Paddington Station
  4. Waterloo Station
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Answer: C — Paddington Station

The Great Western Railway, the first major railway built in Britain, ran from Paddington to the south west, the West Midlands and Wales.

15. Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. Most of the objects shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 were made in Britain.
  2. Most of the objects shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 were made outside Britain.
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Answer: A — Most of the objects shown at the Great Exhibition of 1851 were made in Britain.

Countries from around the world displayed goods in the Crystal Palace, but most exhibits were British-made.

16. In the Crimean War of 1853 to 1856, Britain fought alongside Turkey and France against which country?

  1. Russia
  2. Austria
  3. Germany
  4. The Netherlands
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Answer: A — Russia

The Crimean War was fought against Russia and was the first war reported extensively through news stories and photographs.

17. Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. Florence Nightingale was born in Germany to English parents and trained as a nurse in Italy.
  2. Florence Nightingale was born in Italy to English parents and trained as a nurse in Germany.
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Answer: B — Florence Nightingale was born in Italy to English parents and trained as a nurse in Germany.

Nightingale was born in Italy to English parents and trained in Germany at 31, before going to Turkey in 1854.

18. What caused the famine that struck Ireland in the middle of the 19th century?

  1. The repeal of the Corn Laws
  2. The failure of the potato crop
  3. The Highland Clearances
  4. The cost of the Crimean War
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Answer: B — The failure of the potato crop

The potato made up a large share of many Irish meals, so its failure brought famine, death and mass emigration.

19. Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE? The Fenians campaigned for Home Rule, under which Ireland would remain in the UK but run its own parliament.

  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
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Answer: B — FALSE

The Fenians wanted complete independence from Britain; Home Rule was argued for by others, most famously Charles Stuart Parnell.

20. Which of the following statements is correct?

  1. The Reform Act of 1832 swept away the old pocket and rotten boroughs.
  2. The Reform Act of 1832 gave every adult man the vote regardless of property.
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Answer: A — The Reform Act of 1832 swept away the old pocket and rotten boroughs.

The 1832 Act widened the franchise and moved seats to the towns and cities, but the vote still depended on owning property.

21. In 1918, which women won the right to vote and to stand for Parliament?

  1. Women over 18
  2. Women over 21
  3. Women over 25
  4. Women over 30
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Answer: D — Women over 30

In 1918 women over 30 won the right to vote and to stand for Parliament, partly in recognition of what women had contributed to the war effort in the First World War; the same change extended the vote to all men over 21. Women had to wait until 1928 to vote at 21 on equal terms with men.

22. Is the statement below TRUE or FALSE? The Boers, whom Britain fought in South Africa from 1899 to 1902, were settlers descended from the Netherlands.

  1. TRUE
  2. FALSE
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Answer: A — TRUE

The Boers were of Dutch descent and fought fiercely for over three years, winning growing public sympathy in Britain.

23. Whose assassination on 28 June 1914 set off the chain of events that led to the First World War?

  1. Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
  2. Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany
  3. Tsar Nicholas II of Russia
  4. King Albert I of Belgium
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Answer: A — Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

The killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the trigger for a war whose deeper causes had been building for years.

24. Roughly how many of the Indians who fought on Britain's behalf in the First World War were killed?

  1. 4,000
  2. 40,000
  3. 400,000
  4. 4 million
Show answer

Answer: B — 40,000

More than a million Indians fought for Britain in the First World War and around 40,000 of them were killed.

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