Life in the UK exam

My wife would like to get the Life in the UK exam, is it possible to take the exam earlier even her visa will expire on 2014? Does it have an expiry period (the result of exam) if she apply for right to remain?

Don't think there's an expiry date for the test pass certificate,..my wife got hers 4 years ago and she will be using it for her UK citizenship this year sometime.

My best advice would be to get that Life in UK exam done and dusted asap.
It does take time and effort to prepare for it, then to book a test.
There's currently no expiry, but that might change.

Just a heads-up but the Home Office plan is to introduce a new test in October 2013 in addition to a new English language test at B1 level.

What's the visa that will expire 2014?

We are about to book my wife's Life in the UK Test for February 6th. Some 8 months before her Spouse visa expires.

I wish her the very best of luck for a positive result.
It's not as easy as many folks will tell as it does take an effort to learn.
The saving grace is that it's multiple choice and in itself that can prompt the correct answer.

My advice is to use all the time available during the test to review the answers.
I don't see any advantage in finishing first and leaving. Mostly that's a poor strategy.

Good luck to her John

Thanks.

Looking at it, I know I would fail it if I didn't do any work on it.

We have also taken the strategy that if she fails it this month then she takes it again next month and so on as they are set once a month here.

Maybe these links will be of some help to someone:-

Life in UK on e-bay Look here

iPhone app - Official Life in the UK Citizenship Test App

Android app - Official Life in the UK Test

Ha. Yes, we bought ours on ebay. Considerably cheaper that way.


Life in the UK Test Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lifeintheuktest

Life in the UK Test Bookshop: http://www.tsoshop.co.uk/bookstore....80113413140&From=SearchResults&TRACKID=002353

I spoke to Isle of Man Immigration today and asked what would happen if my wife failed the Life in the UK Test at every hurdle before ILR application time. His reply was that she would apply for FLR instead, during which she could then take the test again. ( And again and again ).

I am talking about my wife spouse visa which is valid until August 2014. If she take the exam before October 2013 and passed it, is there a possibility that she'll take the exam again if they introduce a new test on October 2013? And what about this English language test B1 level? She took it in Manila before applying for her visa.

The new Life in the UK Test comes into force in March 2013, by the way.
My understanding is that if your wife took the Life in the UK test before Oct 2013 it would not expire before August 2014. I have to admit that I am not certain about the English Language Test. Did she get a B1 or higher in Manila?

Hi redbricks,
I always advise to get that Life in UK test done and dusted and under the belt asap. It's better, I think, to make the study the practice and the testing early on when most folks have plenty of time to focus and not too many friends dragging them out shopping and chikka chikka.
The test certificate does not have any expiry.

However, as you may already know, there is now an all new test with an implementation date toward the end of March 2013.
May I kindly suggest that your wife takes up the newly published book and studies for the new test. I do feel that would be better than trying to rush at the old test.
That Life in UK Test may be taken as many times as is needed. (bit like a driving test)
My wife spent many hours online doing the practice tests. But that totally suited her learning strengths so was well worth the effort. Everyone has their own optimum learning strategy.

The other subject that John touched on 'English language Test' is also planned to be implemented this year during October. This will involve an uplift in the pass level from A1 to B1
If your wife has passed at level B1 and the certificate has no expiry then she'll be OK to utilise her existing certificate.
However, if she passed only at level A1 she will need to retake at B1. Also if she passed at B1 level, but her certificate has an expiry date (usually 2 years from issue) then again she will need to retake.
Certificate validity can be seen on the UKBA Approved lists of tests.

Hope this helps in some way.

And in the case of TOEIC (Hopkins) the expiry date / validity is on the certificate.

The English test done in manila is only valid for 2 years from the date it was provided. We are due to apply for my ILR in April 2014 and have been reading about the application process and etc. To be truthful, I dont think the UKBA website is helpful as to tell you everything you need to do or need to get. I suggest visiting some council offices that offer a bit of help with regard to visas and other info. Luckily for us, the Children's Center near us offer visa info help on certain days.

My wife sat the Life in the UK and Island test today. First 6 questions on the Isle of Man and the next 18 were out of the UK pool of questions. The test here is on pen and paper. So it will be hand marked so she wont hear for a few days yet.

Her friend sat it for a third time and there was a chinaman there whose english was very poor and was sitting it for a 6th time!

There was a family of Rumanians sitting the test. One of them had been here 10 years so don't know how that works. Anyhow, I thought the Rumanians were exempt?

Interesting.
I hope she gets the pass John. Is she happy with her answers?

yes, I'm surprised about Romanians taking it. I wonder why.

A friend of ours takes it for the second time on Thursday. We have been supporting her (means sponsoring) on her immigration journey so far. The husband is a complete waste of space. (I'll say no more, that's another story) Her FLR expires end of March so the pressure is now building.

Yes. I asked the chinaman how he got on. He seemed not to be able to utter a syllable of english. Amazing. He just showed me a few sets of papers that he had with him, some were in chinese. .

Do you mean to say he was allowed to take some papers inside the test room with him?
As I recall, when my wife took her test they were not allowed to take anything inside.

He was allowed to take them into the test room, but not to his desk. There were five invigilators in there watching 23 candidates so they were well monitored.

When my wife took her test, some years ago, it was entirely computer based. If you were not able to use a computer and mouse then you were sunk. Anyway, the other thing I remember was that none of the candidates had the same set of questions. The questions would be generated 'randomly' at each set. I was told that was just to prevent others sneeking a look at the screens withing eyesight.

Wonder if the pen & paper versions are all the same papers or different for each candidate? Any idea John?
Just interested really.