Must One Renounce One's British Citizenship?

Prompted by a blog post on the happy Homemaker UK blog I took the British citizenship test. This is the test you have to take if you wish to apply for British citizenship, something you are eligible to do after five years of living in Britain.

The questions are a mix of cultural, political. practical and downright bizarre topics....and needless to say, as a Brit, I whizzed through the test and am happy to report I passed with flying colours.

Except I really didn't. I failed. Flunked it. See for yourself:

With 50% Correct I Guess I Now Have to Renounce my Britishness
Photo (c) The Writing Well

 I would not be able to be a British citizen if I wasn't already. Apparently I needed to actually study or something in order to know what other non-Brits know before gaining British citizenship.

Here's an example of a mystifying question which made me mutter to myself (something along the lines of "How the hell is that relevant?" if you are wondering).


In which year did married women get the right to divorce their husband?

• 1837
• 1857
• 1875
• 1882

I get that British women having the right to divorce their husband is important to know if you intend to take on British citizenship, don't get me wrong. But I fail to see that adding the year it was introduced to your knowledge base has any relevance or benefit whatsoever.

And the answer is? Well actually, I don't know, and more to the point I don't care - and that really doesn't make me less British. Not living in Britain for the last twelve years..... that just might.......