If you are applying for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK, you may need to pass the Life in the UK Test before you submit your application. The requirement applies to many of the main settlement routes, although there are exemptions and some categories of applicant do not have to meet the Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK requirement at all.
ILR is also commonly described as settlement. It allows a person to live in the UK without a time limit on their immigration permission, although the eligibility rules and qualifying period depend on the immigration route through which they are applying.
The Life in the UK Test is therefore only one part of an ILR application. Passing it does not make someone eligible for settlement by itself, but where the test is required, an applicant will normally need to have passed it before their settlement application can succeed.
Do you need the Life in the UK Test for ILR?
For many applicants aged between 18 and 64, the answer is yes.
The current Immigration Rules contain a specific Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement for settlement under routes including Skilled Worker, UK Ancestry, Global Talent, Innovator Founder, Scale-up, Private Life, Long Residence, Hong Kong BN(O) and a number of family and other routes. Other settlement routes can be governed by the older Knowledge of Language and Life provisions.
The precise requirement therefore depends on the route under which you are applying. Before booking a test solely because you expect to apply for ILR, it is worth checking the GOV.UK eligibility page for your particular immigration route.
For example, GOV.UK states that an applicant aged 18 to 65 applying for settlement through the 10-year Long Residence route must pass the Life in the UK Test and meet the relevant English-language requirement.
What does the Life in the UK Test prove?
For immigration purposes, the government refers to Knowledge of Language and Life in the UK, often shortened to KoLL. Where the full KoLL requirement applies, it has two components: knowledge of life in the UK and the relevant knowledge of language requirement.
Passing the Life in the UK Test satisfies the knowledge-of-life component. Depending on your immigration route and circumstances, you may also have to meet a separate English-language requirement. The Home Office guidance recognises several ways in which the language component can be met, including qualifying English-language tests, certain degrees and, in relevant cases, nationality from a recognised majority English-speaking country.
This distinction matters because passing the Life in the UK Test does not itself prove your English-language ability. Equally, being exempt from providing an English-language qualification does not necessarily exempt you from the Life in the UK Test. Home Office guidance specifically states, for example, that nationals of recognised majority English-speaking countries can satisfy the language component through their nationality but must still pass the Life in the UK Test where the knowledge-of-life requirement applies.
Which ILR applicants are exempt from the Life in the UK Test?
Age provides the clearest general exemption. Under the current settlement rules, applicants who are under 18 or aged 65 or over on the date of their application are exempt from the Knowledge of Life in the UK requirement.
There is also provision for people whose physical or mental condition prevents them from meeting the requirement. GOV.UK explains that applicants relying on this exemption need medical evidence, and the Immigration Rules provide an exemption where a disability prevents the applicant from satisfying the knowledge-of-life requirement.
Some immigration categories are outside the normal KoLL requirement altogether. Current Home Office caseworker guidance lists categories including people applying for ILR as refugees, on the basis of humanitarian protection or discretionary leave, certain victims of domestic violence, bereaved partners, adult dependent relatives and stateless people.
Because these rules depend on both the applicant and the settlement route, a general Life in the UK guide should not be treated as a substitute for checking the requirements of your own ILR category.
What if you have already passed the Life in the UK Test?
You do not normally need to take it again.
GOV.UK expressly includes people who have passed the test before among those who do not need to sit another Life in the UK Test. This is particularly useful if you pass the test for settlement and later apply for British citizenship: the same Life in the UK pass can be relied on again.
For tests taken from 17 December 2019 onwards, successful candidates receive a unique reference number through their Life in the UK Test account. That reference is used in the settlement or citizenship application so that the Home Office can verify the result.
Candidates who took the test under older systems may have a different form of reference or pass documentation. GOV.UK provides separate instructions for these earlier results.
What is the Life in the UK Test like?
The test is computer-based and consists of 24 questions to be answered within 45 minutes. You need a score of 75% or higher to pass, which means answering at least 18 of the 24 questions correctly.
Questions are based on the official Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents handbook. GOV.UK states that candidates are tested only on information from this guide, so preparation should cover the material in the official syllabus rather than relying entirely on remembered questions from online mock tests.
The material ranges widely across British history, government, law, society, customs, culture and the values and principles of the UK. This breadth is one reason the test can require more preparation than its relatively short 24-question format initially suggests.
How much does the Life in the UK Test cost for ILR?
The official test currently costs £50. It must be booked through the official GOV.UK service, and the government requires bookings to be made at least three days in advance. There are more than 30 test centres around the UK.
Be careful when searching for the test online, because many commercial study websites appear alongside the official booking service. GOV.UK states that its booking service is the only official government service for booking the Life in the UK Test.
Study websites and practice apps can help you prepare, but they cannot issue the official pass required for an ILR application.
What do you need to book the test?
You need an email address, a debit or credit card and an accepted form of identification. The name entered when booking must match the name on the identification used for the test.
If you have an eVisa, GOV.UK currently advises using a share code from your UKVI account when booking. Other accepted forms of identification can include a valid passport, certain European identity cards and qualifying travel documents. BRPs and BRCs remain usable in specified circumstances during the transition to eVisas, but the rules governing these documents are time-sensitive and should be checked on GOV.UK when you book.
Your photograph is taken at the test centre to confirm your identity. If you are using physical identification, you must bring the appropriate original document rather than a copy or screenshot.
What happens after you pass?
Once you pass, you receive the reference needed for your settlement application. For modern tests, this is the unique reference number displayed against your test result in your Life in the UK Test account. The Home Office can use the reference to verify that you passed.
Passing the test does not create an automatic right to ILR. Your settlement application still has to satisfy the other requirements of the route through which you are applying, which can include matters such as qualifying residence, immigration status and route-specific eligibility conditions. The Life in the UK result supplies one piece of the evidence required where the knowledge-of-life condition applies.
For that reason, it is sensible to think of the test as one item in your wider ILR preparation rather than as the settlement application itself.
What happens if you fail?
A failed Life in the UK Test does not prevent you from trying again. GOV.UK allows candidates to rebook the test as many times as necessary, although the £50 fee is payable for every attempt.
That makes it worthwhile to prepare until you can pass varied mock tests consistently before spending money on repeated official attempts. A practice score hovering around 18 out of 24 gives very little room for an unexpectedly difficult set of questions, while consistently scoring above the official threshold offers a more useful indication that your knowledge is secure.
How should you prepare for the ILR Life in the UK Test?
Start with the syllabus rather than the mock tests. The test can draw on information from across the official handbook, so a candidate who has memorised a small collection of repeated online questions may still struggle when familiar material is asked in an unfamiliar way. GOV.UK confirms that the questions are based on the official Guide for New Residents.
A sensible preparation sequence is to work through each area of the syllabus, check your understanding with questions as you study, revisit information you repeatedly get wrong, and then move onto full 24-question mock tests. By the final stage, your mocks should contain sufficiently varied questions that a high score reflects knowledge of the subject rather than recognition of a fixed test.
Historical dates and figures often require deliberate memorisation, while government and law questions depend more heavily on understanding the difference between institutions and their roles. Culture, sport, literature and traditions introduce a different challenge again because they contain many individual facts that are easier to retain through repeated recall.
When should you take the Life in the UK Test before applying for ILR?
There is no advantage in leaving the test until the final days before an otherwise time-sensitive settlement application. GOV.UK confirms that someone who has already passed does not need to sit the test again, so the result can be secured before the point at which you are ready to submit your ILR application.
Giving yourself some margin also leaves time for another attempt if you do not pass first time. Since official bookings must be made at least three days in advance and each failed attempt requires another paid booking, completing the requirement earlier can remove an avoidable source of pressure from the settlement process.
The timing of the ILR application itself, however, is governed by the rules for your immigration route. Passing the test early does not change the date on which you become eligible to apply.
Life in the UK Test and British citizenship
The Life in the UK Test is used for both settlement and British citizenship. If you pass it for your ILR application and later apply to naturalise as a British citizen, GOV.UK says that you do not have to take the test again.
The wider requirements for naturalisation are separate from those for ILR, so a previous Life in the UK pass should not be confused with automatic eligibility for citizenship. It simply means that the knowledge-of-life test itself has already been completed.
For someone progressing from a temporary immigration route to settlement and eventually citizenship, passing the Life in the UK Test is therefore usually a one-time milestone rather than an examination that has to be repeated at every stage.
Preparing for settlement
If your ILR route requires the Life in the UK Test, preparation should begin with a simple objective: know the material well enough to answer unfamiliar questions about it.
Common Ground covers the syllabus through structured lessons, questions during study, flashcards and full mock tests drawn from a bank of more than 2,000 practice questions. The aim is to build enough understanding that your performance does not depend on seeing the same practice question twice.
Before submitting an immigration application, check the current GOV.UK guidance for your particular settlement route. Immigration requirements can change, and your route determines whether the Life in the UK Test, an English-language requirement, or an exemption applies to your circumstances.