About this site

Last updated: 20 October 2026

Life in the UK Explained is an unofficial study site. It tells the history, culture and institutions of Britain through short stories, with test-style quizzes and a free mock test.

This is not an official site

We have no connection with the Home Office or any other part of government. To book the test or check the latest rules, always go to GOV.UK.

Where the content comes from

Every Life in the UK test question is drawn from one official book, the handbook for new residents (3rd edition; we follow the 2020 printing). The handbook is Crown copyright and we don't reproduce its text. Every explanation and practice question here is written in our own words, and each chapter has been checked against the handbook for accuracy.

The practice questions are our own, based on the handbook's content. They are not real test questions; the Home Office has never published those.

The handbook is now more than ten years old and some of it is out of date. The test still follows the handbook, so this site does too: everything here is as the handbook says, and that is how you should answer in the test.

Images and fonts

Historical photographs and paintings come from Wikimedia Commons; the author and licence are given in each caption. The illustrations, maps and diagrams were drawn for this site.

The fonts are Libre Caslon, Source Sans 3 and Noto Serif TC, all under the SIL Open Font License: Libre Caslon Text, Libre Caslon Display, Source Sans 3, Noto Serif TC.

Spotted a mistake?

Please email [email protected] and tell us which page and which paragraph. We'll check it and fix it as soon as we can.

For how we handle data, see our privacy policy.