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IN LONDON - ONLY one in seven Britons would pass the citizenship test which immigrants must sit for in order to secure a British passport, according to research published this week.
The revelation has raised questions about the severity of the multiple-choice examination.
An online version of the test found that Britons are less knowledgeable about their own country than are Poles, Finns, Swedes or Germans.
Of more than 11,000 Britons who sat for the mock test, only 1,585 achieved the 75 per cent pass mark.
'We discovered that...the Brits were only sixth in the league tables,' said Mr Henry Dillon, the editor of a study guide that helps immigrants prepare for the 'Life in the UK Test'.
'This demonstrates that the test isn't straightforward. It is something you have to study for in the same way you have to for your driving test,' he added.
The fact that few Britons could clear this last hurdle on the path to citizenship has raised criticisms that the test sets the bar too high.
Government data show that almost one in three people has failed the test since it was introduced in November 2005. More than 430,000 people have sat for it since.
'Half the stuff, I didn't know about,' said a Jamaican woman, identified only as Rose, who recently failed the test.
'They are things that are not relevant to me and my life, like how old a child is when he does tests at school.'
Similar tests introduced in several countries, including Austra- lia, the Netherlands, the United States and some German states have attracted criticisms both for esoteric questions and, in some cases, for questions about an applicant's cultural sensitivities.
For example, one German state, Baden-W�rttemberg, had questions about a person's view on forced marriage and women's rights. Another, Hesse, asked whether the respondent believed Israel had a right to exist.
Australia's test came under fire earlier this month when it emerged that 20 per cent of applicants were failing.
Critics said it should be about knowledge on culture, the political system and everyday life and not, in the words of one detractor 'about what happened 20 years ago in some cricket match'.
But one of the architects of the British citizenship test, Sir Bernard Crick, who drew up an official booklet which applicants are supposed to study in preparation for the test, said it was a worthwhile exercise in educating people about their new country.
'At least you know they are learning some essential information about the nature of the United Kingdom - there are local councils, local MPs, and the police are by and large friendly.
'A lot of people come from countries where you wouldn't even go near the police,' he said.
He added that the test was also useful to assess assimilation in an age when the self-segregation of communities has become a major concern.
'You don't want to issue passports promiscuously if you think people are living simply within their own minority communities and have no knowledge of the wider communities,' Sir Bernard said.
mark.riceoxley@btinternet.com
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