Reforming the UK's Citizenship Test: Building Bridges, Not Barriers

Description

Thom Brooks draws on first-hand experience of taking the test, and interviews with key figures including past Home Secretaries, to expose the test as ineffective and a barrier to citizenship. How many questions could you answer in a pub quiz about British values? Designed to ensure new migrants have accepted British values and integrated, the UK's citizenship test is often portrayed as a bad pub quiz with answers few citizens know. With the launch of a new post-Brexit immigration system, this is a critical time to change the test. This accessible guide offers recommendations for transforming the citizenship test into a 'bridge to citizenship' which fosters greater inclusion and integration.

Thom Brooks is the Dean of Durham Law School at Durham University.

"An important addition to literature on British citizenship which provides a much needed critique of the citizenship test." Devyani Prabhat, University of Bristol "Writing from personal experience of the citizenship test and from deep expertise in its development and shortcomings, Professor Brooks provides a welcome and constructive critique of what he demonstrates to have become a dysfunctional institution. This is a timely book with a compelling reforming message and clear proposals to change things for the better." Arthur Chapman, University College London