Does a Life in the UK test pass expire?

Does a Life in the UK test pass expire?

The rules name no end date for a pass. So you do not need to take the test again just because time has passed.

The real risk is not that the pass runs out. It is that you lose the number that proves it.

What does "no end date" mean?

Many exams and documents run out. The rules for the Life in the UK test name no such date.

This is what the rules say today. Rules can change, so check the government page when you apply, and do not guess from what a friend did years ago.

Do you take the test again for citizenship?

A person who passed before does not take it again. For example, you may have passed for settlement. When you later apply for citizenship, you do not sit the test again.

You still need to show the result. That means your unique reference number, or URN.

Why does the number matter so much?

You put the URN on your application. The Home Office uses it to check your result and your photo. Without it, the application has a gap.

So the question to ask is not whether your pass has expired, but whether you can find your number. Read how in what the unique reference number is.

What if you passed a long time ago?

Look in these places.

• The email you got after the test.
• Your Life in the UK account, where the URN shows next to your result.
• Old papers. A test before 17 December 2019 gave a letter with a "test reference ID".

If you lost that old letter, you send a letter with your application. In it, you explain that you lost the original.

What is different about the language part?

Knowledge of language and life in the UK has two parts. One part is your English, speaking and listening at B1. You show this with a separate English test or qualification, or by being a national of a majority English-speaking country, or by a degree taught in English. The other part is the Life in the UK test.

Being from an English-speaking country does not remove the Life in the UK test. The two parts are separate, so a pass in one does not replace the other.

Who has to take the test at all?

People who apply for British citizenship or for settlement have to take it, unless they are exempt. Read the full list in who has to take the test.

If you must test again

If you have never passed, you can take the test as often as you need, and you pay £50 each time. Use a full mock to see your level first. Our free practice test is a good start.

A short chapter is a good place to begin. In the values and principles chapter, one list gives what you should do as a resident or citizen, and another gives what the UK offers you in return. Learn the two lists as a pair.

Check yourself

• Do you know where your URN is saved right now?
• Did you pass before 17 December 2019, and do you still have the letter?
• Is your English proof a separate part from the Life in the UK test in your application?