The Life in the UK Test for Indefinite Leave to Remain

Do you need the Life in the UK Test for ILR?

Yes — for most applicants. If you are applying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (also called settlement or, in older Home Office wording, indefinite leave to enter) and you are aged between 18 and 64, you must pass the Life in the UK Test as part of your application. There is no separate "ILR version" of the test: the same 24-question, 45-minute exam is used for both settlement applications and British citizenship applications, and it draws from the same official handbook — Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents.

A common source of confusion is that many people search for the indefinite leave to remain UK test as if it were a different exam from the citizenship one. It isn't. The Home Office uses a single Life in the UK Test for both routes, and a single pass certificate can be reused for the second application years later. We come back to this point further down.

How the Life in the UK Test fits into the ILR application

ILR is the immigration status that gives you the right to live, work and study in the UK without any time limit. It is usually the last step before British citizenship. To qualify for ILR, you typically need to satisfy four broad requirements:

1. Lawful continuous residence. For most visa categories, this means five years of qualifying time in the UK on a route that leads to settlement (for example, a Skilled Worker visa or a Family visa). Some routes — Innovator Founder, Global Talent — allow you to apply after three years, and the long residence route is ten.
2. English language at B1 CEFR or above. You normally evidence this either through an approved Secure English Language Test (SELT) at B1 or higher, or through a degree taught in English. Nationals of majority English-speaking countries are exempt.
3. The Life in the UK Test. Required for applicants aged 18 to 64 (more on exemptions below). You take it at one of around 30 approved test centres in the UK.
4. Meeting the rules of your specific route. Salary thresholds, absence limits, relationship requirements — these vary by visa category and are the part most people focus on. The knowledge requirements (language plus the Life in the UK Test) are the same across almost every route.

You should sit and pass the Life in the UK Test before you submit your ILR application — the pass reference number goes into the online form. Most applicants take it three to six months before they file, which leaves a buffer in case they need a second attempt.

What the test covers

The exam is 24 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes, with a pass mark of 18 out of 24 (75%). Every question is drawn from the official handbook, which is divided into five chapters: values and principles, what the UK is and who lives here, UK history from prehistory to the modern day, everyday life and culture, and how government and the law work.

For ILR applicants in particular, chapters 1 (values), 2 (the UK today) and 5 (government and law) tend to feel the most relevant — they cover the rights and responsibilities of permanent residents and citizens. Chapter 3 (history) is the biggest weighting on the test and the chapter most candidates underestimate. For a full chapter-by-chapter breakdown and free practice questions, see our main pillar guide on the Life in the UK Test.

Who is exempt from the Life in the UK Test

Not everyone applying for ILR needs to take the test. According to GOV.UK, you are exempt if you fall into any of the following categories:

• You are under 18. Children applying for settlement as dependants of an ILR holder do not take the test.
• You are 65 or over. The age cap is firm — once you turn 65 you no longer need to sit or pass it for either ILR or citizenship.
• You have a long-term physical or mental condition that makes it impossible for you to take the test. You will need to provide either the official exemption form or a letter from a doctor confirming the condition. The Home Office reviews these on a case-by-case basis, and conditions such as severe learning disabilities, advanced dementia and certain mental-health conditions have been accepted in the past.
• You have already passed the test. If you sat and passed it for a previous immigration application — most commonly an earlier ILR or settlement application that did not complete, or for a family member's application — you do not need to take it again. Your pass reference number is reused.

The English language requirement is a separate matter and has its own set of exemptions and exceptions. Always check the rules for your specific visa route, and if you are unsure whether you qualify for an exemption, speak to a qualified immigration adviser before you apply.

ILR vs. citizenship: does my pass certificate work for both?

Yes — and this is one of the most useful things to know about the test. The Life in the UK Test certificate is a one-off, lifetime pass. If you pass it for your ILR application, the same pass reference number can be submitted again when you apply for naturalisation as a British citizen, which most ILR holders become eligible to do after holding settlement for at least 12 months.

This matters for two reasons:

• You only pay the £50 test fee once. Unlike some other elements of the application (biometric residence permits, English tests that may need refreshing), the knowledge-of-life requirement is a one- and-done expense.
• You only study once. If you pass it at ILR stage and plan to apply for citizenship later, you can keep the handbook on the shelf and reuse the certificate. There is no "refresher" requirement.

Because the same test is used, some applicants whose route allows them to go straight from a long visa history to naturalisation (rather than via ILR) sit it just once for citizenship. But the vast majority of routes require ILR first, so most candidates pass it as part of their settlement application. For a deeper comparison, see our separate guide on the British citizenship test, which goes live alongside this article.

Cost and timeline

Two cost lines matter here: the test fee itself, and the application fee that comes later.

• Life in the UK Test: £50 per attempt. Paid when you book online at one of the approved test centres. If you fail, you must wait at least seven days before booking again, and you pay £50 each time. There is no cap on the number of attempts. See our full breakdown of the Life in the UK Test cost.
• ILR application fee: around £3,226. This is the Home Office fee for "Indefinite Leave to Remain – main applicant and dependants" from 8 April 2026, up from £3,029 the year before. Fees change every spring, so always check GOV.UK before you apply.
• Biometric enrolment. A small additional fee (around £19.20 at recent rates) for capturing your fingerprints and photograph when you submit the application. Different services exist if you need an in-home or premium appointment, which cost considerably more.

A typical timeline for an ILR applicant looks something like this: book and pass the Life in the UK Test, sit the B1 English test if needed, then submit the online ILR application around four to eight weeks before your current visa expires. Standard processing usually takes up to six months; priority and super-priority services are available for an additional fee and return decisions in days or weeks.

Preparing for the test as an ILR applicant

Many ILR applicants underestimate the Life in the UK Test because the immigration paperwork itself feels like the harder challenge. In practice, candidates who treat the test as "just a formality" and rely on a single read of the handbook are the ones most likely to fail. The questions are often phrased in ways that catch out people who recognise the topic but didn't memorise specific dates, names or numbers.

A workable approach is:

1. Read the handbook end to end once — or our free summary with practice questions — to see the lay of the land. Don't try to memorise on this pass.
2. Drill by chapter. Especially chapters 3 (history) and 5 (government). These two chapters together account for around half of the questions on a typical real test.
3. Take full 24-question mock tests under timed conditions. If you can score 22 or higher on three mocks in a row without checking anything up, you are very likely ready to book.
4. Book the real test only when your mock scores are stable. At £50 a sitting and a seven-day waiting period between attempts, it is not a fee you want to pay twice on something avoidable.

Most candidates who pass on their first attempt put in two to four weeks of focused study. For more experienced English speakers already familiar with British culture, a week may be enough — but doing a diagnostic mock early on is the fastest way to tell where you stand.

Frequently asked questions

Is the indefinite leave to remain Life in the UK Test the same as the citizenship one?

Yes. There is one Life in the UK Test, used for both ILR (settlement) and British citizenship. The format, content, pass mark and fee are identical, and a single pass certificate counts for both applications.

How long is the Life in the UK Test pass valid for ILR purposes?

Indefinitely. There is no expiry date. Once you pass, the reference number stays valid for any future Home Office application that needs it.

I am over 65 — do I still need to take the test for ILR?

No. Applicants aged 65 or over at the time of applying are exempt from the Life in the UK Test. The English language requirement may still apply depending on your route — check with an immigration adviser if you are unsure.

I failed the test once. Will it affect my ILR application?

No. Only your most recent passed attempt is recorded on your application; previous failures are not reported to the Home Office. You can retake the test as many times as needed, with a seven-day gap between attempts.

Do I take the test before or after submitting the ILR application?

Before. The pass reference number is required on the application form, so you must have already passed the test when you file. Most applicants sit it three to six months before their planned application date.

Can I take the Life in the UK Test outside the UK?

For settlement applications inside the UK, the test must be taken at an approved UK test centre. For applicants applying from overseas under specific routes, different arrangements may apply — check GOV.UK or speak to an immigration adviser.

Do I have to take a separate English test as well?

Usually yes. The Life in the UK Test and the B1 English language requirement are two separate requirements, not one. The Life in the UK Test is in English but is testing knowledge of life in the UK, not general English proficiency. Some applicants are exempt from the English test (for example, nationals of majority English-speaking countries or holders of a degree taught in English).