Tests in the United Kingdom

Driving: the DVSA in Great Britain, the DVA in Northern Ireland

If you live in England, Scotland or Wales, you book the driving theory test through the DVSA’s service on GOV.UK. A theory test in Glasgow is the same test as one in Cardiff or Leeds. As of October 2026 the car test costs £23 and has two parts, multiple-choice questions and hazard perception clips, and you have to pass both in one sitting. Your pass certificate number lasts 2 years.

Northern Ireland is separate. The Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA), part of the Department for Infrastructure, runs theory and practical tests there, booked on nidirect, and you need a licence with a Northern Ireland address to book online. From 1 October 2026, a GB provisional licence no longer lets you book or take car or motorcycle tests in Northern Ireland. You need a Northern Ireland provisional licence instead.

Life in the UK and English tests for visas

The Life in the UK Test is the Home Office’s test for settlement and British citizenship. It’s the same everywhere in the UK and you sit it at one of more than 30 test centres. Questions come only from the official handbook, the Guide for New Residents. If you’ve already passed it for settlement, you don’t take it again when you apply to become a citizen.

Proving your English is a separate step. For a visa, the result usually has to come from a Secure English Language Test (SELT) taken at an approved centre within the last 2 years. As of October 2026 the approved UK providers are Trinity College London, the IELTS SELT Consortium (IELTS for UKVI and IELTS Life Skills), LanguageCert and Pearson (PTE Academic UKVI and PTE Home). Routes like Skilled Worker and Student test all four skills, while settlement, partner and citizenship applications test speaking and listening only. For settlement and citizenship, the lowest level accepted is B1.

School and university admissions

The 11-plus isn’t one national exam. Grammar schools in England choose pupils by academic ability and set an entrance test, so what your child sits depends on the school or area you apply to.

At university level, medicine and dentistry applicants to the UCAT Consortium’s universities take the UCAT, a computer-based test at Pearson centres across the UK and abroad. Many law courses use the LNAT, which takes 2 hours 15 minutes: 42 multiple-choice questions on 12 passages, then one essay from a choice of three. Each university decides how much weight it gives the result alongside your grades and any interview.

Professional exams and work cards

Qualifying as a solicitor in England and Wales now goes through the Solicitors Qualifying Exam, set by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. You need to pass both SQE1 and SQE2, hold a degree or an equivalent level 6 qualification, complete two years of qualifying work experience and pass the SRA’s character and suitability checks.

On building sites, the card is what counts. Many sites expect a CSCS card before you can work there, and to apply for one you must first pass the right CITB Health, Safety and Environment test. Nurses trained outside the UK take the NMC’s Test of Competence, a multiple-choice computer-based test (CBT) plus a practical OSCE. The two parts can be taken in either order but must be passed within two years of each other.

Questions people ask

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