Are 40 To 60 Plus Year Olds More British Than Our Youngsters?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/more-than-half-of-young-people-fail-britishness-test-9684445.html

Or do they simply possess a better general knowledge, and if so why?

[Amphilogiai]

9/10, Sports one wrong, was not here then.

[mikey4444]

I have just achieved 10 out of 10 but it was hardly a difficult quiz was it ?
Even most foreigners could have achieved a healthy, if not 100% score.

[Buenchico]

Much of the content of the 'Britishness' tests seems to be to do with English (rather than British) history, as it was taught in 19th century public schools. I wonder how many of the people answering those questions (irrespective of their age) know anything about the Massacre of Glencoe, or about one of the most important figures in British history, Owain Glyndŵr ?

>>>Or do they simply possess a better general knowledge, and if so why?

In today's society, 'knowledge' (general or otherwise) is probably far less important than the ability to find things out. There's little or no need to learn lots of facts if you know where to find the information when you need it!

[Graham-W]

10/10. But I see the average was only 7/10. If the average is 7/10 and most of us scored 10/10 there must be some pretty dire results.

[tonyav]

10 out of 10 here, I'd have been gutted if I'd have scored less.

[DTCwordfan]

Irrelevant, society is an ever-changing entity as is language and culture.....

[mikey4444]

methyl...which were the 2 duff politics questions ? I can only find The Opposition and the Speaker. Not sure what was duff about them ?

[Graham-W]

Hmmm. In a different practice test I scored only 18/20. Still a pass but let down by my history.
http://www.uk-citizenship-test.com/practicetest-2013.html

[mikey4444]

I have just done the Citizen Test and scored 20 points, 83%. Not sure what that means though !

[New Judge]

It means you must leave the country immediately, Mikey. Do not pass "Go", do not collect £200 :-)

[dunnitall]

Lol @ NJ..... Older people seem more conscientious and knowledgable than the youngsters, thus it has always been methinks.

[mikey4444]

We only know what we have been taught, or what we have taken the trouble to find out. One of my pet bugbears is the ignorance shown by young people in general about very simple facts concerning WW2. I have found the ignorance to be breathtaking....for instance saying that Japan was on the allied side, along with Italy. Some of them don't even show any recognition when the word Hitler is used ! Surely Hitler must be one of the most famous names in the world's history ?

[New Judge]

Yes I completely agree, Mikey.

I am astonished at the lack of general knowledge among young people. I know that one tends to accumulate such knowledge with time, but some of it should have been acquired in school. In particular knowledge of recent British history seems to be sadly lacking.

[mikey4444]

We agree on something at last NJ...Well, that is nice !

[DTCwordfan]

reword that, NJ, to //In particular knowledge of British history seems to be sadly lacking.

Even though WW2 is fading into history and I wouldn't expect most of them to know many of the details of campaigns etc, I would expect them to be able to name Hitler, Mussolini, Goering, Goebbels and who comprised the key countries of the Allies and Axis. However, I do feel that we are a little bit too obsessed with both world wars....not that I am demeaning remembrance days.

[jno]

kids today are taught how to find out things they don't know. Knowing Queen Anne's successor is less important than knowing how to find it out - because once you've learnt how to use online searching, you've opened to the door to far more knowledge than was available in my youth.

[DTCwordfan]

So true, jno....

[DaisyNonna]

Define British