Valid assessment is about measuring that which we should be trying to measure.

Phil Race Making Learning Happen.

The Guardian website quiz ‘Life in the UK: could you pass the citizenship test?’ has been provoking a lot of discussion amongst my friends. None of my friends, UK citizens or otherwise, have been able to pass the citizenship test yet.

I suspect that the Guardian has selected some ‘greatest hits’ amongst the questions and that most obscure questions have been deliberately chosen. But, if the citizenship test is really about assessing British values, British history and British culture it is a total failure. We can’t be sure that new British citizens are able to participate fully in British society, appreciate British history and understand British customs but we can be sure that all our new citizens are successful learners of trivia.

Does it measure what we are trying to measure? The Home Office need to read Phil Race.