Religion in the UK: Life in the UK test revision

After Christianity, Islam was the largest religion recorded in the 2009 survey, at 4% of people. The figure is small but distinct, and it comes up often because the survey listed the faiths in a neat descending order: Muslim 4%, Hindu 2%, Sikh 1%, then Jewish and Buddhist below half a per cent.

Test Trap. the Muslim figure (4%) is often confused with the Hindu figure (2%). Remember the halving ladder: 4, 2, 1.

Why it matters: A known trap: candidates mix up the Muslim (4%) and Hindu (2%) figures.

Memory hook: Halving ladder: Muslim 4, Hindu 2, Sikh 1. Each step down halves the number.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.6, page 62

Three names, one church: it's the Church of England at home, the Anglican Church abroad, and the Episcopal Church in Scotland and the USA. The test can use any of the three, so learn them as a set.

Test Trap. 'Anglican Church' and 'Episcopal Church' are the same institution as the Church of England, not different denominations.

Why it matters: A naming trap, the same church appears under different names in different questions.

Memory hook: England, Anglican, Episcopal, three names for one church.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.6, page 62

This is the trap the test often uses: the monarch is the head of the Church, but the Archbishop of Canterbury is its spiritual leader. Two different roles, two different people. The King is the head; the Archbishop leads the worship.

Test Trap. the monarch is the HEAD of the Church of England; the Archbishop of Canterbury is its SPIRITUAL LEADER. Don't swap them.

Why it matters: Head of the Church and spiritual leader are two different people, and questions swap them.

Memory hook: The Crown is the head; Canterbury is the heart.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.6, page 62

Canterbury has been the centre of English Christianity for well over a thousand years, which is why Chaucer's pilgrims were heading there. Its Archbishop leads the Church spiritually, even though the monarch is formally its head.

Test Trap. the Archbishop of Canterbury (not York) is the spiritual leader — and he is not the head; the monarch is.

Why it matters: The other half of the head-versus-spiritual-leader trap.

Memory hook: Canterbury: where the pilgrims went, and where the Church's leader sits.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.6, page 62

Scotland's national church runs very differently from England's. There are no bishops. It's governed by ministers and elders together, which is what 'Presbyterian' means. So the two national churches of Britain are different kinds of church, not one church in two places.

Test Trap. the Church of England is Anglican (with bishops); the Church of Scotland is Presbyterian (ministers and elders). They are different kinds of church.

Why it matters: A clean England-versus-Scotland contrast: Anglican with bishops versus Presbyterian with elders.

Memory hook: Scotland: Presbyterian, elders, not bishops.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.6, page 62