The Proms: Life in the UK test revision

The Proms fills most of the British summer with orchestral music. Concerts run for eight weeks in various venues, so it is far longer than a typical festival weekend. Knowing the length helps you picture it as a whole season rather than a single event, which is how the handbook frames it.

Why it matters: The length of the season is asked as a number, with other believable lengths as the wrong answers.

Memory hook: Proms has one syllable, but think 'eight' as in a summer of eight weeks: P-R-O-M-S plus three more letters makes eight.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.2, page 44

Although Proms concerts happen in several venues, the Royal Albert Hall in London is the home of the season. It is also where the Last Night takes place. Tie the Proms firmly to the Royal Albert Hall in your mind, and remember that other London halls are not the answer here.

Why it matters: The Royal Albert Hall connects the Proms, the Last Night and Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory, three facts the test often link.

Memory hook: Picture Prince Albert waving a conductor's baton in his own round hall: Albert hosts the Proms.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.2, page 44

The British Broadcasting Corporation took over running the Proms in 1927 and has organised the season ever since. That is why the concerts are broadcast so widely. The year and the organiser often appear together in questions, so learn 1927 and the BBC as a pair rather than separately.

Why it matters: Both the organiser and the start year, 1927, are commonly tested, sometimes in the same question.

Memory hook: BBC, 1927: the Beeb Began Conducting in '27.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.2, page 44

The season ends with the Last Night of the Proms, a celebratory concert shown on television along with some of the other concerts. It is the one most people can name, and it is where Elgar's Land of Hope and Glory is usually played. The Last Night is the headline event.

Why it matters: The test can ask which concert is best known or which is broadcast, and the Last Night also links to Elgar's march.

Memory hook: Save the best for last: the Last Night is the Proms' big finale on the telly.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.2, page 44

Land of Hope and Glory is the first of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches. It has become a fixture of the Last Night of the Proms, played in the Royal Albert Hall. This fact ties together Elgar, the Proms and the venue, which is the kind of connection the test often check.

Why it matters: It links three tested items, Elgar, the Last Night and the Royal Albert Hall, in one question.

Memory hook: Number one march, last night of the season: March No 1 closes the show with Hope and Glory.

Official handbook: Chapter 4, section 4.2, page 44