Migration to Britain

Many people living in Britain today have their origins in other countries. They can trace their roots to regions throughout the world such as Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean. In the distant past, invaders came to Britain, seized land and stayed. More recently, people come to Britain to find safety, jobs and a better life.

Britain is proud of its tradition of offering safety to people who are escaping persecution and hardship. For example, in the 16 th and 18 th centuries, Huguenots (French Protestants) came to Britain to escape religious persecution in France. In the mid – 1840s there was a terrible famine in Ireland and many Irish people migrated to Britain. Many Irish men became labourers and helped to build canals and railways across Britain.

From 1880 to 1910, a large number of Jewish people came to Britain to escape racist attacks (called ‘pogroms’) in what was then called the Russian Empire and from the countries now called Poland, Ukraine and Belarus.

Migration since 1945

After the Second World War (1939-45), there was a huge task of rebuilding Britain. There were not enough people to do the work, so the British government encouraged workers from Ireland and other parts of Europe to come to the UK to help with the reconstruction. In 1948, people from the West Indies were also invited to come and work.

During the 1950s, there was still a shortage of labour in the UK. The UK encouraged immigration in the 1950s for economic reasons and many industries advertised for workers from overseas. For example, centres were set up in the West Indies to recruit people to drive buses. Textile and engineering firms from the north of England and the Midlands sent agents to India and Pakistan to find workers. For about 25 years, people from the West Indies, India, Pakistan, and later Bangladesh, travelled to work and settle in Britain.

The number of people migrating from these areas fell in the late 1960s because the government passed new laws to restrict immigration to Britain, although immigrants from ‘old’ Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada did not have to face such strict controls. During this time, however, Britain did admit 28,000 people of Indian origin who had been forced to leave Uganda and 22,000 refugees from South East Asia.

In the 1980s the largest immigrant groups came from the United States, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. In the early 1990s, groups of people from the former Soviet Union came to Britain looking for a new and safer way of life. Since 1994 there has been a global rise in mass migration for both political and economic reasons.

45 Responses to “Chapter 2 – Section 1”

  1. baris Says:

    1want to help this pratice

  2. rajan Says:

    Are these chapters based on latest edition ?

  3. admin Says:

    Yes, they are the based on the current edition of the book.

  4. moorthymani Says:

    We need sample qustion and answer

  5. admin Says:

    Sample tests are available here http://www.lifeintheuk.org

  6. smita Says:

    they r right.very help full .

  7. HF Says:

    Thank you very much!
    Excellent website.
    Passed first time.

  8. J J Says:

    THANKS MAN I DID NOT HAVE TO STUDY THE ACTUAL TEXT AS I HATE READING BOOK PREFER READING FROM THE NET. HOWEVER MY COMPUTER DID THE READING AND I JUST LISTEN. DID THE TEST TODAY AND PASSED FOR THE FIRST TIME. IT WAS REALLY REALLY HELPFUL MAN,

  9. gamze Says:

    for some reason i cant access the mock test questions… please someone help!! where else can i access the mock test??

  10. admin Says:

    Hi Gamze,

    There was an issue with permissions and this has now been resolved. Please try again and let us know if you still experience any problems.

  11. Raman Says:

    i want to give life in uk test as soon as posible. what should i do?

  12. jaano Says:

    to raman

    give it as soon as possible because the questions are going to be harder

  13. shambhu Says:

    admin,
    thanks for such a great website. I could success on the first attempt yesterday.

  14. Nikki Says:

    Very Helpful.
    Hope to Pass My exam tmorrow.
    Thank you so much for your site.
    God bless.
    x

  15. arun Says:

    give it as soon as possible bcoz the test itself is going to be harder and harder. Good Luck!

  16. mamtha Says:

    hi is there any way like we can hear adio. i have book can read in online, but i want listen which i can remember easily
    thanks

  17. sweeta Says:

    DID THE TEST TODAY AND PASSED FOR THE 1 TIME. IT WAS REALLY REALLY HELPFUL tnx .

  18. cristina Says:

    To jj

    how did you manage to listen to these chapters using your computer. maybe you can share it with me

  19. naks Says:

    nice site. helps a lot with study materials & mock tests.

    use free software from naturalreadersDOTcom to listern to voice from text.

  20. Emmah Says:

    Hi Admin!
    I found this website really usefull and been practicing here and now i was about to take the test so i thought i should practice more and i got a DVD for this test but when i started to practice the tests on that i feel like i am not ready yet.
    I found lots of questions on the DVD which ask about the websites given in the material to have help on things (e.g,The question asks you if you need help to get a job, which site you’ll go to?….and gives 4 options).
    I am so much confused now.We have to memorised web sites as well?
    If so, what about the telephone numbers?
    What is the actual test like?
    Shall i bother that DVD or leave it?
    Has any1 passed test already, who can help us?
    Please help me as soon as possible.Willbe so thankfull for this favour

  21. Emmah Says:

    Sweeta says that she has passed the test.
    Can she help me?
    PLEASE reply soon,I can’t consentrate any more.Thats too much to memoried the websites as well as phone numbers :-(

  22. betty Says:

    i want some one 2 help me 2 pass da test

  23. dilan Says:

    i really need help to pass this test once i done the test but i fail to pass the test i could’not study enough is this test questions comes in turkish that i can understand better

  24. bisola Says:

    i want u to help me have the test this year pls

  25. SJ choi Says:

    I love u guys!! This website was really helpful and I’ve passed it!! Even though I didn’t buy any books! Thank you very much!

  26. kirshma salem ahmad Says:

    hope to pass my exam on 17 fib, thank u so much for u r site.god bless.

  27. Angela Says:

    I passed my test today and this site was all that i needed to study. Thank you very much you have been really helpful.

  28. Kavin Says:

    Hi Admin,

    Can you please let me know where I could find chapter one as it seems this one has jumped to chapter 2.

    Thanks,
    Kavin

  29. sammy Says:

    hi,admin, can you pls let me know wer can i practice like practice exam like an acctual,i mean an exac question and answere, better to practice knows whats look like,then at the same time,write paper,review,then read…then practice again the quistion and aswere,better in screen in front of the computer..PLS.ADMIN…thanks and more power to you…pls reply as soon as posible…GOD BLESS..

  30. muhammad Says:

    hi
    i like i and can u please help me to get test pass and please send me some more knowledge

    thank u
    muhammad

  31. Keesie Says:

    We have to read all those texts for our oral exame English in the Netherlands :(

  32. syam risal Says:

    hi this is my first time visit this web site
    can this side help me pass the life in the uk test

    thank u so much if u let me know

  33. Rose Says:

    Thanks to the information on this website I went to take my test today and passed with flying colors !! Thanks ever so much for putting this info in the public domain !!

  34. michelle Says:

    Hi, I was wondering if the materials you posted were from the 2nd Edition of the Handbook as I was asked to revise only the 2nd Edition for my test in May 2010. Thanks!!!!

  35. admin Says:

    Yes, they are from the second edition of the book.

  36. michelle Says:

    Brilliant, thanks for providing such helpful info for everyone!

  37. anita Says:

    i cant understand this i need help for this book what can i do am merried i have a one baby am alone this contry just me and my hus stay this contry am 2 time fail what can i do now

  38. Jennifer Says:

    Just wrote the test and failed, due to incorrect book used, can I just use this website and pratice test to be able to pass next time.

  39. admin Says:

    This website is based on latest edition of the book; 2nd edition 6th impression.

  40. admin Says:

    if you are struggling to pass the test, taking an ESOL course may be an option.

  41. michelle Says:

    Hi Admin,

    Thanks for the good site. I’m just wondering if I’m allowed to bring in a calculator on the day of the exam as for the population and religion sections for example, I could then just memorise the %s then calculate the actual no. of the populations on the day using the calculator. Please kindly advise. Also, was wondering whether the practise questions on this site is of a very similar difficulty of the actual exams? I found the questions on this site a lot easier than those on some other sites, so a bit worry that just doing these ones may not be sufficient for my exam. Thanks in advance!!

  42. rasman Says:

    i have test tomorrow and i find this webside today.lol
    and i can’t remember thing much things.idk wht i am to do….hope i will pass.god blss for people who goin do they test tomrrow.tc ppl

  43. sophia Says:

    Hi,everybody.I have one question.I found many websites in the chapter 2,3,4,5,6.I do not know some test questions from these websites or just from the book.I am confused.Please tell me.

  44. Victoria Says:

    Hi! Great website!
    But just wondering is there chapter one or second is the first?
    Thanks

  45. admin Says:

    All questions in the test will be from Chapter 2-6; rest of the book is not included in the test at all.

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