What's Your UK IQ?

By: Zoe Samuel
Estimated Completion Time
3 min
What's Your UK IQ?
Image: Gu / Cultura / Getty Images

About This Quiz

Even Simon Schama doesn't know everything there is about Britain and Northern Ireland. The UK, its history, its culture, its natural history, are all so vast and fascinating that many historians come to specialise in the minutia of a single aspect of it. Indeed, whether it is the history of British roads or the history of the Norman invasion, there is so much to know, it is difficult to feel as though one is a handle on it all.

What makes it particularly challenging to know all there is to know is the sheer amount of trivia that comes from being the nation that invented so much of the modern world. From the creation of the modern railroad to the choice to put spots on the football for the first televised football games, innovations coming from people deemed citizens of the United Kingdom have changed the course of history, usually, one hopes, for the best. 

Are you as well-versed in the achievements of Bazalgette as you are with native British snakes? Would you be able to name your member of parliament? How well do you know the history of British sport, or British art and culture? Put on your thinking cap, because it's time to test your knowledge.

1 Doctor
Morsa Images / DigitalVision / Getty Images
Who will write to you when you turn 100?
The Prime Minister
The Queen
Your local MP
Your doctor
2 Prince William
Tom Soper Photography via WikiCommons
If you met Prince William, what would be the proper way to address him?
Your Grace
Your Highness
Your Majesty
Hey, Will!
3 Friends Talking
SolStock / Moment / Getty Images
Which of these languages is NOT spoken in the UK anymore?
Norse
Scottish Gaelic
Irish Gaelic
Breton

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4 One Percent
EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER / E+ / Getty Images
What income do you need to be a member of the 1% (by income, not wealth) in the UK?
£400,000
£250,000
£80,0000
£160,000
5 Hamster
Sol de Zuasnabar Brebbia / Moment / Getty Images
What is the most popular pet in the UK?
Cat
Hamster
Budgie
Dog
6 Skeleton
Image Source / Image Source / Getty Images
Paleontologist Mary Anning discovered the first skeleton of which dinosaur along Britain's Jurassic coast?
Icythosaur
Velociraptor
Plesiosaur
Stegosaurus

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7 Cliffs of Dover
Dave Carr / Momentt / Getty Images
Which of these is the highest cliff in the UK?
White Cliffs of Dover
Wokey Hole
Hangman Cliffs
Malham Cove
8 Royal Opera House
Russ London via WikiCommons
What building now stands on the site of the former Covent Garden Theatre?
Canary Wharf
Buckingham Palace
The Royal Opera House
Gielgud Theatre
9 Motorway
Peter Adams / Stone / Getty Images
Assuming good traffic, which main road would you take to get from Newcastle to Edinburgh?
M6
A1
M25
A9

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10 Morris Dancers
Richard Newstead / Moment / Getty Images
What do Morris dancers wear on their knees?
Pads
Flowers
Bells
Little hats
11 Fire Festival
Rick Harrison / Moment Open / Getty Images
What is Up Helly Aa?
A big hill
Fire festivals
A mythological will-o-the-wisp
A real will-o-the-wisp
12 1800s
tirc83 / E+ / Getty Images
What was the most popular girl's name in the UK in 1800?
Elizabeth
Susan
Catherine
Mary

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13 The Bridge
Philip Halling via WikiCommons
Which battle decided who would later face William the Conqueror for ultimate control of the English Crown?
Stamford Bridge
Bosworth Field
Culloden
Hastings
14 Bermuda
Scott Dunn / Moment / Getty Images
On which island did the British Imperial Censorship station operate in World War Two?
Isle of Wight
Bermuda
Jersey
Orkney
15 Empress Market
Aliraza Khatri / Moment / Getty Images
When did the British Empire abolish slavery?
1865
1833
1898
1909

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16 Canterbury
Michael Godek / Moment / Getty Images
What is the oldest cathedral in the UK??
Durham
Kingsbridge
Canterbury
Winchester
17 Magna Carta
Little Hand Images / Moment / Getty Images
In what year was the Magna Carta signed?
1348
1215
1501
728
18 Connemara
Aurélien Pottier / Moment / Getty Images
There are a lot of wild ponies and horses in the UK. Which of these is not a particularly noted example?
Shetland
New Forest
Connemara
Dartmoor

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19 Medals
ccahill / E+ / Getty Images
The Olympics have been held in the UK three times. Which of the below is not one of those times?
1908
1948
1966
2012
20 Big Ben
TangMan Photography / Moment / Getty Images
What was the shortest war in British history?
The Anglo-Zanzibar War
The Boer War
The Opium War
The Third Carnatic War
21 Scotland Golf
Howard Kingsnorth / Stone / Getty Images
In which nation of the UK was golf invented?
Wales
England
Northern Ireland
Scotland

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22 Cambridge
Tu xa Ha Noi / Moment / Getty Images
At which British university did Sir Isaac Newton discover his Theory of Gravity?
Oxford
St. Andrews
Cambridge
Exeter
23 Nonsuch Palace
Martin Hesketh via WikiCommons
What did Henry VIII build in Surrey that stood for only 150 years?
Hampton Court
Nonsuch Palace
Hever Castle
Alnwick Castle
24 English Garden
Jacky Parker / Moment / Getty Images
What gift of the New World did Sir Walter Raleigh bring back to give to Queen Elizabeth I?
Asparagus
Red pepper
Potato plant
Tomato

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25 Girl on Phone
Oliver Rossi / DigitalVision / Getty Images
Which of the below can you dial and NOT get through to the emergency services in the UK?
999
911
112
000
26 Black Death
John Downer / Stone / Getty Images
What catastrophe wiped out between a third and half of the British population, starting in 1348?
The Black Death
The Great Fire
The Great Storm
Viking invasion
27 Actors
Dougal Waters / DigitalVision / Getty Images
What is the longest-running play in British history?
"The Mousetrap"
"The 39 Steps"
"The Play That Goes Wrong"
"Harry Potter and the Cursed Child"

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28 Stamps
Bill Ross / The Image Bank / Getty Images
Who or what appeared in the first postage stamp used in the UK?
The Rocket steam engine
Queen Victoria
Paddington Station
Prime Minister William Pitt
29 Black Cabs
Walter Bibikow / DigitalVision / Getty Images
By what name is the test known that black cab drivers must pass?
The City
The London
The Knowledge
The Cabbie
30 Parliament
Yaorusheng / Moment / Getty Images
Who is the UK's longest-serving Prime Minister (so far)?
Margaret Thatcher
Theresa May
William Pitt
Benjamin Disraeli

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31 Bangers
Tifanee Gladney / Moment / Getty Images
Which of these is a British word for a kind of sausage?
Cooker
Banger
Stringer
Sossie
32 Adder Snake
Kristian Bell / Moment / Getty Images
What kind of snake is the only one that is native to the UK?
Anaconda
Cobra
Black mamba
Adder
33 British Man
Alexander Spatari / Moment / Getty Images
Which of these is NOT one of the top three most common last names in the UK?
Clarke
Smith
Jones
Williams

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34 Yorkshire
joe daniel price / Moment / Getty Images
In what popular sport did England win the 2003 World Cup?
Football
Rugby
Basketball
Tiddlywinks
35 Tea
Sergio Amiti / Moment / Getty Images
Roughly how many cups of tea do the British drink every day?
1 billion
17 million
52 million
163 million