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Is it really this difficult to get an appointment for a test? I've been checking the website every day for 2 weeks. For all 5 venues, on all dates, there are no slots. Is it somehow just the time of year?

You can write the test at any test centre, it does not have to be the ones that are closest to your home address.

From the booking website:

"These are the five centres nearest to your address. These are the only test centres you can book your test at."

Followed by a list of 5 centres where it seems impossible to book a test.

is there any centre in Aberdeen or anywhere else in Scotland?
to check i need to register and even for that need to provide lots of info, feeling lazy to do all this
My ILR is due in 1.5+ yrs, so still got time to rush for this, but wanted to know how to go about it.

abhisheks9 wrote:is there any centre in Aberdeen or anywhere else in Scotland?
to check i need to register and even for that need to provide lots of info, feeling lazy to do all this
My ILR is due in 1.5+ yrs, so still got time to rush for this, but wanted to know how to go about it.

I did my life in the uk test in Edinburgh so there is a centre here for sure.

https://www.lituktestbooking.co.uk/eass ... F.server01 Use this to locate a centre closest to you.
I used practice tests from https://lifeintheuktests.co.uk

CR001 wrote:You can write the test at any test centre, it does not have to be the ones that are closest to your home address.

Well - when you search for the test centre - it is based on your home address and will only show five closest centres.
I have booked my test yesterday and see below

To take the test - you need to provide proof of address
One of the following with your name and postcode on it. From 1st January 2015 candidate proof of postcode cannot be any older than 3 months prior to the date of the Test.
A water, gas or electricity bill
A council tax bill
A letter or document from the Home Office with your name and address on it
A UK driving licence
A bank statement / credit card statement (a printed copy of a bank statement is acceptable however it MUST have been stamped and signed by the issuing branch)

Which suggests it has to be your home address if you need to provide any document from the above.

I did change my address to my work address from home address and the closest centres changed and they had more dates available but the again I cannot provide proof of address from the above list.

Hope it helps

Hello dazzle,

Question, When are you going to apply your ILR?

If you are going to apply soon so seriously you are in trouble. Also please make a phone call and ask them what you should do?

Also, by any chance you find few dates so please book two tests with the gap of 10 days. if you fail in one test so you have date and test book already and can give test in 2nd attempt. OR if you pass the test in 1st attempt so cancel next 2nd test asap.

I hope it helps.

Thanks for the advice. Especially about booking 2 slots, as I never thought of that.
I've just managed to book 1 slot in Liverpool in early January, and another a couple of weeks later in Manchester. It's for my wife.
She's eligible to apply for ILR from December, but FLR expires in April, so there's still some time.
So, the next question...
I know that the booking process makes it very clear that the booking name must match the ID EXACTLY. The name is extremely long (30 characters), and the ID I will be using has an abbreviation for one of the 7 names. This is the same name that we registered when booking. So for the ID there's no problem.
However, the booking confirmation also says to bring along proof of address. We have plenty of different address proofs, but because of the lengthy name, they all have different variations (name initials in different places or some names omitted all together). So, are they so strict with the proof of address also, or is there a bit of leeway as long as it's clear that it's referring to the same person?

Hello,


You can use your DVLA. I believe on your DVLA, your name should be correct.

Afraid not. Her name was too long to fit on the DVLA system, so she only has 5 of the 7 names on the licence.
When she applied for the provisional licence, they called to ask which names to leave out.

Hello,

in that case, I will advise you that please call Home Office on 0800 015 4245 , Also call test centre as well. I hope they can understand your situation.

I hope it helps.

Thanks.

Usually, dates are released for a 3 month block period and dates beyond this do not appear on any test centre until the the test centers are given further 3 monthly dates. This is given towards the end of the current block period so dates beyond the current block period are not being shown on any test centre. Found it to be strange.

I had this very same issue and this and this was explained to me when I called the helpline on the official Life in the UK webpage. Info given was told to wait a week when the next set of 3 monthly dates would be released. And that was case, further dates were then being showed up for all test centres the following week.

Not to mention, you can't book at test within the first 7 days so these dates will not be shown.

@madnan24, that's very good advice about booking 2 tests with the second one as a backup. However, I would double check to ensure the website allows it and a full refund can be issued if cancelling the second test.

The Life in the UK helpline suggested we just book the test in the name that's on the driving licence. Then the driving licence can be used both as ID and proof of address. Then the test notification will just have the name that's on the licence (3 out of the 7 names).

However, I've also spoken to a settlement caseworker, who said that the UK test letter HAS to have exactly the same name as on the passport, or there could be problems with the ILR application. Alternatively we should have a covering letter written by the Life in the UK department, stating why the full name isn't on the result notification letter.

After going back to the Life in the UK helpline, they said that such a letter is not possible. They told us to cancel the bookings we've made and submit a special request, stating what the problem is i.e. that the name doesn't fit on the registration form and that we're having difficulty getting a proof of address with the full name.

This is just for anyone else who might be in a similar position in future, as it's a bit obscure.

Basically I submitted a "Special Request" via the booking web site, stating what the problem was. A couple of days later I got an email from the Life in the UK operations team (Learndirect), stating that her full name as in her passport is NOT required to match the booking registration name. This is because my wife has "Epse...." in her passport, which is a Francophone thing that just means "Married to.. (my name)". Basically everything from "Epse" onwards is not necessary. Same for proof of address.

I have also contacted the home office and had a written response from the KOL Policy department. The settlement application should not be a problem with the discrepency between the name on the KOL notification letter and the passport name, providing that I enclose the email from learndirect.