Pairs that get mixed up
The near-miss facts the real test builds its distractors from, set side by side.
Knowing a fact is not the same as being able to tell it from the fact next to it.
50 entries
Dates
55 BC
Julius Caesar led a Roman invasion of Britain which was unsuccessful, and for nearly 100 years afterwards Britain remained separate from the Roman Empire.
Early BritainAD 43
The Emperor Claudius led a new invasion and the Romans successfully occupied almost all of Britain.
Early BritainBoth are Roman invasions led by a famous Roman, and only one of them actually took the country.
1665
There was a major outbreak of plague in London, in which thousands died, especially in poorer areas.
The Tudors and Stuarts (part 2)1666
A great fire destroyed much of London, including many churches and St Paul's Cathedral.
The Tudors and Stuarts (part 2)Two disasters in the same city in consecutive years of the same reign, so the years are easy to swap.
1942
William Beveridge published the report Social Insurance and Allied Services, known as the Beveridge Report, which provided the basis of the modern welfare state.
Britain since 1945 (part 1)1948
Aneurin (Nye) Bevan, the Minister for Health, led the establishment of the National Health Service.
Britain since 1945 (part 1)Beveridge and Bevan are near-identical names attached to the two founding moments of the welfare state.
23 June 2016
A referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union was held, and the UK voted by a margin of 51.9% to 48.1% to leave.
Britain since 1945 (part 2)Voting to leave and leaving happened in different years, and the referendum is the date people remember.
Unions and nations
1603
When Elizabeth I died her heir was James VI of Scotland, who became King James I of England, Wales and Ireland, but Scotland remained a separate country.
The Tudors and Stuarts (part 1)1707
The Act of Union, known as the Treaty of Union in Scotland, was agreed and created the Kingdom of Great Britain.
A global power (part 1)One king ruling both countries is not the same as one country, and the two events are a century apart.
1707
The Act of Union created the Kingdom of Great Britain, and Scotland was no longer an independent country, though it kept its own legal and education systems and its Presbyterian Church.
A global power (part 1)1801
Ireland became unified with England, Scotland and Wales after the Act of Union of 1800, creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
A global power (part 2)Both are called an Act of Union, so the year is the only thing separating them.
Great Britain
'Great Britain' refers only to England, Scotland and Wales — not to Northern Ireland.
What is the UK?The United Kingdom
The UK is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and its official name is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
What is the UK?The two names are used interchangeably in everyday speech, but only one of them includes Northern Ireland.
Crown dependencies
The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are closely linked with the UK but are not part of it, and have their own governments.
What is the UK?British overseas territories
St Helena and the Falkland Islands are also linked to the UK but are not part of it.
What is the UK?Both are linked to the UK without being part of it, so the label gets attached to the wrong islands.
Rights and democracy
1215
King John was forced by his noblemen to agree to a charter of rights called Magna Carta, which established that even the king was subject to the law.
The Middle Ages1689
The Bill of Rights confirmed the rights of Parliament and the limits of the king's power.
A global power (part 1)Both are founding documents that limited what a monarch could do, and both are named among the roots of British rights.
1918
Women over the age of 30 were given voting rights and the right to stand for Parliament.
A global power (part 3)The vote came to women in two stages ten years apart, and the age changes as well as the year.
1832
The Reform Act greatly increased the number of people with the right to vote and abolished the old pocket and rotten boroughs.
A global power (part 3)1867
A further Reform Act created many more urban seats in Parliament and reduced the amount of property people needed before they could vote.
A global power (part 3)Two Acts of the same name widened the franchise a generation apart, and each did something different.
Numbers
60
There are 60 members of the Senedd (MSs), elected every four years using a form of proportional representation.
The government (part 1)90
The Northern Ireland Assembly has 90 elected members, known as MLAs (members of the Legislative Assembly).
The government (part 1)Wales is the larger of the two nations but has the smaller body, so the instinct to give the Senedd the bigger number is wrong.
Three of the four nations use the same number and Scotland does not, so it is the exception that gets missed.
£3,000
The small claims procedure is used for claims of less than £3,000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The role of the courts£10,000
The small claims procedure is used for claims of less than £10,000 in England and Wales.
The role of the courtsOne procedure with two limits, so the only thing to get right is which nations each figure applies to.
16
At 16, people can drink wine or beer with a meal in a hotel or restaurant, including eating areas in pubs, as long as they are with someone over 18.
LeisureDrinking with a meal and buying at the bar are two different things with two different ages.
People
Mary I
Mary, the half-sister of Edward VI, was a devout Catholic who persecuted Protestants and became known as 'Bloody Mary'.
The Tudors and Stuarts (part 1)Mary, Queen of Scots
Mary Stuart was a Catholic queen of Scotland whom Elizabeth I kept a prisoner for 20 years and who was eventually executed, accused of plotting against Elizabeth.
The Tudors and Stuarts (part 1)Two Catholic queens called Mary in the same period, and only one of them ever ruled England.
Admiral Nelson
Nelson was in charge of the British fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and was killed in the battle.
A global power (part 2)The Duke of Wellington
Wellington defeated the Emperor Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, was known as the Iron Duke and later became Prime Minister.
A global power (part 2)Two British commanders who beat Napoleon's France within ten years of each other, one at sea and one on land.
John Constable
Constable was a landscape painter most famous for his works of Dedham Vale on the Suffolk-Essex border in the east of England.
Arts and culture (part 1)Joseph Turner
Turner was an influential landscape painter in a modern style, considered the artist who raised the profile of landscape painting, and the Turner Prize is named after him.
Arts and culture (part 1)Two English landscape painters of the same generation, and only one of them has a prize named after him.
Roles and institutions
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the spiritual leader of the Church of England.
ReligionThe monarch
The monarch is the head of the Church of England and has the right to select the Archbishop and other senior church officials.
ReligionThe most visible figure in the Church is not the one at the head of it.
The judge
If the jury finds a defendant guilty, the judge decides on the penalty.
The role of the courtsThe jury
The jury listens to the evidence and decides a verdict of 'guilty' or 'not guilty'.
The role of the courtsDeciding what happened and deciding what happens next are two different jobs in the same courtroom.
The Commons
All of the elected MPs form the House of Commons, which is regarded as the more important of Parliament's two chambers because its members are democratically elected.
The development of British democracy / The British constitutionThe Lords
Members of the House of Lords are known as peers; they are not elected by the people and do not represent a constituency.
The development of British democracy / The British constitutionBoth chambers sit in the same Parliament and only one of them is elected.
Devolved
Many public services, such as education, are controlled by the devolved administrations.
The government (part 1)Reserved
Defence, foreign affairs, social security and most taxation remain under central UK government control.
The government (part 1)Every one of these is a government responsibility, so the only question is which government holds it.
Symbols and customs
17 March
St Patrick's Day, for Northern Ireland, is on 17 March, and is one of the two patron saints' days that is an official holiday.
ReligionBoth fall in March, so the month is no help in telling them apart.
The cross of St Andrew
The cross of St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, is a diagonal white cross on a blue ground.
A global power (part 2)The cross of St Patrick
The cross of St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, is a diagonal red cross on a white ground.
A global power (part 2)Both are diagonal crosses combined in the Union Flag, so only the colours tell them apart.
5 November
Bonfire Night, when people in Great Britain set off fireworks, originates from 1605, when a group of Catholics led by Guy Fawkes failed in their plan to kill the Protestant king with a bomb in the Houses of Parliament.
Customs and traditions11 November
Remembrance Day commemorates those who died fighting for the UK and its allies, and originally commemorated the dead of the First World War, which ended on 11 November 1918.
Customs and traditionsTwo November dates six days apart, both marked across the country with a public gathering.