A modern, thriving society
The culture chapter: festivals, sport, writers, buildings. Broad rather than deep, and best revised by calendar and by category.
Religion and the calendar
The UK is historically Christian; the Church of England is the established church in England, with the monarch as its head, and the Church of Scotland is the national church there, which is Presbyterian and has no established status in the same sense. Substantial Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish and Buddhist communities are part of modern Britain, and many people follow no religion.
Festivals and public holidays
- 1 January — New Year. In Scotland, Hogmanay, with 2 January also a holiday.
- Easter — Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays.
- 1 March St David's, 17 March St Patrick's, 23 April St George's, 30 November St Andrew's.
- 5 November — Bonfire Night, marking the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.
- 11 November — Remembrance Day, with poppies and a two-minute silence at 11am.
- 25 and 26 December — Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
Other named occasions include Diwali, Eid al-Fitr, Hanukkah and Vaisakhi, and the Notting Hill Carnival in London. The Eisteddfod is Wales's festival of music and poetry; Burns Night on 25 January honours Robert Burns in Scotland.
Sport
Football, cricket, rugby, tennis, golf, horse racing and motor sport all appear. Fixtures worth knowing: Wimbledon for tennis, the Six Nations for rugby union, the Grand National at Aintree and the Derby at Epsom for horse racing, the Open for golf, and the FA Cup in football. The 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were held in London.
Arts and literature
Shakespeare, born in Stratford-upon-Avon, dominates. Then Chaucer, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontë sisters, Thomas Hardy, Robert Burns in Scotland and Dylan Thomas in Wales; Rudyard Kipling and Sir William Golding among British Nobel laureates in literature. In art, J. M. W. Turner, Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth; the Turner Prize is awarded annually for contemporary art. In music, Purcell, Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten, plus the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall each summer.
Architecture and landmarks
Sir Christopher Wren's St Paul's Cathedral, the medieval cathedrals, Georgian Bath, the Victorian Palace of Westminster, and modern buildings by Sir Norman Foster. UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the UK include Stonehenge, the Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland, Edinburgh's Old and New Towns and the Tower of London.
Leisure
Gardening, pubs, the National Trust and public parks all feature. Pub licensing, the age limits for buying alcohol (18), and the fact that under-18s may enter pubs only under conditions are the practical details the test may reach for.
How this chapter is tested
By category and by date: which festival falls when, which sport belongs to which fixture, which writer came from where. If you struggle, revise it as four lists — calendar, sport, arts, buildings — rather than as one chapter.
Test yourself on this chapter
Sample question 1
What is celebrated on 25 January in Scotland?
- Burns Night — correct
- Hogmanay
- St Andrew’s Day
- Bonfire Night
Why: Burns Night honours the poet Robert Burns, traditionally with a supper, haggis and a recital of his verse.
Sample question 2
Where are the BBC Proms concerts held?
- The Royal Albert Hall — correct
- The Royal Opera House
- Symphony Hall, Birmingham
- The Barbican
Why: The Proms run for eight weeks each summer at the Royal Albert Hall in London, finishing with the Last Night of the Proms.