Barrier or Entitlement? The Language and Citizenship Agenda in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom (UK) there are two ways for applicants to fulfil the requirement to show their knowledge of English language and life in the UK: they can take a computer-based citizenship test or attend an English class which includes citizenship teaching. This article describes the background to the test and the struggle to ensure that applicants with lower levels of English would not be excluded. It focuses particularly on citizenship classes and the tension between the framing by politicians of the test as an entitlement for migrants which ensures access to their full set of rights, and the experience of the testing regime by those affected by it.