Volume 24, Number 1, September 2014

Activity

How much do you know about your own society?

Joan Garrod

This quiz will provoke you to think about your own society: some answers may surprise you!

First, a few general comments about the quiz:

  • It is extremely unlikely that you or anyone else in your class knows all – or perhaps even half – of the answers. It is designed to make you think, and then give it your best guess, after a brief discussion with your classmates if you are doing it as a group exercise.
  • The figures are the most accurate at the time of writing – some things may have changed, though probably not by much.
  • Some figures apply to the UK as a whole, some just to Great Britain, some to England and Wales, and some just to England. This is a feature of how the data are collected.

At the end, when you have the answers, identify which ones surprised you the most. How much agreement was there in your class?

The questions

  1. Approximately how many people are there in the UK population?
  2. How many MPs are there in the UK Parliament?
  3. How many female MPs are there?
  4. What percentage of government expenditure goes on welfare (e.g. unemployment and housing benefit, child support)?
  5. What percentage of government expenditure goes on education?
  6. Approximately how many people in England and Wales are in prison?
  7. Of these, approximately how many are women?
  8. What is the average life expectancy at birth in the UK?
  9. What proportion of the population of England and Wales is over 65?
  10. What proportion of the population of England and Wales is over 85?
  11. What proportion of births in England and Wales take place outside a marriage or civil partnership?
  12. What proportion of the population of England and Wales aged over 16 are living as part of an inter-racial couple?
  13. What proportion of the UK population is overweight or obese?
  14. Approximately what percentage of UK adults get their news from the internet or apps?
  15. What percentage of their household income does the lowest 10% income group pay in tax?
  16. What percentage of their household income does the highest 10% income group pay in tax?
  17. Approximately what percentage of the UK workforce work from home?
  18. Approximately how many thousand people migrated to the UK in 2013?
  19. Which UK city has the lowest male life expectancy?
  20. What proportion of the UK population lives alone?
  21. What percentage of the UK population identifies themselves (i) as Christian, (ii) as Muslim, (iii) as having no religion?
  22. What percentage of boys in England and Wales achieve at least five GCSEs Grades A*–C?
  23. What percentage of girls in England and Wales achieve at least five GCSEs Grades A*–C?
  24. What percentage of pupils is in private education?
  25. What proportion of pupils in England enter higher education?
  26. What proportion of UK adults have problems with numeracy?
  27. What proportion of UK adults have problems with literacy?
  28. Which age group watches the most television?
  29. How many hours a day of television does the average 16–24-year-old watch?
  30. What percentage of adults read The Sun newspaper each day?
  31. What percentage of Daily Mail readers voted (a) Conservative and (b) Labour in the 2010 general election?
  32. What percentage of Daily Mirror readers voted (a) Conservative and (b) Labour in the 2010 general election?
  33. What percentage of eligible voters turned out to vote in the 2010 general election?
  34. What percentage of families with dependent children are headed by a lone parent?
  35. What are the dates of the First World War and the Second World War?
  36. What proportion of GB adults is connected to the internet?
  37. What proportion of the UK population has a smartphone?
  38. What proportion of the UK population visits Facebook at least once a day?
  39. What is the name of your MP?
  40. Of which political party is your MP a member?

The answers to the quiz are provided in a separate online resource for this issue.

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