Devolution: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

Fifteen practice questions on the three devolved bodies of the United Kingdom — the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd in Wales and the Northern Ireland Assembly. The main government set in this category asks what devolution is; this one goes inside each institution, which is where the harder questions on the Life in the UK Test tend to come from.

For each body the set asks the same four things: where it meets (Holyrood in Edinburgh, Cardiff Bay, Stormont in Belfast), what its members are called, how they are elected and what it can decide. The three election systems are deliberately set side by side, because they are easy to confuse: the Scottish Parliament's mix of 129 constituency and regional list members, Northern Ireland's single transferable vote, where voters number candidates 1, 2, 3, and the Senedd's new arrangement.

That last point needs care. From the May 2026 election the Senedd has 96 members, elected six at a time in 16 constituencies, with each voter casting one vote for a party list or an independent candidate. Older study guides still describe the earlier 60-member body and call it the National Assembly for Wales, so the explanations give both versions and the questions are written so that knowing the current facts never leads you to a wrong answer.

The set also covers the ideas behind the institutions: power-sharing between unionist and nationalist parties in Northern Ireland and the periods when the Assembly was suspended, the First Ministers who lead the Scottish and Welsh governments, what the Scottish Parliament can legislate on (including its own income tax rates) as against what stays at Westminster, the equal status of Welsh and English in the Senedd, and the fact that every part of the UK still elects MPs.

The questions follow the formats used in the real test — single answer, choose two, and "which statement is true?" — and every explanation says why the wrong options are wrong. This is quiz practice only: on test day you answer 24 questions on a computer, with no explanations shown. The questions and explanations are Zestly's own, written from public sources such as legislation.gov.uk; nothing is reproduced from the handbook, which remains the syllabus you should read.

• Name where the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly meet and what their members are called
• Tell apart the election systems of the three devolved bodies, including the Senedd's system since May 2026
• Explain power-sharing in Northern Ireland and why the Assembly has at times been suspended
• Distinguish matters the Scottish Parliament can legislate on from those reserved to Westminster
• Recognise both the current and the older names and sizes of the Welsh parliament

Practice material written by Zestly from public information on gov.uk, nhs.uk and legislation.gov.uk (Open Government Licence v3.0). Nothing is reproduced from the handbook 'Life in the United Kingdom: A Guide for New Residents'.