Mock oral civics test — 2025 rules, set 3

A third set of twenty civics questions for the 2025 version of the test, asked out loud, one at a time, with twelve correct needed to pass. It shares no question with the first two mock oral tests, so working through all three covers sixty different questions from the list of 128.

How the examiner behaves

One question, then silence until you answer. No verdict, no praise, no hint and no second attempt: every answer is final, even an incomplete one, and the next question follows, as at the real interview. Unlike the officer, it does not stop early: all twenty questions are asked, and the report reminds you that a real officer stops as soon as you reach twelve correct or can no longer pass. Ask for a repeat whenever you need one; the question is read again word for word.

What this set covers

This set leans toward the principles and the history that applicants often find hardest to put into words: the form of government, what "We the People" means, what the Bill of Rights protects and the purpose of the 10th Amendment; how many voting members the House has and why representatives serve shorter terms than senators; who becomes president if the president can no longer serve, and two Cabinet-level positions; how people become citizens and why men register for the Selective Service; why the colonists came, the war for independence, the founding document that declared it and five of the thirteen original states; wars of the 1800s, the war that ended slavery, when women got the vote and why the United States entered the Korean War; the national motto and Independence Day.

Two Cabinet positions and five original states are needed; fewer counts as wrong.

The report at the end

It comes in three parts:

1. The score: correct answers out of twenty, and whether that is a pass under the real rule of twelve out of twenty.
2. Every question you got wrong, with your own reply and the answers USCIS accepts. Many questions accept several, and seeing the whole set often shows that you knew the answer and simply reached for a phrasing that is not on the list.
3. A separate note on your English: whether an officer could have followed you, and which words or constructions caused trouble. There is no separate speaking test at the interview; the officer forms a view of your English from exactly this kind of exchange. The examiner receives your answers as text, so the note covers your wording, not your pronunciation or fluency.

What it leaves out

The eight questions whose answers change or depend on where you live are not asked. Check the current office holders on uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates and your own senators, representative, governor and state capital on senate.gov, house.gov and usa.gov before your interview.

The questions and accepted answers come from the USCIS list of 128 civics questions (2025 version), a work of the United States government. The interview simulation and the assessment are Zestly's own. The report is practice feedback, not a prediction of your result.

• Produce civics answers out loud, from recall, for twenty questions you have not met in the other mock tests
• Sit a full twenty-question 2025 test against the real pass mark of twelve, and know when a real officer would stop
• See every missed question with the full set of answers USCIS accepts
• Get a separate, plain note on whether the English of your answers was clear enough for an officer
• Get used to an examiner who gives no feedback until the end

Practice material written by Zestly, based on the USCIS list of 128 civics questions and answers (2025 version, M-1778, 09/25), with the accepted answers taken verbatim from it — for example "Why do U.S. representatives serve shorter terms than U.S. senators?"; "What is Independence Day?"; "Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.". The format — up to twenty questions, twelve correct to pass, the officer stopping at twelve correct or nine incorrect — is the rule USCIS published for applicants filing Form N-400 on or after October 20, 2025.