Test Format

How Many Questions Are in the Citizenship Test?

5 February 2026

20 questions, each with 4 possible answers. Simple on paper, but how those 20 are put together matters more than the total.

20 Questions, Four Topic Areas

Every test draws from four fixed categories: Australia and its people, democratic beliefs and rights, government and the law, and Australian values. All four are represented on every sitting, no one gets a test that skips a category.

The 5 That Matter Most

Of those 20 questions, exactly 5 are always Australian Values questions. That number isn't incidental, it's the basis of the test's pass rule: you must get all 5 of them right, completely separately from your overall score. See our pass score breakdown for how that plays out in practice.

Multiple-Choice, Four Options

Each question gives you four answer options with a single correct one, no partial credit, no "select all that apply." That format rewards recognising the right answer over recalling it word-for-word, which is part of why working through practice questions tends to be more useful than re-reading the study booklet on its own.

Try the Same Format Yourself

Our practice questions use the identical four-option, multiple-choice format across all four categories, and you can drill just one category at a time if a particular area needs more work. When you're ready to see all 20 together, take a mock test under the real 45-minute timer.