All posts tagged: exam

Surprise upset: GPT-5.5 beats Claude Fable 5 on brutal new Agents’ Last Exam benchmark

Surprise upset: GPT-5.5 beats Claude Fable 5 on brutal new Agents’ Last Exam benchmark

Published by skeptic

Researchers from the University of California, Berkeley’s Center for Responsible, Decentralized Intelligence (RDI), alongside an advisory committee of over 300 domain experts, have launched Agents’ Last Exam (ALE)—a grueling new benchmark built to measure whether artificial intelligence can actually execute economically valuable, long-horizon professional workflows. In a shocking upset, OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 from April, operating through the Codex harness, secured the absolute top spot on the new ALE Leaderboard with a 24.0% pass rate, beating Anthropic’s highly anticipated, brand new Mythos-class Claude Fable 5 model released just yesterday, which came in third with a score of 22.0%. Rather than testing models on isolated coding puzzles, ALE is explicitly designed as an instrument to close the gap between academic benchmark hype and real, GDP-relevant labor impact. And right now, the data proves the most advanced models in the world are fundamentally failing the exam. ALE Leaderboard full chart. Credit: Agents’ Last Exam/UC Berkeley RDI ALE Leaderboard. Credit: Agents’ Last Exam/UC Berkeley RDI Ending the Era of ‘Cheating’ and Brittle Graders The fundamental shift in ALE lies in …

More strikes set for England’s largest exam board

More strikes set for England’s largest exam board

Published by skeptic

Hundreds of staff at exam giant AQA will strike for four more days over an ongoing pay row. Around 400 members of Unison will walk out on Friday after AQA leaders refused to meet for talks to discuss an alleged 10 per cent real-terms cut to staff wages over the last five years. The union is calling for pay restoration, which it previously said would require a 7.3 per cent rise this year. AQA issued what it described as a “generous” 5.2 per cent average increase instead. Unison warned the action could cause delays to students receiving their results this summer – but the exam board claimed the series will still be delivered “smoothly”. Walkouts at AQA HQ Assessors, exam paper authors and customer service staff will take part in the strikes from June 5 to 8 across three AQA sites, including its Manchester headquarters, as well as its offices in Guildford and Milton Keynes. The dates have been chosen to disrupt training for examiners planned to take place this weekend. It follows three days …

Israel allows Orthodox Jewish women to take rabbinic exam : NPR

Israel allows Orthodox Jewish women to take rabbinic exam : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

Rabbanit Batya Krauss leads a women’s study session at Matan – The Sadie Rennert Women’s Institute for Torah Studies in Raanana, Israel. Matan is an Israeli institute dedicated to advanced Torah learning and Jewish studies for women, offering educational programs and leadership training. Ofir Berman for NPR hide caption toggle caption Ofir Berman for NPR JERUSALEM — To be officially ordained as an Orthodox rabbi in Israel, you have to pass a grueling series of exams. And you have to be a man. Now, after a years-long court battle, Israel has finally allowed women to take the official rabbinic exams. Israel’s Orthodox religious authorities still refuse to officially ordain women as rabbis, and most Orthodox communities themselves are resistant to women carrying that formal title. But opening up the rabbinic tests to women could qualify them for other leadership roles, like public servant jobs in Israel running state-funded religious services. Advocates consider it a milestone in an ongoing revolution for Orthodox Judaism, expanding women’s roles as scholarly experts in Jewish religious law. “Women need to …

Trump to get ‘routine annual’ medical exam at Walter Reed : NPR

Trump to get ‘routine annual’ medical exam at Walter Reed : NPR

Published by Sam Flores

President Donald Trump departs after speaking during the 158th National Memorial Day Observance coinciding with the nation’s 250th anniversary, at the Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery, Monday, May 25, 2026, in Arlington, Va. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption toggle caption Alex Brandon/AP WASHINGTON — President Trump has a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday. The visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center will be Trump’s third in 13 months — a frequency that’s raised concerns about his health. The White House announced the “routine annual dental and medical assessment” two weeks ago and characterized it as a “part of his regular preventive health care.” Trump, who turns 80 years old in June, is the oldest person to take the oath of office and he is the second oldest president in U.S. history after President Joe Biden. His age, swollen ankles and bruised hands have sparked repeated questions about the president’s health and fitness. Trump’s last annual physical examination was in April of last year. Shortly after, the President told reporters he “aced” the cognitive test and …

The Best Way To Support Teens During Exam Season

The Best Way To Support Teens During Exam Season

Published by Sam Flores

A family psychotherapist is urging parents to ask their kids a simple question to offer them tailored support this exam season. Against a backdrop of exam stress and panic prompting hundreds of children to call Childline; therapist Fiona Yassin tells HuffPost UK that parents often think they should have all the answers to their child’s problems – “but during exam periods, that instinct can sometimes add to a teenager’s stress rather than reduce it”. The founder and clinical director of The Wave Clinic says: “Parents may unintentionally place too much focus on outcomes, constantly ask about revision, compare siblings or peers, or move too quickly into advice-giving before really understanding how their child is feeling. “It’s important to remember that teenagers are already under enormous pressure with the academic, social and emotional challenges that this life stage can bring.” Ask them: ‘What do you need from me?’ The most powerful question parents can ask during this time is “What do you need from me?”, she suggests, because it shifts the dynamic from control to collaboration. …

Three women sit for Israeli Rabbinate’s exam, amid growing recognition for Orthodox Jewish women’s religious leadership

Three women sit for Israeli Rabbinate’s exam, amid growing recognition for Orthodox Jewish women’s religious leadership

Published by Sam Flores

(The Conversation) — When people picture a rabbi, they may imagine a man standing in front of a congregation in a synagogue. But “rabbi” means much more than that. For example, a rabbi could be a teacher, a nonprofit executive for a Jewish organization, or a scholar of Jewish law – and, increasingly, some of those roles are held by Orthodox women. For decades, liberal denominations have permitted women to be ordained. Orthodox Judaism, however, has largely prohibited it. Yet attitudes toward women’s study of rabbinic texts is changing, leading some Orthodox leaders to conclude that women are qualified for rabbinic jobs. Israel’s chief rabbis – known as the Rabbinate, and historically seen as the top authority for the country’s Orthodox institutions – do not recognize women as rabbis or permit their ordination. But on April 27, 2026, after an hourslong delay and an emergency injunction from the country’s High Court of Justice, three women sat for one of the Rabbinate’s exams about Jewish law. The exam followed a legal battle over the course of …

Exam aids for maths and science GCSE exams to continue

Exam aids for maths and science GCSE exams to continue

Published by skeptic

Pupils will be continue to be given formulae and equation sheets for some GCSE subjects ahead of curriculum reforms, Ofqual has confirmed. The exams regulator decided exam boards will still be required to provide the exam aids for maths, physics and combined science, up to and including 2030 and 2031, the remaining lifetime of these qualifications. They had previously been confirmed until 2028. The aids were first introduced in 2022 due to concerns about the impact of the pandemic on learning. The requirement has been repeatedly extended. The government said in its response to the curriculum and assessment review that it would consider whether students should be required to memorise and recall each formula and equation, in reformed subjects from 2029 or 2030. Earlier this year, schools minister Georgia Gould said for the lifetime of these existing subjects pupils would not be required to memorise these for assessment purposes. Ofqual launched a three-week consultation and received more than 2,100 responses. Of these, 91.7 per cent supporting the proposals for a formulae sheet and 93 per cent supporting …

The Best Way To Support Teens During Exam Season

Exam Stress And Panic Is Prompting Kids To Call Childline

Published by Sam Flores

It probably won’t come as a surprise that May is the peak season for children to call Childline about exam stress. Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2026; the free, confidential service for kids delivered 1,679 counselling sessions where exam or revision stress was mentioned. These sessions peaked in May, coinciding with the start of exam season. There were 359 counselling sessions about exam stress in May 2025, making up 21% of all counselling sessions about the topic. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, GCSEs start in early May, while AS and A Level exams take place from mid-May into June. In Scotland; National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher exams are already underway, finishing on 1 June. The majority of concerns about exam stress were from children aged 12-18 years old, however younger students are also impacted, with 11% of contacts coming from children aged 11 and under. One young person, aged 16, told the service: “If I’m not revising for exams, I feel this panic in my chest, but the panic also stops …

How an Olympic mindset can bring students exam success

How an Olympic mindset can bring students exam success

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Sitting an exam can be one of the most important performances in a child’s life – and the way to succeed may be to adopt the mindset of an Olympic athlete. The link between sporting success and acing exams is all about creating the right frame of mind to perform well, explains sport and exercise psychologist Dr Geoff Lovell. Lovell, who was the psychologist for the Team GB rowing team at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and has coached athletes across every summer Olympic and Paralympic Games since 1996, says: “You can look at an exam as a performance situation, and that’s what we do in sport – we’re trying to achieve peak performances when it matters. “So the parallels between academia and sport are quite marked.” The psychologist, who’s currently working with athletes preparing for the Glasgow Commonwealth Games this summer, …