The Truly Hardest Exam in the World
The examination consists of ten papers. Its questions are of three kinds: one-line provocations that admit no formulaic answer; technical problems, anchored in real open or recently resolved problems, that a strong doctoral candidate would find genuinely difficult; and interdisciplinary questions that force two fields together. Where a question touches live science it is anchored to the true position: open problems are presented as open, established results as established, and retracted claims as retracted. No paper contains any moral, political, or value-philosophical content.
Conduct of the examination
Every candidate sits Paper I (General) and at least one specialist paper in the candidate’s field; any paper may be attempted. The strongest candidates, identified from the written papers, are called to a viva voce. The examination selects for depth of understanding and originality under constraint, not for coverage.
| Paper | Title | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| I | General | 32 |
| II | Mathematics | 35 |
| III | Physics | 36 |
| IV | Chemistry | 32 |
| V | Biology | 33 |
| VI | Philosophy | 30 |
| VII | Engineering | 32 |
| VIII | Computation | 32 |
| IX | Sociology | 31 |
| X | Design | 40 |
| Total | 333 |
Questions, once set, are never altered or renumbered. Additions are made by numbered amendment or expansion; titles alone may be revised by numbered renaming. Amendment v2.1 appended Question 31 to Paper III; Expansion v3.0 added Paper IX — Social Mathematics; Renaming v3.1 retitled Paper VIII Computation; Renaming v3.2 retitled Paper IX Sociology; Renaming v3.3 retitled Paper VI Philosophy; Expansion v4.0 added Paper X — Design; Expansion v5.0 extended the examination to music and geography; Amendment v5.1 established the Conduct of the response; Amendment v5.2 appended Question 35 to Paper II; Amendment v5.3 appended Question 36 to Paper III, bringing the examination to 333 questions. The full version record is kept in the Records.