ModelRefs / GSM8K Methodology — Methodology

GSM8K Methodology — Methodology

GSM8K is a benchmark of 8.5K grade-school math word problems requiring 2–8 reasoning steps.

Overview

What it measures: Multi-step arithmetic reasoning in natural language.

How it works

  • 8.5K grade-school problems written by human authors.
  • Each problem has a numeric final answer.
  • Scored on exact-match after extracting the final number.
  • Typically evaluated with chain-of-thought prompting.

Strengths

  • Tests reasoning, not memorization
  • Cheap

Limitations

  • Saturated
  • Domain narrow
  • Frontier models often score >95%

Best use cases

Baseline arithmetic reasoning

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Frequently asked questions

What does GSM8K measure?

Multi-step arithmetic reasoning in natural language.

What are its main limitations?

Saturated Domain narrow Frontier models often score >95%

When should I use this benchmark?

Baseline arithmetic reasoning