You seem to be suggesting lowering the standard to achieve 100% pass with help and assistance.
Errrr.... where? Before you start inventing strawman arguments, All I said was "set the standard". The obvious standard to set, is the existing one - or something that tests to the same level.
You go out and test the existing infantry, and existing recruits finishing Catterick, with both the new test and the old. If the same proportion pass both, congratulations - standards haven't fallen. If, however, slightly more people fail the new test than you expect, then the test is obviously trying to creep standards upwards (not necessarily a bad thing).
I'm just wary of arbitrary "tests" that don't actually measure what we need to measure. For instance, the Americans have a "tape test" and a "height/weight" test as part of their physical assessment - and while it catches the wok smugglers, it also fails the fitter/stronger lads by utterly failing to acknowledge that a thick neck might just reflect a shedload of training, not just a vanload of pies.
As you point out, it's better to stick to a functional test, based on the job - e.g. if the the job of a gunner involves lifting shells, then test gunners' ability to lift that shell. If infantry need to carry a load, then define that load and say
"can carry 60kg X distance over level ground in Y time" as well as
"can carry 25kg 8 miles over rough ground in two hours". As they need to drag someone to cover, add a lift or drag test. But don't complain when women pass the test, because a few will.
Hold on - isn't a functional assessment what the new tests are trying to do?
But keep it sensible. If your 155mm gun bunnies are expected to lift and carry 40kg shells repeatedly
as a pair, then make the test a repetitive 20kg lift rather than just a one-off 40kg lift. Your 70kg infanteer, however aggressive, is going to struggle to lift or drag a 130kg prop-forward wearing 40kg of kit, so demanding that
"any bloke must be able to solo carry/drag every other bloke, wearing all their kit" is an unrealistic one - if the big b**tard goes down, it's probably going to take two of you.