STUDY MATERIAL · EVERY GATE PAPER
GATE General Aptitude previous year questions and notes
Every General Aptitude question from 21 GATE papers (2018–2026), solved step by step and checked against the organising institute’s official answer key — with notes for each topic, a formula sheet and practice questions. The questions come from the EC, EE, IN papers; the section and its syllabus are the same in every GATE paper.
- previous-year questions
- 210previous-year questions
- worked solutions, checked against the key
- 206worked solutions, checked against the key
- GATE papers, 2018–2026
- 21GATE papers, 2018–2026
- topics with notes
- 8topics with notes
TOPICS
Eight topics, in the order they are taught
Cut from the official GATE 2027 syllabus. Each topic has notes, the formulas you need, every previous-year question on it with a checked solution, and practice questions.
- TOPIC 01
Grammar and vocabulary
Grammar and vocabulary questions ask you to choose the word or form that makes a sentence correct and meaningful: the right tense, article, preposition, conjunction or verb form, or the word, idiom or phrasal verb that fits the context.
32 previous-year questions · 36 marks · 6 practice
- TOPIC 02
Reading comprehension and narrative sequencing
Reading comprehension questions give a short passage and ask what it states, implies, assumes or argues.
18 previous-year questions · 33 marks · 5 practice
- TOPIC 03
Data interpretation
Data interpretation questions present figures as a bar graph, pie chart, line graph, histogram, table, scatter or contour plot, or map, and ask for a quantity derived from them: a share, a percentage change, a ratio, an average or a growth rate.
9 previous-year questions · 18 marks · 5 practice
- TOPIC 04
Numerical computation: ratios, percentages, powers, logarithms, counting and series
Numerical computation is the arithmetic toolkit of General Aptitude: ratios and percentages, rates (averages, mixtures, speed, work and interest), powers and logarithms, properties of whole numbers, progressions and series, and counting by permutations and combinations.
58 previous-year questions · 82 marks · 6 practice
- TOPIC 05
Geometry and mensuration
Geometry and mensuration covers the angle and length facts of lines, triangles, polygons and circles, the formulas of coordinate geometry, and the areas, surface areas and volumes of standard plane figures and solids.
22 previous-year questions · 37 marks · 5 practice
- TOPIC 06
Elementary statistics and probability
Elementary statistics describes a set of numbers by its averages (mean, median, mode) and its spread (range, variance, standard deviation).
7 previous-year questions · 12 marks · 5 practice
- TOPIC 07
Logical and analytical reasoning
Logical and analytical reasoning asks you to state only what the given information forces: conclusions deduced from statements (syllogisms, conditionals, assumptions), rules induced from examples (series, codes, analogies), arrangements built from clues (seating, family trees, directions, clocks, calendars, inequality chains) and counts of people in overlapping groups.
41 previous-year questions · 62 marks · 6 practice
- TOPIC 08
Spatial aptitude
Spatial aptitude tests whether you can predict how a figure looks after it is moved, turned, mirrored, resized, folded, cut, assembled or viewed from another side, in two and three dimensions.
23 previous-year questions · 35 marks · 5 practice
WHERE THE QUESTIONS FALL
210 questions, by topic and year
Counts across the EC, EE and IN papers of each year. A count of what was asked, not a forecast of what will be. The topic tags are IAE’s reading of each question, and every question links back to its paper.
| Topic | 2018 | 2020 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grammar & vocabulary | 6 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 32 |
| Reading | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| Data interpretation | 1 | 3 | · | · | 3 | 2 | · | 9 |
| Numerical | 14 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 58 |
| Geometry | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 22 |
| Statistics & probability | 2 | · | 2 | 2 | · | 1 | · | 7 |
| Reasoning | 2 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 41 |
| Spatial | · | · | 7 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 23 |
GATE ECE question papers with solutions: 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2018
GATE EE question papers with solutions: 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2018
GATE IN question papers with solutions: 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2020, 2018
The 2019 and 2021 papers are not yet included: the copies we host are image scans that do not carry the official key, so no solution to them could be checked.
How we check solutions: editorial standards.
General Aptitude formulas by topic
Preparing in Kolkata? See IAE Academy’s GATE courses.
THE OFFICIAL SYLLABUS
The General Aptitude syllabus, the same for every paper
Verbatim from the GATE 2027 General Aptitude syllabus, a separate PDF that is the same for every paper. The GATE 2027 Information Brochure says every test paper has 65 questions and 100 marks, of which 10 questions and 15 marks are General Aptitude, in all test papers (printed pages 23–24). The questions below come from the EC, EE and IN papers; a CS, DA, BT or CE candidate sits the same section on the same syllabus.
EVERY GATE PAPER
Section 1: Verbal Aptitude Basic English grammar: tenses, articles, adjectives, prepositions, conjunctions, verb-noun agreement, and other parts of speech. Basic vocabulary: words, idioms, and phrases in context. Reading and comprehension, Narrative sequencing. Section 2: Quantitative Aptitude Data interpretation: data graphs (bar graphs, pie charts, and other graphs representing data), 2-and 3-dimensional plots, maps, and tables. Numerical computation and estimation: ratios, percentages, powers, exponents and logarithms, permutations and combinations, and series. Mensuration and geometry, Elementary statistics and probability. Section 3: Analytical Aptitude Logic: deduction and induction, Analogy, Numerical relations and reasoning. Section 4: Spatial Aptitude Transformation of shapes: translation, rotation, scaling, mirroring, assembling, and grouping paper folding, cutting, and patterns in 2 and 3 dimensions.
IF YOU WOULD RATHER TALK IT THROUGH