GATE 2026 DA Paper Analysis OUT: Difficulty Level, Important Topics, Expected Cutoff
GATE 2026 DA Analysis OUT: IIT Guwahati has finally concluded GATE DA 2026 exam, which was held in the second shift. Based on students feedback and subject matter experts who reviewed the GATE 2026 Data Science & Artificial Intelligence paper stated that the paper was moderately tough. Read below to know more about the paper difficulty, topics covered, and more.
GATE 2026 DA Paper Analysis OUT
GATE 2026 exam is officially concluded TODAY (Feb 15). The second shift was conducted for GATE Data Science and Architecture and Planning (AR) from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. The computer-based test was held across eight zones across several centres in India for 100 marks, covering general aptitude, engineering mathematics, and core subject-specific questions.
Students who attempted GATE 2026 DA paper found the questions to be moderate to tougher level. Detailed analysis can be checked below.
LIVE NOW: GATE Exam 2026 Feb 15 ECE, DA, and AR Live Updates
GATE DA 2026 Paper Analysis Difficulty Level
According to students, the paper was on the moderate side involving strong mathematics concepts. Candidates who attempted the GATE DA paper today, also mentioned that many questions were lengthy and tricky to solve. Here’s a clear breakdown of the difficulty level of GATE 2026 DA question paper section-wise.
| General aptitude |
Easy |
| Subject-Specific |
Moderate |
| Topics covered |
DBMS, Warehousing, Python, TRC, Probability, Algorithm, SQL had time consuming questions. |
| Question distribution |
MCQs - 33, MSQs - 14, NATs - 6 questions |
| Students Feedback |
Overall, the paper was moderately tough. Included heavy mathematics questions. Core understanding to maths subjects is highly important. However, the aptitude section was quite easy but tough compared to CSE paper. |
GATE 2026 DA Expected Cutoff
Since the GATE Data Science and Artificial Intelligence paper was moderately tough, the expected cutoff predicted by students can be roughly between 29-31 marks. However, the official GATE cutoff 2026 marks will be released along with the result (March 19). Students who appeared for GATE exam this year, must note that the official answer key is expected to be released in last week of February. Candidates are advised to keep their credentials ready to access GATE login 2026.
The GATE 2026 question paper difficulty level of all subjects will be available after the completion of exam. In addition, students will also get an idea about chapter-wise weightage and important topics asked in major papers like GATE CSE, ME, EC, EE, DA, XE, etc.
The GATE 2026 topper will be released after the declaration of result. The authorities will publish the topper's list (AIR 1 ) of all 30 subjects.
Last year, Rahul Kumar Singh was the GATE CS topper scoring full marks in GATE 2025.
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IIT Guwahati conducted GATE CS paper in two shifts on February 8. The overall paper analysis can be checked below of both shifts -
Check marking-distribution (memory-based) of GATE 2026 CSE paper below -
database
3 questions - 1 mark, 2 questions -2 marks
Computer organisation and architecture
2 questions - 1 mark, and 3 questions - 2 mark
Operating system
2 questions - 1 mark, and 2 questions - 2 mark
Engineering mathematics
4 questions - 1 mark
Discrete mathematics
1 questions - 1 mark, and 2 questions - 2 mark