GATE 2026 XL Question Paper Analysis OUT: Was the paper tough?

The exam body IIT Guwahati conducted the GATE 2026 XL exam on February 7, which was moderate to tough. The General Aptitude section was easy, core technical subjects featured tricky MSQs and calculation-heavy NAT questions. Check here the expert student analysis of GATE 2026 for XL subject.

Question Paper Analysis OUT

The exam body IIT Guwahati successfully conducted the GATE 2026 exam on February 7, 2026., in the morning shift from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The Life Sciences (XL) was conducted during this duration and candidates can check here the GATE 2026 XL Question Paper Analysis to know difficulty level, good attempts, and topics from which the questions were asked.

Also read: GATE 2026 XE Question Paper Analysis OUT

GATE 2026 XL Question Paper Analysis

• Life Sciences (XL) exam was of moderate difficulty level. 
• General Aptitude was easy to moderate, subject-specific sections had varied difficulty levels. Chemistry (XL-P) has questions from atomic structure, thermodynamics, and biomolecules and Microbiology (XL-S) were considered moderate
• Botany (XL-R) and Food Technology (XL-U) were relatively easy. 
• Biochemistry (XL-Q) had direct questions, 
• Zoology was challenging.
• General Aptitude was rated as Easy to Moderate. 
• Most students found General Aptitude section scoring.
• Optional Sections (Biochemistry, Botany, Microbiology, Zoology, Food Technology) were largely Concept-based with a significant number of Multiple Select Questions (MSQs).
• Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions were time-consuming.

GATE 2026 Shift 1 Difficulty and Expected cut off

Students who practised for the GATE exam using the last 15 years GATE papers with solutions PDF found it easy to crack the exam. The Gate 2026 XL question paper pdf download memory based along with answer keys will be shared soon. 

Also check: GATE 2026 exam hall instructions, last-minute guidelines, and reporting time