GATE Syllabus

IIT Guwahati will be conducting the GATE 2026 exam on February 7, 8, 14, and 15. Registrations are open from August 28 to September 28 (without late fees) and till October 9 (with late fees). 

Aspirants have started preparing for the exam, and based on the GATE question paper trends, here's what we can conclude which topics and chapters is expected to carry high weightage -

These have been consistently been high scoring sections and frequently repeated across past GATE papers. Topics with interdisciplinary relevance, such as machine learning basics or data interpretation, may also be prominent. Hence, it is advisable to focus on high-yield topics from the previous 15 years' GATE papers can help in the smarter GATE preparation. 

The GATE 2026 exam is expected to maintain a moderate to high difficulty level, similar to previous years. Candidates are advised to focus more on core concepts, analytical thinking, and application-based problems. Aspirants should be prepared for tricky questions, especially NATs, (as they can be time-consuming.)

As the competition is increasing every year due to PSU and M.Tech admissions, the examiners may introduce complex integrative questions from multiple topics. Like for examples, questions structured by blending two to three concepts/topics. Hence, it is important to parctice time management skills with a deep understanding of the fundamentals. 

Here are tips and hacks that GATE aspirants can follow for preparation -

• Be clear with the concepts and fundamentals of each. 
• Pick one topic and start going through it.
• Revise it properly from your lecture notes
• When starting your second revision, start creating short notes (as per your understanding)
• Practice mock tests and previous year's question as many times you can. 
• Keep a error notebook to analyse your mistakes and performance
• Keep at least one month for revision only. Avoid touching anything new. 

Mock tests and GATE old question papers really help gauge difficulty trends. 

The GATE 2026 general aptitude section comprises of the following -

• Verbal aptitude - Basic English Grammar (Tenses, Articles, Adjectives, Prepositions, Conjuctions, Verb-Noun Agreement and other parts of speech)
• Basic Vocabulary - Words, Idioms, and Phrases in context, reading and comprehension, and narrative sequencing. 
• Quantitative Aptitude - Data Interpretation: Data Graphs (Bar graphs, pie charts, and other graphs representing data), Two and Three 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. 
• Analytical Aptitude - Logic: Deduction and Induction, Analogy, Numerical Relations and Reasoning
• Spatial Aptitude - Transformation of shapes, rotation, scaling, mirroring, assembling, and group paper folding, cutting and patterns in two and three dimensions.