GATE syllabus

A 3-hour computer-based test for postgraduate engineering admissions and some PSU recruitment. This guide lists the CS, EC, EE, ME and CE papers; with practice tests for each of them.

Computer Science and Information Technology (CS)

General Aptitude

10 questions, 15 marks · Shared 3 hours

Five questions of 1 mark and five of 2 marks. A wrong multiple-choice answer costs 0.3333 on a 1-mark question and 0.6667 on a 2-mark question. A wrong multiple-select or numerical answer costs nothing, and a partly correct multiple-select answer scores nothing.

  • Verbal aptitude: grammar, vocabulary, reading and narrative sequencing
  • Quantitative aptitude: numerical computation, data interpretation, mensuration, elementary statistics and probability
  • Analytical aptitude: deduction, induction, analogy and numerical reasoning
  • Spatial aptitude, described in words on this site because folding and figure items need a picture

Engineering Mathematics

13 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

The brochure assigns 13 marks to Engineering Mathematics inside the 85 subject marks. It does not say how many questions make up those 13 marks. The same negative-marking rules as the rest of the paper apply.

  • Discrete mathematics: logic, sets, relations, graphs and combinatorics
  • Linear algebra: matrices, determinants, linear systems, eigenvalues and eigenvectors
  • Calculus: limits, continuity, differentiability, maxima and minima, mean value theorem and integration
  • Probability and statistics: named distributions, mean and variance, conditional probability and Bayes' theorem

Computer Science and Information Technology

72 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

Subject questions other than Engineering Mathematics. The brochure does not fix how many of the 55 subject questions are multiple choice, multiple select or numerical, or how many are 1 mark rather than 2. Fifty-five questions of 1 or 2 marks that total 85 marks must be 25 questions of 1 mark and 30 of 2 marks.

  • Digital logic
  • Computer organization and architecture
  • Programming and data structures
  • Algorithms
  • Theory of computation
  • Compiler design
  • Operating systems
  • Databases
  • Computer networks

Electronics and Communication Engineering (EC)

General Aptitude

10 questions, 15 marks · Shared 3 hours

Five questions of 1 mark and five of 2 marks, with the same marking rules as the CS paper.

  • Verbal aptitude
  • Quantitative aptitude and data interpretation
  • Analytical aptitude
  • Spatial aptitude

Engineering Mathematics

13 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

13 marks inside the 85 subject marks. The brochure does not fix the number of questions.

  • Linear algebra
  • Calculus
  • Differential equations
  • Vector analysis
  • Complex analysis
  • Probability and statistics

Electronics and Communication Engineering

72 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

This site has a full practice test and a practice pool for this paper. The mark floor below is the most that wrong multiple-choice answers can remove if every mark were a multiple-choice question.

  • Networks, signals and systems
  • Electronic devices
  • Analog circuits
  • Digital circuits
  • Control systems
  • Communications
  • Electromagnetics

Electrical Engineering (EE)

General Aptitude

10 questions, 15 marks · Shared 3 hours

Five questions of 1 mark and five of 2 marks, with the same marking rules as the CS paper.

  • Verbal aptitude
  • Quantitative aptitude and data interpretation
  • Analytical aptitude
  • Spatial aptitude

Engineering Mathematics

13 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

13 marks inside the 85 subject marks. The brochure does not fix the number of questions. The EE syllabus also includes complex variables and differential equations, which the CS mathematics syllabus does not.

  • Linear algebra
  • Calculus
  • Differential equations
  • Complex variables
  • Probability and statistics

Electrical Engineering

72 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

This site has a full practice test and a practice pool for this paper.

  • Electric circuits
  • Electromagnetic fields
  • Signals and systems
  • Electrical machines
  • Power systems
  • Control systems
  • Electrical and electronic measurements
  • Analog and digital electronics
  • Power electronics

Mechanical Engineering (ME)

General Aptitude

10 questions, 15 marks · Shared 3 hours

Five questions of 1 mark and five of 2 marks, with the same marking rules as the CS paper.

  • Verbal aptitude
  • Quantitative aptitude and data interpretation
  • Analytical aptitude
  • Spatial aptitude

Engineering Mathematics

13 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

13 marks inside the 85 subject marks. The brochure does not fix the number of questions.

  • Linear algebra
  • Calculus
  • Differential equations
  • Complex variables
  • Probability and statistics
  • Numerical methods

Mechanical Engineering

72 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

This site has a full practice test and a practice pool for this paper.

  • Applied mechanics and design
  • Fluid mechanics and thermal sciences
  • Materials, manufacturing and industrial engineering

Civil Engineering (CE)

General Aptitude

10 questions, 15 marks · Shared 3 hours

Five questions of 1 mark and five of 2 marks, with the same marking rules as the CS paper.

  • Verbal aptitude
  • Quantitative aptitude and data interpretation
  • Analytical aptitude
  • Spatial aptitude

Engineering Mathematics

13 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

13 marks inside the 85 subject marks. The brochure does not fix the number of questions. The CE mathematics syllabus includes numerical methods, which the CS mathematics syllabus does not.

  • Linear algebra
  • Calculus
  • Ordinary and partial differential equations
  • Probability and statistics
  • Numerical methods

Civil Engineering

72 marks, inside the 55 subject questions · Shared 3 hours

This site has a full practice test and a practice pool for this paper.

  • Structural engineering
  • Geotechnical engineering
  • Water resources engineering
  • Environmental engineering
  • Transportation engineering
  • Geomatics engineering
  • Construction materials and management