Table of Contents
GATE Aptitude syllabus 2026 is available on the official website of GATE in a PDF format, released by IIT Guwahati. Learning about the Quantitative Aptitude syllabus for GATE 2026 will help the students to prepare for their examination and crack it on their first try.
GATE is a national-level entrance exam for you if you want to secure admission to various post-graduate programs. By obtaining a good rank in the GATE 2026 entrance examination, you can also get job opportunities in PSU Companies.
Before planning a schedule for the preparation for the GATE exam, you must be aware of the GATE 2026 exam syllabus so that they can prepare for each topic and their subtopics as per the synopsis. The GATE exam is conducted by IITs and IISc Bangalore.
GATE General Aptitude Syllabus
The exam authority has included the General Aptitude Syllabus of GATE in both the Civil Engineering & Chemistry Syllabus. You can check the syllabus of the General Aptitude Section below:
- Verbal Ability: Blood Relations, Arrangements, Syllogism, Coding-Decoding & Series, Directions, Grammar, Vocabulary, Inference & Assumptions, Clocks and Puzzles.
- Numerical Ability: Time, Speed & Distance, Time & Work, Percentage, Averages, Ratio & Proportions, Functions & Graphs, Logarithms, Permutations and Combinations, Set Theory & Venn Diagrams, Progression, Probability, Geometry & Mensuration, Mixture and Alligations, Data Interpretation & Data Sufficiency, Fundamentals, Equations.
Best Books for the GATE General Aptitude Syllabus
The best books for the General Aptitude Syllabus are:
| Subject | Books | Author/ Publishers |
| Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning | A Modern Approach to Verbal & Non-Verbal Reasoning | Dr RS Aggarwal |
| Quantitative Aptitude | Quantitative Aptitude for Competitive Examinations | Dr RS Aggarwal |
| English Grammar & Composition | English Grammar & Composition for Competitive Examinations | Wren & Martin |
GATE Aptitude Syllabus for Civil Engineering
The GATE syllabus of Civil Engineering includes three sections - Civil Engineering, Engineering Mathematics, & General Aptitude. The entire question paper comprises 65 questions for a total of 100 marks. GATE Syllabus of Civil Engineering consists of 7 modules. These include:
- Engineering Mathematics: Numerical Methods, Probability and Statistics, Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE), Linear Algebra, Calculus, Partial Differential Equation.
- Structural Engineering: Construction Materials and Management, Concrete Structures, Structural Analysis, Engineering Mechanics, Solid Mechanics, Steel Structures.
- Geomatics Engineering: Foundation Engineering, Soil Mechanics.
- Water Resources Engineering: Hydrology, Fluid Mechanics, Hydraulics, Irrigation.
- Environmental Engineering: Municipal Solid Wastes, Water and Wastewater, Air Pollution, Noise Pollution.
- Transportation Engineering: Highway Pavements, Transportation Infrastructure, Traffic Engineering.
- Geotechnical Engineering: Horizontal and vertical curves, Principles of surveying, Errors and their adjustment, Maps - scale, coordinate system, Photogrammetry, Remote sensing- Platform and Sensors, Visual Image Interpretation, Basics of Geographical information system and Geographical Positioning System, Total station, Distance and angle measurement, Traversing and triangulation survey.
Best Books for the GATE Civil Engineering Syllabus
The books mentioned below are a few of the best books available for the preparation of GATE. These will help to build a strong foundation and provide in-depth knowledge of the syllabus and topics. To achieve top scores in GATE following these books is highly recommended.
| Subjects | Books |
| Engineering Mathematics | Linear Algebra- Advanced Engineering Mathematics by Erwin Kreyszig |
| Structural Engineering | Structural Analysis- Structural Analysis by S.S Bhavikatti |
| Geotechnical Engineering | Soil Mechanics- Advanced Soil Mechanics by Braja M, Das |
| Water Resources Engineering | Fluid Mechanics & Hydraulics- A textbook of Fluid Mechanics and Hydraulics by R.K Bansal |
| Environmental Engineering | Environmental Engineering by B.C. Punmia (Part I & II), S.K. Garg (Part-I & II), Peavy, Metcalf & Eddy |
GATE Aptitude Syllabus for Chemistry
The syllabus of Chemistry of GATE includes two sections. These are General Aptitude & Core-Chemistry topics. There will be 55 problems from the Core-Chemistry & 10 from the General Aptitude. The syllabus of Core Chemistry includes three sections- Physical, Organic & Inorganic.
- Physical Chemistry: Equilibrium, Kinetics, Structure, Surfaces & Interfaces.
- Organic Chemistry: Solids, Instrumental Methods of Analysis, Lanthanides and Actinides, Bioinorganic Chemistry, Main Group Elements, Transition Elements.
- Inorganic Chemistry: Biomolecules, Spectroscopy, Stereochemistry, Reaction Mechanisms, Organic Synthesis, Heterocyclic Compounds, Pericyclic Reactions and Photochemistry.
Best Books for the GATE Chemistry Syllabus
The students can refer to the best books for the Chemistry Syllabus such as the:
| Books | Publisher/ Author |
| GATE 2020: Chemistry Year-wise Previous Solved Papers 2000-2019 | GKP |
| Chapterwise Solved Papers Chemistry GATE 2020 | Sanjay Saxena & Preeti Gupta |
GATE Exam Pattern 2026
The GATE exam is conducted online. You need to mark the correct answer. Therefore, here is the GATE exam pattern.
| Particulars | Details |
| GATE Full form | Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering |
| Mode of exam | Online |
| Duration of exam | 3 hours |
| Total marks | 100 |
| Number of questions | 65 |
| Question paper type | Multiple Choice Questions and Numericals |
| Number of sections | 3 (General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics and Optional Subject) For candidates choosing a life science paper, a Chemistry exam would be conducted instead of Engineering Mathematics |
| Language medium | English |
Read More: GATE Previous Years Papers
