General Aptitude GATE CSE PYQ Topic Wise (2016–2026)

Explore: GATE CS hub · All GATE CS topics · Syllabus & pattern · GATE CS 2026

Answer first

General Aptitude is the fixed 15-mark block of every GATE CS paper: 110 questions across 11 official papers. The last three papers gave it 15 (2026), 15 (2025), 15 (2024).

The concepts that came back most often are Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning. Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning, Spatial Reasoning appeared in at least 7 of the 11 years. None of the questions were NAT, so option elimination works here.

Marks per year

One official set per year (set 1 where GATE CS ran two sessions). Marks are as printed in the official answer key.

Most-asked concepts

Sorted by how many years a concept appeared in, then by marks.

How to practise General Aptitude from these PYQs

1. Start with the concepts at the top of the table above. They repeat, so they pay off first.
2. Open the official PDF for a year, solve only that year’s GA questions against the clock (about 1.5 minutes a mark), then check the official key listed below.
3. Log each miss by concept and type (MCQ, MSQ, NAT). An MSQ with one extra option scores zero, so log those separately.
4. Once a concept is clean across two or three years, move on to the next one.
5. Then sit a full year paper from the GATE CS hub so the subject drill turns into exam timing.

Questions by year

Each line gives the official question number, marks, type and concept, our one-line summary and the official key. The full question is in the official PDF linked under each year.

GATE CS 2026 (CS1)

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Antonym of a given word (key: B)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Which pattern cannot be tiled from two 4-tile shapes (key: C)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Number of games in a knock-out singles tournament (key: C)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Valid course-credit combination under enrolment constraints (key: D)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Statement not necessarily implied by a conditional (key: C)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Which statements follow from a passage on counting in physical models (key: B)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: 3D structure matching given front and top views (key: D)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Express a plotted piecewise function using max(S−K, 0) terms (key: A)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Deduce throw results from observations on an Olympic javelin final (key: A)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Probability the second die roll is a multiple of the first (key: C)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2026 page

GATE CS 2025 (CS1)

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the correct articles to fill three blanks in a sentence (key: A)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Replace the word myopic with a word of the same meaning (key: B)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Class size from a corrected average after a data-entry error (key: C)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Evaluate statements from a set of family relationships (key: A)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Directions between campus buildings on a map (key: C)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Inference from a literary passage about things carried in a pocket (key: C)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Area ratio of a triangle and trapezium cut by parallel lines (key: A)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Probability of rolling a six exactly once in three rolls (key: A)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Pattern seen after unfolding a folded and cut square paper (key: A)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Ways to choose three scoops from four flavours with repetition (key: B)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2025 page

GATE CS 2024 (CS1)

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Analogy completing an increasing-intensity word sequence (key: A)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Whether a ratio of two proportional variables is constant (key: D)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Median of a small sample of numbers (key: A)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Share of money held in five-rupee coins given a coin ratio (key: C)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Value of an expression in p and q from a logarithmic identity (key: A)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Fill four blanks with idioms built around the word head (key: C)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Volume ratio of a paper cylinder and a cube of equal surface area (key: A)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Data Interpretation: Food mass from a pie chart of macronutrient energy contributions (key: C)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Perimeter of a rectangular sheet after three folds (key: A)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Least squares to add so a line becomes an axis of symmetry (key: A)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2024 page

GATE CS 2023

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the right adverb to complete a sentence about missing a train (key: B)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Word analogy pairing words by meaning (key: MTA)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: First term of a Fibonacci-like series given two later terms (key: A)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Inference from survey percentages on medical care before childbirth (key: A)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Whether the surface of a smooth 3D object can be concave or convex (key: C)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Inference from a passage on lack of exercise and health issues (key: D)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Compare growth of a quadratic and a linear function of time (key: C)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Order sentences into a coherent narrative (key: D)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: What follows when f(x) equals g(y) for all real x and y (key: B)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Identify rotation and reflection operations transforming a 2D figure (key: A)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2023 page

GATE CS 2022

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the correct homophone pair to fill two blanks in a sentence (key: D)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Area under a piecewise-constant step function on [0, 1] (key: C)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Value of a product expression in a root of a quadratic equation (key: D)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Which two statements about inquisitive students cannot be true together (key: A)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Pick letter plates that let a player form a five-letter palindrome (key: B)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Inference from a passage on metrics and organisational work culture (key: B)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Logical inference about boys and girls appearing and qualifying in a test (key: D)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Probability of drawing an orange ball on the second draw with partial replacement (key: D)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Place lettered corners and midpoints of a triangle from clues (key: B)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Least number of extra ropes to split a plot into four similar shapes (key: D)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2022 page

GATE CS 2021 (set 1)

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Valid class size given a 7:3 boys-to-girls ratio (key: C)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Identify the polygon that is not convex (key: A)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Judge grammar and ambiguity of two sentences (key: C)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Pattern of holes after unfolding a punched folded circle (key: A)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Complete a relational analogy about surgery and writing (key: C)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Compare volumes of a rolled cylinder and an assembled cube (key: C)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Data Interpretation: Profit percentage of an item from a price table (key: C)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Probability at least two picked chocolates are identical (key: C)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Which conclusions follow from two syllogism statements (key: C or D)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the summary of a passage on anti-obesity measures (key: D)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2021 page

GATE CS 2020

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the prepositions that complete a sentence about practising English (key: D)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Pick the phrase that contrasts with excellent subject knowledge (key: A)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Complete a word analogy built on noun and verb forms (key: A)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Inference from a passage on melting glaciers and fresh water (key: D)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Cheapest route through a network with toll booths (key: B)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Infer the correct statement from a passage on GST (key: D)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Find Q + S in a geometric sequence of lettered values (key: C)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Inner radius when n circles fit in an annular ring (key: A)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Sum of acute angles two perpendicular lines make with the x-axis (key: B)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Data Interpretation: Aggregate profit or loss percentage from a revenue bar graph (key: C)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2020 page

GATE CS 2019

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the verb form that completes a sentence on project expenditure (key: C)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Pick the verb that fits a sentence about a search engine's business model (key: A)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Time for two cars at different speeds to be a given distance apart (key: B)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Cost of a shared gift when two of ten friends drop out (key: C)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Word analogy: court is to judge as what is to teacher (key: D)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Identify the culprit from four suspects' statements with one truth-teller (key: B)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Data Interpretation: Percentage of administrators from an overlapping-shapes diagram (key: C)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Inference from a passage on a court judgement about begging (key: B)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Count students across three overlapping clubs (key: C)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Allocate hostel rooms that satisfy three students' requests (key: D)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2019 page

GATE CS 2018

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Fill blanks with their, they're and there (key: B)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the word that fits a sentence about investigations (key: A)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Area of a circle on the diagonal of a square (key: D)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Smallest number leaving remainder 7 for three divisors (key: C)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Find the missing number in a sequence (key: B)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Count senior citizens from a total gift amount (key: B)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Product of exponents from given power relations (key: C)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Male-to-female ratio among attendees at a party (key: B)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Express a sum of angles in a geometric figure (key: A)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Most likely outcome when rolling a biased-colour die (key: C)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2018 page

GATE CS 2017 (set 1)

• GA Q.56 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the correct verb tense to fill a blank (key: C)
• GA Q.57 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the correct phrase with beside/besides (key: D)
• GA Q.58 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Who sits opposite whom around a square table (key: C)
• GA Q.59 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Smallest multiplier making a product a perfect cube (key: D)
• GA Q.60 · 1 mark · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Probability a k-digit number avoids certain digits (key: C)
• GA Q.61 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Statement that best reflects an author's opinion (key: B)
• GA Q.62 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Seating arrangement with handedness constraints (key: A)
• GA Q.63 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Simplify an expression involving absolute values (key: B)
• GA Q.64 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Count ways to assign shirts with dislikes (key: D)
• GA Q.65 · 2 marks · MCQ · Data Interpretation: Read a contour plot to find flooded locations (key: C)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2017 page

GATE CS 2016 (set 1)

• GA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Pick the grammatically correct sentence among four options (key: D)
• GA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Choose the word meaning a rewording of something said or written (key: A)
• GA Q.3 · 1 mark · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Classify a famous quotation as figurative or literal (key: A)
• GA Q.4 · 1 mark · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Decode a made-up word from a coded vocabulary (key: C)
• GA Q.5 · 1 mark · MCQ · Spatial Reasoning: Surface area of a cube after removing its corner blocks (key: D)
• GA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ · Data Interpretation: Revenue comparison of razor types from a sales table (key: B)
• GA Q.7 · 2 marks · MCQ · Verbal Ability: Logical inference from a statement about currency languages (key: D)
• GA Q.8 · 2 marks · MCQ · Logical Reasoning: Infer ranking among four poker players from given statements (key: D)
• GA Q.9 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Identify a factor of a given polynomial (key: B)
• GA Q.10 · 2 marks · MCQ · Quantitative Aptitude: Load for a given number of cycles under exponential decay (key: B)

Paper: official PDF · GATE CS 2016 page

Other GATE CS subjects

• Engineering Mathematics
• Discrete Mathematics
• Digital Logic
• Computer Organization & Architecture
• Programming & Data Structures
• Algorithms
• Theory of Computation
• Compiler Design
• Operating Systems
• Databases (DBMS)
• Computer Networks

FAQ

How many marks does General Aptitude carry in GATE CS?

Across the official GATE CS papers from 2016–2026 (one set per year), General Aptitude carried 15 marks a year on average, from 15 in 2026 to 15 in 2026.

Which General Aptitude topics repeat most in GATE CS?

By the number of years they appeared in: Quantitative Aptitude, Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning. The concept table on this page lists every concept with its question count and years.

Are these the official GATE CS General Aptitude questions?

Yes. Each question comes from the official GATE CS question paper for that year, and the key, marks and question type come from the official answer key. Summaries are ours; open the official PDF for the full question.

What question types does General Aptitude use in GATE CS?

Of 110 questions: 110 MCQ, 0 MSQ and 0 NAT. MSQ only appears from 2021 onwards. 55 of the 110 questions carry 2 marks.