General Aptitude and Engineering Mathematics marks
Based on IAE's count of past papers. What it cannot tell you is at the end.
General Aptitude is 15 marks in every GATE paper, from one shared syllabus. Engineering Mathematics is a further 13 marks in six of the seven papers IAE teaches, but each paper prints its own list. Here is where those marks have landed across 21 solved EC, EE and IN papers.
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Ten of GATE's sixty-five questions are General Aptitude, worth 15 of the paper's 100 marks in every GATE 2027 paper. In six of the seven papers IAE Academy teaches — BT, CE, CS, EC, EE and IN — a further 13 marks inside the 85-mark subject component are reserved for Engineering Mathematics, which puts 28 of the 100 marks behind a heading that is not the paper's core subject. Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DA) is the exception: its Section 1 is titled Probability and Statistics rather than Engineering Mathematics, and the brochure carves out no separate mathematics mark inside its 85-mark subject component.
Source: GATE 2027 Information Brochure (IIT Madras), section 7.3 and Table 8, printed pages 24 and 26, as on 15 September 2026
What the brochure fixes, per paper
| Paper | General Aptitude | Subject component | Engineering Mathematics inside the subject component |
|---|---|---|---|
| BT — Biotechnology | 15 marks | 85 marks | 13 marks |
| CE — Civil Engineering | 15 marks | 85 marks | 13 marks |
| CS — Computer Science and Information Technology | 15 marks | 85 marks | 13 marks |
| EC — Electronics and Communication Engineering | 15 marks | 85 marks | 13 marks |
| EE — Electrical Engineering | 15 marks | 85 marks | 13 marks |
| IN — Instrumentation Engineering | 15 marks | 85 marks | 13 marks |
| DA — Data Science and Artificial Intelligence | 15 marks | 85 marks | Not separately stated — the full 85 is the subject component |
Source: Mark distribution from the GATE 2027 Information Brochure (IIT Madras), section 7.3 and Table 8, printed pages 24 and 26. Paper titles are from the official GATE 2027 syllabus PDF for each paper. Data as of 15 September 2026.
General Aptitude has one syllabus, printed once and shared by every paper. Engineering Mathematics does not: each of BT, CE, CS, EC, EE and IN prints its own Section 1, with its own list of headings, and what each paper's own syllabus PDF names is not the same list twice. A candidate meets General Aptitude in the same form whichever of these papers they sit. Engineering Mathematics is a different reading list depending on the paper.
General Aptitude: where the marks have gone, EC/EE/IN 2018–2026
General Aptitude, by topic: solved questions and marks across the 21 EC/EE/IN papers (2018, 2020, 2022–2026)
| Topic | Questions solved | Marks | Years appeared in (of 7 papers) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grammar and vocabulary | 32 | 36 | 7 |
| Reading comprehension and narrative sequencing | 18 | 33 | 7 |
| Data interpretation | 9 | 18 | 4 |
| Numerical computation: ratios, percentages, powers, logarithms, counting and series | 58 | 82 | 7 |
| Geometry and mensuration | 22 | 37 | 7 |
| Elementary statistics and probability | 7 | 12 | 4 |
| Logical and analytical reasoning | 41 | 62 | 7 |
| Spatial aptitude | 23 | 35 | 5 |
| Total | 210 | 315 | — |
Source: 210 solved General Aptitude questions across the 21 EC, EE and IN papers of 2018, 2020 and 2022–2026 (2019 and 2021 are left out: the copies IAE hosts are image scans without the answer key). We placed each question under a topic ourselves; the exam paper does not label topics. Data as of 27 Sep 2026.
206 of those 210 questions are solved at /study/general-aptitude; the other four show the official answer. Going by how we placed the questions, the largest single topic is numerical computation, with 58 of the 210 questions, ahead of logical and analytical reasoning (41) and grammar and vocabulary (32).
Engineering Mathematics is a different kind of count. We placed the questions of the same 21 EC, EE and IN papers under topics ourselves, and 190 of them fall under seven Engineering Mathematics headings, worth 285 marks. The exam paper does not label topics, and this shows what was asked, not what will be asked in 2027. This covers only EC, EE and IN so far; CS, BT and CE are not part of this dataset.
Engineering Mathematics: where the marks have gone, EC/EE/IN 2018–2026
Source: 190 questions placed under Engineering Mathematics across the 21 EC, EE and IN papers of 2018, 2020 and 2022–2026. We placed each question under a topic ourselves; the exam paper does not label topics. This shows what was asked, not what will be asked. Data as of 27 Sep 2026.
The brochure fixes Engineering Mathematics at 13 marks in each of BT, CE, CS, EC, EE and IN. Our count for the same 21 papers moves around that figure rather than sitting on it: across the seven EC papers it runs from 9 to 16 marks, across the seven EE papers from 12 to 17, and across the seven IN papers from 13 to 15. The table below is the year-by-year count behind that range.
Engineering Mathematics marks per paper, year by year
Source: our Engineering Mathematics count for each of the 21 EC, EE and IN papers, data as of 27 Sep 2026. The brochure fixes the section at 13 marks in each of BT, CE, CS, EC, EE and IN (GATE 2027 Information Brochure, Table 8, printed page 26). The paper-by-paper movement above comes from which questions we placed under the topic. It is not evidence that the section's fixed weight has changed.
The largest Engineering Mathematics topic by this count is linear algebra, with 46 of the 190 questions, followed by calculus with 39. Every subject on the study library carries a formula sheet alongside its solved questions, General Aptitude included.
WHAT THIS CANNOT TELL YOU
This counts 21 EC, EE and IN papers only (2018, 2020 and 2022 to 2026), because the copies IAE hosts for 2019 and 2021 are image scans without the answer key. None of this is CS, BT, CE or DA. The 315 General Aptitude marks follow from the brochure's fixed 15 marks per paper; how they split between topics is our own placement of each question, like the Engineering Mathematics counts. We placed each question under a topic ourselves; the exam paper does not label topics. Both are counts of papers already sat, not a prediction of what comes next.
Data as of 27 Sep 2026.
From the Resource Centre
GATE 2027 Official Syllabus — All Papers
The official GATE 2027 syllabus, all 30 papers. Know the exact topics, sections and weightage before you plan a single day of prep. The new Robotics and Automation (RA) paper is not in this set yet.
GATE 2027GATE EC previous-year papers 2018–2026
Nine years of GATE Electronics & Communication question papers (2018–2026), as the organising institutes published them. Learn the real pattern, spot the high-yield topics, and build exam-day speed. The 2018, 2020 and 2022 papers include the organising institute’s own answer key.
ANY GATE YEARGATE EE previous-year papers 2018–2026, except 2019
GATE Electrical Engineering question papers from 2018 to 2026, except 2019, as the organising institutes published them. Learn the pattern, target the high-weightage subjects, and sharpen your speed. The 2018, 2020 and 2022 papers include the organising institute’s own answer key.
ANY GATE YEARGATE IN previous-year papers 2018–2026
Nine years of GATE Instrumentation Engineering question papers (2018–2026), as the organising institutes published them. Spot the recurring topics, gauge the difficulty, and revise with purpose. The 2018, 2020 and 2022 papers include the organising institute’s own answer key.
ANY GATE YEARCommon questions
How many of GATE's 100 marks are General Aptitude and Engineering Mathematics?+
Is the General Aptitude syllabus the same for every GATE paper?+
Is the Engineering Mathematics syllabus the same for every paper?+
Are IAE's Engineering Mathematics counts the same as the paper's official 13-mark section?+
Which GATE papers are these counts based on?+
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