GATE CS Previous Year Question Papers, 2018–2026
Free PDFs of the GATE CS papers from 2018 to 2026. For 2018, 2020 and 2022–2026, the study library also has every question with its official answer, with 175 solved step by step.
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About this resource
For GATE CS, previous-year papers are non-negotiable. The exam leans on a stable set of core ideas, and the way it frames them — the question types it favours, the traps it repeats — barely changes from year to year. Working through a decade of papers is how you internalise that pattern instead of guessing at it.
These papers span the full CS syllabus — Digital Logic, Computer Organisation, Data Structures & Algorithms, Operating Systems, DBMS, Computer Networks, Theory of Computation and Compiler Design — plus Engineering Mathematics and General Aptitude. Recent years include both exam slots, giving you extra authentic practice with genuinely current questions.
What's included
- ✓GATE CS papers from 2018 to 2026 — with both slots for 2024–2026
- ✓The organising institute’s question paper for each year (for 2020, a printout of IIT Delhi’s GATE 2020 web page). For 2018, 2020 and 2022 the file also includes the official answer key (for 2023, IIT Kanpur’s key is a separate download), with the accepted answer for all 65 questions
- ✓Questions across all core Computer Science subjects
- ✓Engineering Mathematics and General Aptitude sections
- ✓A clear read on question patterns and difficulty
- ✓Free PDFs, ready to download
How to use this resource
Attempt each paper in a single three-hour sitting under real exam conditions — no notes, no pausing. CS is often won by how fast you clear the easy marks so you have time for the hard ones, and that instinct only comes from timed practice.
Afterwards, analyse relentlessly. Sort every mistake into three buckets — did not know it, knew it but misapplied it, and careless slip — because each needs a different fix. Revise the topics that recur across years first, work through both slots where they exist, and your speed and accuracy compound with every paper.
Frequently asked questions
Do these GATE CS papers come with answer keys or solutions?+
Four of them do. The 2018, 2020 and 2022 papers carry the organising institute’s own answer key, appended at the end of the question paper, and the 2023 paper has IIT Kanpur’s key as a separate download: a table giving, for all 65 questions, the question type, the section, and either the correct option or the accepted numerical range. That is the official key, not a coaching solution — it states the accepted answer and nothing more, so there are no worked steps or explanations in any Drive file. The remaining Drive files carry questions only. The study library has one page per paper for 2018, 2020 and 2022–2026 (one per session in two-session years), with each question's official answer and, where solved, its worked solution. They are linked from the year list above. The 2019 and 2021 files are scanned rather than digital text, so their contents cannot be searched — open them to see what they contain.
Which years does this GATE CS set cover, and why do some years list two papers?+
The set runs from 2018 to 2026, with two question papers listed for each of 2024, 2025 and 2026 — twelve files in all. The brochure notes that the examination for some test papers may be held in multiple sessions (page 2), and that a normalisation is applied to account for variation in difficulty across sessions (page 27). A year's two papers are best read as two sittings of the same year rather than as a first and a second choice.
Did the GATE CS syllabus change for 2027, and does that affect these papers?+
Yes. Comparing the official 2026 and 2027 syllabus PDFs, three of the ten CS sections differ, and Computer Networks is substantially shorter: UDP, SMTP and framing are not listed by name in 2027, while DNS, HTTP and TCP still are. So a past paper can ask about something the 2027 syllabus does not name. "Not listed by name" means the 2026 wording is absent from the 2027 PDF — it is not a statement that the topic is out of scope. The section-by-section comparison is at /resources/gate-cs-2027-syllabus-changes.
What marking scheme should I apply when I solve an older CS paper?+
The 2027 one, because that is what you will be marked under. Every test paper runs three hours and carries 65 questions for 100 marks, of which General Aptitude is 10 questions and 15 marks; in CS the remaining 85 marks are the subject component, of which Engineering Mathematics carries 13 (GATE 2027 Information Brochure, pages 4 and 24). A wrong 1-mark MCQ deducts 1/3 and a wrong 2-mark MCQ deducts 2/3; MSQ and NAT carry no negative marking, and there is no partial marking for any question. /guide/gate-2027-exam-pattern-and-marking sets it out in full.
Are these papers free, and is any sign-up needed?+
They are free. Each year in the download list on this page opens the question paper as a PDF in Google Drive, where it can be read or saved. There is no sign-up, no form and no payment.
I want a CS question paper older than 2018 — where do I find it?+
From the official source. The GATE 2027 Information Brochure states that question papers from previous GATE exams, 2007 to 2026, can be downloaded from the Downloads tab of the GATE 2027 website (page 26), and that the syllabus for the test papers, previous years' question papers and mock examination links, together with the virtual scientific calculator, are accessible through that website (page 22).
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