Previous year paper analysis · GATE

GATE 2025 Computer Science (CS) paper analysis

By the PrepMatic team · Updated 9 Oct 2026 · 5 min read

GATE 2025 Computer Science and Information Technology (CS) was held in two sessions on Saturday 1 February 2025, each with 65 questions for 100 marks. We tallied both official papers by subject and by type. Session 1 was the numerical-answer session, with 22 NAT questions worth 37 marks, while Session 2 had 18 multiple-select questions worth 31 marks.

Paper facts

Each candidate sat one session, and marks from the two sessions were normalised before scores were computed. The normalisation guide explains the method.

Subject-wise tally

The official paper has no subject labels, so this is our own classification. Boundary questions (a noisy-channel probability question, a Booth multiplication count) can be placed either way, so read each count as accurate to about one question. Probability and counting questions that do not depend on networking or logic circuits are counted under Engineering Mathematics.

Averaged over the two sessions, Engineering Mathematics (15 marks) and Programming and Data Structures (11) were the largest subject blocks. Computer Networks and Compiler Design were the smallest at 6.

Question types

Both sessions put well over half the marks in formats with no negative marking: 55 marks in Session 1 and 57 in Session 2. The catch is precision. A NAT needs the exact number, and an MSQ gives nothing for a half-correct selection.

What stood out (our reading)

• Programming and Data Structures was answered in numbers. Six of Session 1's seven questions were NATs: the output of a pointer program, the height of a min-heap, a recursive array function, a linked-list function, a digit-processing program and double hashing. Tracing code accurately mattered more than recalling definitions.
• Session 2 hit Digital Logic and Databases with MSQs. Four of six Digital Logic questions and four of five Databases questions were MSQ. The Databases ones covered transaction properties, functional dependencies, conflict serialisability and SQL.
• Computer Networks was all single-answer in Session 2. All five questions were MCQs (ARP and TCP statements, routing protocols, IPv4 protocol numbers, UDP over Ethernet, stop-and-wait).
• The maths block was the widest. Session 1's 11 questions took in surjective functions, linear systems, counting ternary strings, differentiability, a fake-coin probability problem, eigenvalues of a matrix power, graph diameter and predicate logic.
• B+ trees appeared in both sessions, as an MSQ in Session 1 and a NAT in Session 2.
• Difficulty is our reading, not an official rating. Most one-mark questions were direct recall. The slow ones were the two-mark NATs in Session 1, because a single slip in a long trace gives zero with no partial credit.

What it means for GATE 2027 preparation

1. Practise tracing code on paper. Programming questions often reward a careful dry run, not a formula.
2. Verify every option in MSQs. Where options look familiar (normal forms, closure properties), check each one against a counterexample.
3. Compare with 2026. Averaged over sessions, Databases fell from 8.5 marks in 2025 to 6 in 2026, Algorithms rose from 6.5 to 8, and Computer Networks from 6 to 8.5. Subject weights move by a few marks every year, so do not tune your plan to one paper. The 2026 CS analysis has the full table.
4. Re-map to the 2027 syllabus. GATE 2027 revised every syllabus and lists CS in 10 sections; see the CS syllabus and plan and the exam pattern.

For a three-pass method to use these papers, read the previous year papers guide.

Using the tally with PrepMatic

PrepMatic's mock tests can be focused on the weak subjects your free assessment flags, and the results show accuracy by subject and time per question. That second view matters for a paper like Session 1, where slow tracing cost more than gaps in knowledge. Take timed topic tests (about 15 questions, 30 minutes) after each subject, and solve the real GATE papers from the official links below, since PrepMatic's practice questions are AI-generated.

Frequently asked questions

Which GATE 2025 CS session had more NAT questions?

Session 1 (CS1) had 22 NATs worth 37 marks, against 15 worth 26 marks in Session 2 (CS2), going by the official answer keys.

What was the GATE 2025 CS qualifying mark?

The official General-category qualifying mark for CS was 29.2. The OBC-NCL and EWS mark was 26.2, and the SC, ST and PwD mark was 19.4.

Are GATE 2025 papers still useful for 2027?

Yes for topic practice, but check each question against the revised 2027 syllabus first. Weights from one year are a guide, not a promise.

Official sources

• CS1 question paper and answer key.
• CS2 question paper and answer key.
• GATE 2025 examination schedule and cut-off marks.
• GATE 2027 downloads page for all past papers.

Counts above are our own tally from the official papers and keys. Confirm any figure you rely on against the official files. For the full exam guide, start from the GATE guide; more analyses are in the paper analysis index.

← All previous year paper analysis