GATE 2026 CSE Important Topics – High-Weightage Subjects

GATE 2026 CSE Important Topics – High-Weightage Subjects

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Shivani PooniaUpdated on 03 Oct 2025, 12:30 PM IST

GATE 2026 CSE Important Topics - In this article we will be looking at the GATE 2026 CSE important topics. The GATE exam is a national level examination conducted once in a year for admission into post graduate programs or for recruitment into top public sector undertakings (PSU) all over India. CSE is one of the core subjects and if taken, it opens doors to top class institutes like IIT, IISc and other research labs supported by the government. This article will help you prepare for CSE as we will dive into resources that will help you to ace your GATE 2026 exam.

GATE 2026 CSE Important Topics – High-Weightage Subjects
GATE 2026 CSE Important Topics

Important Topics for GATE 2026 CSE

You should prioritize the high weightage topics for CSE in GATE exam 2026. Our experts have analysed the last 5 years GATE CSE question papers and prepared the table below. This table has the assigned weightage of each chapter and the number of questions asked in the particular year column. To prepare and get better marks, prioritze the chapters with a higher weightage and prepare accordingly.

Chapter

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

Total (5 Years)

Weightage

Engineering Mathematics

16

23

11

12

11

73

16.40%

Aptitude

20

20

10

10

10

70

15.73%

Computer Networks

10

12

6

9

7

44

9.89%

Programming and Data Structures

17

11

9

4

3

44

9.89%

Computer Organization & Architecture

13

13

5

6

5

42

9.44%

Operating System

10

10

7

7

4

38

8.54%

Databases

9

12

3

8

7

39

8.76%

Theory of Computation

9

9

6

4

4

32

7.19%

Digital Logic

9

5

4

2

2

22

4.94%

Compiler Design

9

8

1

2

1

21

4.72%

Algorithms

8

7

3

1

1

20

4.49%

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As seen, engineering mathematics covers the maximum weightage followed by aptitude. Well, these are seen as two different subjects. Coming to core chapters computer networks and programming and data structures both seem to have 9.89% overall weightage. You can also compare it according to the trends followed in the different years. Another point to note is that until 2021 there were only 55 total questions and 2024 onwards there are two papers being conducted for this subject: CSE I and CSE II making it a total of 130 questions overall. This graph will give you a visual representation and understanding of important topics of GATE CSE 2026. Since GATE is a highly competitive exam, it requires strategic study. Candidates must refer to the best books from reputable publishers for their preparation. We have listed down some of the most important topics for GATE 2026 CSE along with their main topics and best books to refer.

Subject

Top Chapter

Main Topics

Recommended Book

Engineering Mathematics (16.40%)

Linear Algebra

Matrices, Eigenvalues & Eigenvectors, Systems of Linear Equations, Vector Spaces

Higher Engineering Mathematics by B.S. Grewal

Aptitude (15.73%)

Linear Algebra


Matrices, Eigenvalues & Eigenvectors, Systems of Linear Equations, Vector Spaces


Higher Engineering Mathematics by B.S. Grewal


Computer Networks (9.89%)


TCP/IP and OSI Models


OSI Layers, TCP/IP Stack, IP Addressing, Routing Protocols, UDP vs TCP, Application Layer Protocols (HTTP, DNS)


Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach by James Kurose and Keith Ross


Programming & Data Structures (9.89%)

Trees and Graphs

Binary Trees, AVL Trees, Binary Search Trees, Graph Traversals (DFS, BFS), Spanning Trees, Graph Representations

Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis in C by Mark Allen Weiss

Computer Organization & Architecture (9.44%)

Memory Hierarchy and Cache

Cache Mapping Techniques, Memory Access Time, Virtual Memory, RAM & ROM, Instruction Cycles, Pipeline Architecture

Computer Organization and Design by David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy

GATE Previous Year Question Paper's
Download GATE previous year question papers to understand exam pattern and difficulty level. Practice with these papers to boost your preparation and improve your score.
Check Now


GATE CSE 2026 Preparation Strategy

In order to help you prepare for GATE, we have noted down some suggestions to help you out. GATE is a highly competitive exam and a proper preparation guide is required. Some of the best practices are listed as follows:

1. Understand the GATE question paper pattern.
2. Strictly follow the GATE CSE syllabus.
3. Practice GATE Mock Test once you are done studying a significant part of the exam.
4. Create your own strategic GATE exam timetable. This will help you study in a systematic manner.
5. Practice and analyse the previous years GATE CSE question papers that can help you prepare for the exam and practice. We have listed down the previous years question papers for you:

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How many sections are there in the GATE CSE paper?
A:

Generally two sections: Aptitude and the rest of the paper (which contains Engineering Maths and CSE topics)

Q: What is the best book for Computer Networks preparation?
A:

Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach by Kurose and Ross is highly recommended.

Q: Which subject carries the highest weightage in GATE 2026 CSE?
A:

Engineering Mathematics holds the highest weightage at 16.40%, followed closely by Aptitude at 15.73%. You can also have a look at the table to strategize and prepare accordingly.

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Questions related to GATE

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to GATE ?

Hello

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/gate-da-data-science-and-artificial-intelligence-question-papers

Just visit the link I am attaching below, so that it will help you to download and practice the papers, so that you can practice well and score well.

Hope it will help you!!!

Hello dear candidate,

You will not receive another rectification mail unless and until there is still an error in your reuploaded signature. if everything is okay your status will change to accepted on the GATE portal.

My advice is that you should keep checking your application status on the official website of GATE 2026.

Thank you.

Hello,

Visit the below website to download the previous 15 years question paper of GATE exam.

https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/last-15-years-gate-papers-solutions

You'll also get the solutions from it. These question papers will help you a lot in your preparation.

All the best.

This is likely a temporary portal or validation issue, not something you did wrong. When candidates try to change category from GEN to OBC-NCL during the GATE correction window, the system checks required fields and sometimes a supporting certificate or fee is needed. If any required data or document is missing, or the server is busy, the portal can show Something went wrong, please try again. Explain to them that first they should log into the GATE portal, open the Correction tab and confirm which fields are editable and whether a payment or document upload is required for category change. Tell them to clear browser cache or try a different browser/device and retry. If the error persists, advise contacting GATE support or the zonal office with a screenshot and timing of the error so officials can check server logs.

Hello,

The GATE 2026 Agricultural Engineering (AG) paper will have a total of 100 marks. Out of this, 15 marks are for General Aptitude and 85 marks are for core Agricultural Engineering subjects.

The marks are generally distributed among major topics like Engineering Mathematics (12–13 marks), Farm Machinery (10–11), Farm Power (14–15), Soil & Water Conservation (12–13), Irrigation & Drainage (10–12), Agricultural Process Engineering (10–12), and Dairy & Food Engineering (9–10 marks).

The official qualifying marks for GATE 2026 are not yet released. However, based on previous years, the cutoff for the Agricultural Engineering paper is expected to be around 25 marks for General, 22.5 for OBC/EWS, and 16.6 for SC/ST/PwD candidates.

Hope it helps !