Match the words in Column I with their synonyms in Column II. Column I Column II ------ (i) Lonely (p) Verbatim (ii) Literal (q) Solitary (iii) Lousy (r) Deadly (iv) Lethal (s) Terrible

(A) (i)-(q); (ii)-(p); (iii)-(s); (iv)-(r)

(B) (i)-(q); (ii)-(s); (iii)-(r); (iv)-(p)

(C) (i)-(s); (ii)-(p); (iii)-(q); (iv)-(r)

(D) (i)-(r); (ii)-(s); (iii)-(p); (iv)-(q)

GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

The official GATE 2026 Civil Engineering (Set 1) paper, organised by IIT Guwahati: 65 questions for 100 marks in 3 hours. Download the official question paper and answer key as PDFs. Below is how the marks were split by topic, the complete official answer key and 5 questions solved step by step.

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Question paper (PDF)Official answer key (PDF)

Source: the official paper and answer key published by IIT Guwahati for GATE 2026 (official GATE site). Spotted a mistake? Email team@lemyte.com.

General Aptitude: 10 · 15 marks
Civil Engineering: 55 · 85 marks
MCQ / MSQ / NAT: 31 / 6 / 28
Marks to all: Q 19

Not in 2027 1 question (Q 45) is on topics removed from the GATE 2027 syllabus. They are marked in the answer key below. What changed for CE

Where the marks were

GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) topic-wise marks

Civil Engineering questions only; General Aptitude adds 15 marks on top. The top three topics carried 44 of the 85 subject marks.

Topic	Questions	Marks
Structural Engineering	10	16
Water Resources Engineering	9	15
Geotechnical Engineering	8	13
Transportation Engineering	7	11
Environmental Engineering	6	9
Geomatics Engineering	5	7
Linear Algebra	4	4
Numerical Methods	2	4
Calculus	1	2
Ordinary Differential Equations	1	2
Construction Materials and Management	1	1
Probability and Statistics	1	1

Free solved questions

5 solved questions from GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)

Question text and figures as in the official paper, the answer from the official key, and a worked solution. The other 60 solutions are in your report after you take the paper.

Q5 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 1 mark

Which one of the following figures P, Q, R, or S, correctly shows the 45° clockwise-rotated version of figure (I)?

Figure for GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) question 5 (Spatial Aptitude)

(A)
P
(B)
Q
(C)
R
(D)
S

Answer (official key): B

Solution

Rotating figure (I) by 45° clockwise turns its square outline into a diamond and moves every feature one-eighth of a turn clockwise, without reflecting the pattern. All four candidates are diamond-oriented, so the outline alone does not decide it; the answer is the candidate whose internal maze-like features keep the same handedness and relative arrangement as figure (I).

Track one distinctive feature of figure (I) — for example a particular corner projection — through a 45° clockwise turn and check which candidate places it correctly. Only Q does so; the other candidates are mirror-image or otherwise altered arrangements.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option B.

Q6 · General Aptitude · MCQ · 2 marks

Match the words in Column I with their synonyms in Column II.

Column I	Column II
(i) Lonely	(p) Verbatim
(ii) Literal	(q) Solitary
(iii) Lousy	(r) Deadly
(iv) Lethal	(s) Terrible

(A)
(i)-(q); (ii)-(p); (iii)-(s); (iv)-(r)
(B)
(i)-(q); (ii)-(s); (iii)-(r); (iv)-(p)
(C)
(i)-(s); (ii)-(p); (iii)-(q); (iv)-(r)
(D)
(i)-(r); (ii)-(s); (iii)-(p); (iv)-(q)

Answer (official key): A

Solution

Match each word with its closest meaning:

Lonely — Solitary (q): alone, without company
Literal — Verbatim (p): word for word, exact
Lousy — Terrible (s): very bad, of poor quality
Lethal — Deadly (r): capable of causing death

This gives (i)-(q); (ii)-(p); (iii)-(s); (iv)-(r).

Therefore, the correct answer is Option A.

Q39 · Structural Engineering · MCQ · 2 marks

The plane frame has a hinge and a roller support, and is loaded as shown in the figure. Both the columns have same height.

Plane frame for Q39

What is the absolute value of the maximum bending moment (in kN-m) in the frame?

(A)
165
(B)
150
(C)
240
(D)
195

Answer (official key): A

Solution

From the figure, the beam span is $4$ m, both columns are $3$ m high, a $50$ kN horizontal load acts at the top-left joint, and a $90$ kN vertical load acts at midspan.

Let the vertical reactions at the left and right supports be $V_A$ and $V_B$ .

Taking moments about the left support,

4V_B-90(2)-50(3)=0.

Thus

V_B=\frac{180+150}{4}=82.5\text{ kN}.

Vertical equilibrium gives

V_A+V_B=90 \quad\Longrightarrow\quad V_A=7.5\text{ kN}.

The horizontal load creates a joint moment magnitude at the top of the left column of

50(3)=150\text{ kN-m}.

The right support is a roller and provides no horizontal reaction. Therefore the right column carries no transverse shear and its bending moment is zero; the critical bending moment must occur in the left column/beam region.

Across the first $2$ m of the beam, the bending moment then changes by

V_A(2)=7.5(2)=15\text{ kN-m}.

Hence the absolute maximum moment occurs at the point load:

M_{\max}=150+15=165\text{ kN-m}.

Therefore, the correct answer is Option A.

Q46 · Geotechnical Engineering · MSQ · 2 marks

As per the Rankine’s earth pressure theory, which of the following statements is/are FALSE?

(A)
For the active earth pressure, the inclination of failure plane is $(45^\circ+\phi/2)$ with respect to the major principal plane.
(B)
For the active earth pressure, the inclination of failure plane is $(45^\circ-\phi/2)$ with respect to the major principal plane.
(C)
For the passive earth pressure, the inclination of failure plane is $(45^\circ+\phi/2)$ with respect to the major principal plane.
(D)
For the passive earth pressure, the inclination of failure plane is $(45^\circ-\phi/2)$ with respect to the major principal plane.

Answer (official key): B, D

Solution

At Mohr-Coulomb failure, the failure plane is inclined at

45^\circ+\frac{\phi}{2}

to the major principal plane.

That statement is true irrespective of whether the Rankine state is active or passive; what changes between active and passive conditions is the orientation of the principal stresses relative to the wall/backfill geometry.

Therefore:

(A) is true.
(B) is false.
(C) is true.
(D) is false.

The question asks for the FALSE statements.

Therefore, the correct answers are Options B and D.

Q48 · Numerical Methods · Numerical · 2 marks

Starting with the first approximation as $x=0.5$ , the second approximation for the root of the following function by the Newton-Raphson method is ______ (rounded off to two decimal places).

f(x)=e^{-x}-x.

Answer (official key): 0.55 to 0.58

Solution

Newton-Raphson iteration is

x_{n+1}=x_n-\frac{f(x_n)}{f'(x_n)}.

Here

f(x)=e^{-x}-x, \qquad f'(x)=-e^{-x}-1.

With $x_0=0.5$ ,

f(0.5)=e^{-0.5}-0.5\approx0.1065307,

and

f'(0.5)=-e^{-0.5}-1\approx-1.6065307.

Therefore,

x_1 = 0.5-\frac{0.1065307}{-1.6065307} \approx0.56631.

Rounded to two decimal places, the value is $0.57$ .

Therefore, the answer is 0.57 (official accepted range 0.55 to 0.58).

The other 60 questions are solved in your report when you take GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) as a 3-hour test.

Take GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) as a test

Official answer key

GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) answer key

All 65 answers from the official key. Numerical answers are ranges; “or” means the key accepts either answer.

Download the official GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) answer key (PDF)

Q	Topic	Type	Marks	Answer
1	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
2	Spatial Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
3	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	1	A
4	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	1	C
5	Spatial Aptitude	MCQ	1	B
6	Verbal Aptitude	MCQ	2	A
7	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	2	B
8	Analytical Aptitude	MCQ	2	A
9	Analytical Aptitude	MCQ	2	B
10	Quantitative Aptitude	MCQ	2	D
11	Linear Algebra	MCQ	1	A
12	Linear Algebra	MCQ	1	B
13	Structural Engineering	MCQ	1	B
14	Structural Engineering	MCQ	1	D
15	Construction Materials and Management	MCQ	1	A
16	Water Resources Engineering	MCQ	1	D
17	Water Resources Engineering	MCQ	1	A
18	Geotechnical Engineering	MCQ	1	A
19	Transportation Engineering	MCQ	1	Marks to all
20	Geomatics Engineering	MCQ	1	C
21	Environmental Engineering	MCQ	1	D
22	Environmental Engineering	MCQ	1	B
23	Water Resources Engineering	MSQ	1	B, C, D
24	Transportation Engineering	MSQ	1	A, B
25	Environmental Engineering	MSQ	1	A, C, D
26	Probability and Statistics	Numerical	1	0.5 to 0.66
27	Linear Algebra	Numerical	1	5
28	Linear Algebra	Numerical	1	91
29	Structural Engineering	Numerical	1	214 to 218
30	Structural Engineering	Numerical	1	120 to 130
31	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	1	0.28 to 0.32
32	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	1	48.2 to 48.6
33	Transportation Engineering	Numerical	1	20 to 21.9
34	Geomatics Engineering	Numerical	1	22
35	Geomatics Engineering	Numerical	1	98.5
36	Calculus	MCQ	2	C
37	Ordinary Differential Equations	MCQ	2	A
38	Structural Engineering	MCQ	2	C
39	Structural Engineering	MCQ	2	A
40	Water Resources Engineering	MCQ	2	A
41	Water Resources Engineering	MCQ	2	C
42	Transportation Engineering	MCQ	2	D
43	Geomatics Engineering	MCQ	2	A
44	Environmental Engineering	MCQ	2	A
45	Structural EngineeringNot in GATE 2027 syllabus: Prestressed concrete	MSQ	2	A, B
46	Geotechnical Engineering	MSQ	2	B, D
47	Transportation Engineering	MSQ	2	A
48	Numerical Methods	Numerical	2	0.55 to 0.58
49	Numerical Methods	Numerical	2	2
50	Structural Engineering	Numerical	2	0.39 to 0.44
51	Structural Engineering	Numerical	2	7 to 7.4
52	Structural Engineering	Numerical	2	12
53	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	35 to 40
54	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	1000
55	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	0.38 to 0.41
56	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	2	6.4 to 6.8
57	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	2	2.5 to 2.65
58	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	2	3.2 to 3.6
59	Geotechnical Engineering	Numerical	2	0
60	Transportation Engineering	Numerical	2	2200
61	Transportation Engineering	Numerical	2	48 to 52
62	Geomatics Engineering	Numerical	2	-5 or 5
63	Environmental Engineering	Numerical	2	230 to 250
64	Water Resources Engineering	Numerical	2	300
65	Environmental Engineering	Numerical	2	11 to 12

Questions about GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) paper?

65 questions for 100 marks: 10 General Aptitude questions worth 15 marks and 55 Civil Engineering questions worth 85 marks. By type, there were 31 MCQs, 6 MSQs, 28 numerical answer (NAT) questions. The paper lasted 3 hours.

Is there negative marking in GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)?

Yes, for MCQs only. A wrong MCQ answer costs one-third of its marks (−⅓ for a 1-mark question, −⅔ for a 2-mark question). MSQ and numerical (NAT) questions have no negative marking, and an MSQ earns marks only when every correct option is chosen.

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)?

Outside General Aptitude, the biggest topics were Structural Engineering (16 marks), Water Resources Engineering (15 marks), Geotechnical Engineering (13 marks). The full topic-wise split is in the table on this page.

Were any GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

Yes. The official key awarded full marks to everyone for question 19.

Where does this GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) answer key come from?

From the official answer key published by IIT Guwahati, which organised GATE 2026. Range answers for numerical questions and questions with more than one accepted answer are kept exactly as the key gives them.

GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) question paper PDF and answer key

GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) topic-wise marks

5 solved questions from GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)

GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) answer key

Questions about GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)

How many questions are in the GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) paper?

Is there negative marking in GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)?

Which topics carried the most marks in GATE 2026 CE (Set 1)?

Were any GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) questions awarded marks to all?

Where does this GATE 2026 CE (Set 1) answer key come from?

More GATE papers