The GATE Civil Engineering exam is a highly competitive exam taken by 1 lakh students per year. The GATE Civil Engineering exam 2026 is expected to take place in February 2026. The registration date for the GATE Civil Engineering 2026 exam was 28th August 2025.
To clear the GATE Civil Engineering exam, appearing students would need to thoroughly study the different topics part of the syllabus. The syllabus for the GATE Civil Engineering exam tackles the design, fields and other important areas of the field. The subject-specific topics for the exam include Geotechnical Engineering, Structural Engineering and Transportation Engineering.
The GATE CE Exam has 65 questions and is for 100 marks. The paper is taken in the online mode. The GATE exam is 3 hours long. The paper can be broken into the General Aptitude and Civil Engineering-based parts. The General Aptitude section is for 10 questions with 15 marks. The remaining 85 marks and 55 questions are allotted to the Civil Engineering sections.
GATE Civil Engineering Syllabus Highlights
Provided below are some of the need-to-know details about the GATE Civil Engineering Examination. The highlights are as follows:
Exam Name | GATE Civil Engineering |
Duration | 3 hours |
Registration Date | August, 2025 |
Examination Date | February, 2026 |
Exam Mode | Online |
Total Marks | 100 |
Total Questions | 65 |
Negative Marking | Yes |
Sections | General Aptitude, Structural Engineering, Geotechnical Engineering, Engineering Mathematics, Transportation Engineering, Water Resource Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Geomatics Engineering |
Reference Books | Theory of Structure by Wilbur and Norris, Environmental Engineering by SK Garg, Highway Mechanics by SK Khanna. |
Also read - Civil Engineering Course Fees
GATE Civil Engineering Exam Pattern
The GATE Civil Engineering Exam consists of a total of 100 marks. The exam is 3 hours long. The exam consists of a total of 65 questions. There 10 General Aptitude questions and 55 Civil Engineering-based questions. The exam is taken in the online mode.
It is important for students to know that the exam does have negative marking for wrong answers. Most questions in the exam carry 1 or 2 marks out of which 1/3rd or 2/3rds will be deducted for each incorrect answer.
Provided below is a general overview of the exam pattern for the GATE Civil Engineering exam:
Section | Total Questions | Total Marks |
General Aptitude | 10 Questions | 15 |
Subject Specific (Civil Engineering) | 55 Questions | 85 |
Also read - Civil Engineer Salary
GATE Civil Engineering Syllabus
The GATE Civil Engineering exam syllabus includes a number of different topics in the field of Civil Engineering. Candidates should be well-prepared with the topics part of the exam syllabus.
The GATE Civil Engineering exam consists of 8 total sections. Out of the sections 7 are subject specific sections and 1 is the general aptitude section. Provided below is a section-wise overview of the GATE Civil Engineering exam syllabus:
Section 1 - General Aptitude
Topic | Details |
Verbal Skills | Reading Comprehension, Grammar, Vocabulary, Sentence Forming |
Analytical Skills | Pattern Recognition, Interpretation, Logical Reasoning |
Quantitative Aptitude | Geometry, Statistics, Probability, Data Analysis, Numerical Relations |
Spatial Aptitude | Paper Folding, 2D/ 3D Pattern Recognition |
Section 2 - Structural Engineering
Topic | Details |
Steel Structures | Concepts of Plastic Analysis, Beams and Frames, Beam-Column Connections, Working Stress and Limit Design Concepts |
Concrete Structures | Slabs, Bond and Development Length, Design of Beams |
Solid Mechanics | Simple Stress and Strain Relationships, Buckling of Column, Combined and Direct Bending Stresses, Bending Moment and Shear Force |
Construction Materials and Management | Constructional Materials, Material Properties, Project Planning, Network Analysis, Constructional Management |
Engineering Mechanics | Free Body Diagrams, System of Forces, Centre of Mass |
Structural Analysis | Displacement Methods, Slope Deflection and Moment Distribution Methods |
Section 3 - Geotechnical Engineering
Topic | Details |
Soil Mechanics | Mohr’s Circle, Principles of Effective Stress and Quicksand Condition, Compaction of Soils Three Phase System and Phase Relationships |
Foundation Engineering | Combined Footing and Raft Foundation, Pile Group Efficiency, Earth Pressure Theories, Subsurface Investigations |
Section 4 - Engineering Mathematics
Topic | Details |
Calculus | Evaluation and Definite Integrals, Functions of Single Variables, Vector Identities, Directional Derivatives |
Linear Algebra | Matrix Algebra, Eigen Values, System of Linear Equations |
Partial Differential Equations | Four series, Separation of Variables, |
Numerical Methods | Error Analysis, Polynomials, Integration of Trapezoidal, Simpsons’ Rule |
Probability and Stats | Random Variables, Poisson and Normal Distribution, Linear Regression, Sampling Theorems |
Section 5 - Transportation Engineering
Topic | Details |
Highway Pavements | Desirable Properties of Paving Mixes, Highway Materials, Design Factors for Flexible and Rigid Pavements |
Traffic Engineering | Microscopic and Macroscopic Parameters of Traffic Flow, Traffic Studies of Flow and Speed |
Transportation Infrastructure | Geometric Design of Highways, Cross-Sectional Elements, Geometric Design of Railways, Concepts of Airport Runway Length |
Section 6 - Water Resources Engineering
Topic | Details |
Fluid Mechanics | Momentum and Energy Equations, Properties of Fluids, Flow in Pipes. Boundary Layer and Growth |
Hydraulics | Energy-Depth Relations, Channel Hydraulics, Forces on Immersed Bodies, Boundary Layer and Growth |
Hydrology | Hydrograph Analysis, Flood Estimation and Routing, Application of Darcy’s Law |
Irrigation | Crop Water Requirements, Lined and Unlined Canals, Types of Irrigation Systems and Methods, Cross Drainage Structures |
Section 7 - Environmental Engineering
Topic | Details |
Municipal Solid Wastes | Generation and Transportation of Solid Wastes, Reuse and Applications of Treated Sewage, Engineered Systems for Solid Waste Management |
Air Pollution | Air Quality Standards, AQI and Limits |
Water and Waste Treatment | Water Quality Index, Water Distribution System, Drinking Water Treatment, Basics of Water Quality Standards, Sludge Disposal |
Section 8 - Geomatics Engineering
Topic | Details |
Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing | Scale, Flying Height, Basics of Remote Sensing and GIS |
Principles of Surveying | Errors and Adjustment, Distance and Map Scaling, Angle Measurement, Traversing and Triangulation Survey, Horizontal and Vertical Curves |
GATE Civil Engineering Reference Books
Reference Books help aspiring students prepare well for the GATE CE exam. They provide students with valuable extra information that can be useful for the exam. Provided below is a list of some books students can use when preparing for the GATE Civil Engineering examination. The reference books are as follows.
Book Title | Author(s) |
Advanced Engineering Mathematics | Erwin Kreyszig |
Theory of Structure | Wilbur and Norris |
Discrete Mathematics and Applications | Kenneth Rosen |
Highway Engineering | SK Khanna |
Soil Mechanics | Gopal Ranjan, ASR Rao |
Geotechnical Engineering: Unsaturated and saturated Soils | JL Briaud |
Environmental Engineering | SK Garg |
