The GATE 2026 Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) exam was conducted on 7th Feb 20-26 from 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM.
Initial feedback indicates the paper was "moderate and balanced," with MSQs in optional sections being time-consuming due to multi-option analysis.
- General Aptitude: Easy to moderate. Questions focused on verbal ability (comprehension, grammar), quantitative aptitude (data interpretation), and logical reasoning (puzzles).
- Reasoning and Comprehension: Moderate. Emphasized reading comprehension, logical inference, and text analysis. Questions included passages requiring interpretation.
- Optional Subjects: Moderate overall, varying by subject. MSQs were prominent, and questions were concept-based with some interdisciplinary elements.
Also Read: Download GATE Humanities and Social Sciences Question Paper (Available) with Solution Pdf
GATE 2026 Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) Paper Analysis by Expert
The GATE 2026 Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) was moderate.
- There was heavy focus on MSQs in English Psychology sections.
- Some electives were tough.
- The economics was calculation-heavy, and English was vast and deep. Indian philosophy may be dense.
| Subjects | Expected Difficulty Level | Key Topics and High Weightage |
|---|---|---|
| General Aptitude | Easy to moderate | Percentages, ratios, spatial reasoning, grammar |
| Reasoning and comprehension | Moderate | Reading comprehension, logical deduction, and analytical reasoning |
| Economics | Moderate to hard | Game theory (Nash equilibrium)Microeconomics Econometrics |
| English | Moderate to hard | Literary theoryCultural traditionsMulti genre literature |
| Linguistic | Moderate | Phonetics, Morphology (allomorphs), Sociolinguistics, Historical Linguistics laws. |
| Philosophy | Moderate | Classical Indian (Nyaya, Vedanta), Western Epistemology, Logic (Truth Tables). |
| Psychology | Moderate to hard | Research Methods & Statistics, Psychometrics, Social Psychology, Neurotransmitters. |
| Sociology | Moderate | Sociological Theory (Marx, Durkheim), Agrarian Transformation, Social Stratification. |
Check: What is the rank of 40 marks in GATE?
Expected Good Attempts & Cutoff For GATE 2026 Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) paper
As per the expert's analysis, to score around 45-50 marks out of 100, you need to attempt about 65-75 questions with very high accuracy.
| GATE Paper | Expected Good Attempts | Expected Cutoff Marks (General) | Expected Cutoff marks (OBC/EWS) | Expected Cutoff Marks (SC/ST) |
| Humanities and social sciences (XH) | 65-75 | 42-46 | 38-41 | 28-31 |
Also Read: What is the Good score in GATE 2026?
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