Checked 25 September 2026. Every link returned a PDF on the date shown; files are hosted by IIT Madras on the GATE 2027 site.
The GATE Humanities paper began in 2021, so there are six official papers. All of them are hosted free on the GATE 2027 website run by IIT Madras. They differ in one way that matters: from 2024 each XH section has its own paper PDF, while 2021–2023 are single combined PDFs covering all six sections — and the official 2022 key has no Psychology answers.
Official GATE XH Psychology papers and keys
- GATE 2026 (IIT Guwahati) — Question paper · Answer key
Psychology paper (with GA and B1) - GATE 2025 (IIT Roorkee) — Question paper · Answer key
Psychology paper (with GA and B1) - GATE 2024 (IISc Bengaluru) — Question paper · Answer key
Psychology paper (with GA and B1) - GATE 2023 (IIT Kanpur) — Question paper · Answer key
Combined XH question paper, all six sections (253 pages); 12-page combined key - GATE 2022 (IIT Kharagpur) — Question paper · Answer key
Combined paper; the official key covers only GA, B1 and Sociology — no Psychology key - GATE 2021 (IIT Bombay) — Question paper · Answer key
Combined XH paper. The key's Psychology answers look like placeholders (every MCQ keyed A) — do not self-mark Psychology against it. Sections are numbered from Q1 in 2021.
In the 2025 key, Psychology Q42 accepts two answers ("A;D or C;D"). There were no marks-to-all or dropped questions in Reasoning or Psychology from 2023 to 2026.
A practical note on the combined PDFs. The 2021–2023 files hold every XH section in one document — the 2023 file runs to 253 pages — with General Aptitude and Reasoning at the front and each optional section after it. Use your PDF reader's search for "Psychology" or "C5" to jump to the right part, and save those pages as a separate file before you start. Answer keys for those years are likewise combined, and from 2022 each optional section restarts at Q27 — so Psychology Q27–65 is a different run of questions from Economics Q27–65. Always check you are inside the Psychology (XH-C5) block. (In 2021 each section was numbered from Q1.)
What each paper looked like
| Paper | Reasoning (B1) MCQ / MSQ / NAT | Psychology MCQ / MSQ / NAT | Largest Psychology section |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 5 / 9 / 2 | 24 / 15 / 0 | Research Methods (17 marks) |
| 2025 | 12 / 1 / 3 | 22 / 15 / 2 | Research Methods (17) |
| 2024 | 11 / 5 / 0 | 18 / 19 / 2 | Research Methods (26) |
| 2023 | 9 / 5 / 2 | 22 / 15 / 2 | Research Methods (12) |
From the official keys. In 2024, all 21 two-mark Psychology questions were MSQ or NAT.
Every Psychology question, indexed by topic
This is the index from our weightage count. Open the four papers side by side and work one row at a time while you study that topic. Question numbers run 27–65 for Psychology in every year.
| 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41, 44, 46, 52, 53, 61, 65 | 27–32, 35, 36, 45–49, 52, 54, 64, 65 | 30, 33, 39, 40, 44, 48, 52, 53, 62, 64, 65 | 36, 39, 40, 43, 44, 50, 54–58 | Research Methods & Statistics |
| — | 58, 62 | 58, 60 | 33, 47, 48, 49 | Psychometrics |
| 39, 45, 58 | 33, 50, 51, 53 | 28, 31, 46, 47, 49 | 27, 28, 45, 46, 52 | Biological Basis |
| 27–30, 33, 35, 47 | 37–39, 41, 42, 55, 56 | 37, 38, 61 | 29, 30, 53 | Perception, Learning, Memory |
| 31, 38 | 40, 43, 61 | 29, 43 | 32, 35, 51 | Cognition |
| 36, 37, 40 | 44, 63 | 32, 50, 54, 56, 57 | 31, 34 | Personality |
| 32, 34, 42, 51, 55 | 34 | 34, 41, 42 | 64 | Motivation, Emotion, Stress |
| 50, 54, 56, 60, 63 | 59, 60 | 35, 36, 63 | 38, 60–63 | Social Psychology |
| 49, 59 | 57 | 27, 45, 55 | 41, 42 | Development |
| 43, 48, 57, 62, 64 | — | 51, 59 | 37, 59, 65 | Applications / Clinical |
For 2023 the Psychology questions sit inside the combined XH PDF; search it for the Psychology section heading. We have not indexed 2021 or 2022: the 2022 key file on the official site covers only Reasoning and Sociology, and the 2021 key's Psychology answers appear to be placeholders.
What each paper leaned on
2023 (IIT Kanpur) — broad, with social and clinical weight
- Social Psychology 10 marks and Applications 9 — the most either has carried; Research Methods a modest 12.
- Seven psychophysics and memory questions in Perception–Learning–Memory. Mean mark 37.9; qualifying 54.9.
2024 (IISc) — the research-methods paper
- Research Methods and Statistics took 26 of 60 marks — 17 of the 39 questions — and every 2-mark question was MSQ or NAT.
- Applications carried nothing. Mean 38.5; qualifying 52.7.
2025 (IIT Roorkee) — the easy year
- Personality rose to 9 marks; Research Methods 17. Mean 49.4 — the highest of the four — and the qualifying mark hit the 40 cap.
- The only one of the four indexed papers with a Psychology answer accepting two alternatives (Q42).
2026 (IIT Guwahati) — the hard year
- Psychometrics reached 7 marks and Social 9; no numerical-answer Psychology questions at all.
- Mean 27.8; qualifying 39.3; only 19 candidates scored 60 or more.
Four setting committees, four different papers. Use them together by topic rather than treating any one of them as the model for the 2027 paper.
Using them after the 2027 changes
Still fully valid
- Every Reasoning (B1) question — XH0 is the same part.
- Research methods and statistics, psychometrics, biological basis, perception and learning, cognition, personality, development and social psychology questions.
Deprioritise
- PTSD and trauma (2026 Q37) and Latin square or time-series design questions — dropped from the 2027 syllabus.
- Named theories of emotion are no longer listed, but "theories of emotions" is — so 2023 Q34 and 2026 Q64 are still worth doing.
Not covered by any past paper
- The organisational-behaviour block in XH5.10 and mental-health intervention in XH5.11. Past papers touched leadership (2024 Q60, 2026 Q38) and organisational commitment (2023 Q62) only — use a textbook for the rest.
A plan for four keyed papers
| Stage | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| While studying each section (Oct–Nov) | That section's row of the index, all four years | Shows the depth each topic is examined at |
| Late November | 2023 paper (Psychology part), timed | The oldest keyed paper — use it to learn pacing |
| December | 2024 full paper, timed | MSQ discipline: 19 MSQs, and every 2-mark Psychology question was MSQ or NAT |
| December | 2025 full paper, timed | Includes Reasoning with 5 quant items; mark with negative marking |
| January | 2026 full paper as a dress rehearsal | Most MCQs (24), so the heaviest negative-marking risk; also the most recent |
GATE Psychology previous-paper tracker
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Should you guess? The negative-marking calculator
Pick the question type and how many of the four options you can confidently rule out. The calculator shows your expected marks from answering versus leaving it blank.
Mark every practice paper the way GATE does: −1/3 for a wrong 1-mark MCQ and −2/3 for a wrong 2-mark MCQ, nothing lost on MSQ or NAT, and an MSQ scores only with exactly the right set of options. With 15 to 19 Psychology MSQs a paper, "nearly right" MSQs are where most candidates quietly lose marks.
The Reasoning part is the one place where all six papers are usable, including 2021 and 2022: the B1 answers are in both of those keys. That gives you 95 compulsory-part questions to practise on — 15 in 2021 and 16 in each year from 2022 — from six different setting committees.
Practise it, don't just read it
Topic quizzes are useful between papers for the sections the library covers — research methods, learning and the biological basis.
The ProSyllabus GATE Psychology library currently has four topic quizzes: Measures of Central Tendency and ANOVA and Post Hoc Tests (XH5.1, Research Methods and Statistics), Classical Conditioning Paradigms (XH5.4, Learning) and Neurotransmitters and Limbic Functions (XH5.3, Biological Basis). Each has ten questions and a worked explanation for every option. For the other sections, work from the official past papers.
Where can I download GATE Psychology previous year papers?
The official GATE 2027 website (IIT Madras) hosts all GATE XH papers from 2021 to 2026 on its Download page. From 2024 there is a separate Psychology paper PDF; 2021 to 2023 are combined XH PDFs covering all six sections.
Is there an official answer key for GATE 2022 Psychology?
Not a usable one. The official 2022 XH key file covers General Aptitude, Reasoning and Sociology only, so Psychology answers from 2022 cannot be checked against an official key.
How many questions are in the GATE Psychology section?
Thirty-nine: 18 one-mark and 21 two-mark questions, numbered 27 to 65 in the papers from 2022 onwards. The full XH paper also has 10 General Aptitude and 16 Reasoning and Comprehension questions.
Are old GATE Psychology papers still useful after the 2027 syllabus change?
Yes, for almost everything. Skip questions on PTSD and on Latin square or time-series designs, and study the new organisational-behaviour topics separately, because no past paper covers them.
Which GATE Psychology paper is closest to the real exam?
No single paper predicts the next one — the difficulty has swung widely, with the average mark at 49.4 in 2025 and 27.8 in 2026. Use all four keyed papers by topic, and keep the most recent for a final timed rehearsal.
More in this series
- GATE Psychology 2027 syllabus changes, section by section
- GATE Psychology topic-wise weightage, counted from 2023–2026 papers
- XH0 Reasoning and Comprehension — the compulsory 25 marks
- GATE Psychology marks vs score vs rank, with calculator
- GATE Psychology 2027 week-by-week plan, October to February
- What a GATE Psychology score opens — IIT PhDs, fellowships, GATE vs UGC NET
- GATE Psychology cutoffs, universities and careers
- GATE Psychology notice board — official updates
Sources
- official — GATE 2027 Download page — previous papers and keys
- official — GATE 2026 XH Psychology question paper (IIT Guwahati)
- official — GATE 2026 XH answer key
- official — GATE 2025 XH Psychology question paper (IIT Roorkee)
- official — GATE 2025 XH answer key
- official — GATE 2024 XH Psychology question paper (IISc Bengaluru)
- official — GATE 2024 XH answer key
- official — GATE 2023 XH Psychology question paper (IIT Kanpur)
- official — GATE 2023 XH answer key
- official — GATE 2027 XH5 Psychology syllabus (IIT Madras)
- official — GATE 2026 XH-C5 Psychology syllabus (IIT Guwahati)
- official — GATE 2026 Statistical and Performance Report (IIT Guwahati)
- official — GATE 2025 Statistical and Performance Report (IIT Roorkee)
- official — GATE 2024 Statistical and Performance Report (IISc, archived copy)
- official — GATE 2023 Statistical Report (IIT Kanpur, archived copy)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
