GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences: Exam Date, Syllabus, Question Papers, Pattern, Cutoff
The GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences syllabus includes a compulsory section on Reasoning & Comprehension and six optional sections. Candidates can choose one of the optional sections for the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam.
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences: Humanities and Social Sciences is one of the fairly low-opted GATE papers among the students. In 2024, around 16555 students registered for the GATE HX paper. However, considering the last 3 years' registering trends GATE Humanities and Social Science is becoming popular among students slowly. Candidates opting for GATE Humanities and Social Science as their first paper can choose Statistics as their second paper. Humanities and Social Sciences is one of the 30 subjects in the GATE 2025 exam. Candidates planning to pursue postgraduation in various humanities subjects can appear in the examination. The GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences syllabus has been uploaded on the official GATE 2025 website; the syllabus is divided into six different humanities subjects while the Reasoning and Comprehension section is made compulsory for all the candidates. Candidates appearing for the GATE HX paper must study hard as very few candidates were able to score the GATE cutoff marks in the last 3 years. In 2024, only 22.66% of students were able to pass the GATE HX exam. In this article, we will discuss the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam in detail and share all the important information related to the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam pattern, syllabus, and question paper.
Also Check - GATE 2025 Paper Codes
Quick Links:
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Exam Date
IIT Roorkee has only released the tentative schedule for the upcoming GATE 2025 exam. The national-level GATE exam 2025 is set to be conducted on February 1, 2, 15 and 16, 2025, for all 30 papers. The subject-wise specific dates for exams including the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam date will be announced soon. The following table explains the tentative GATE exam date 2025 in detail:
Event | Date |
GATE 2025 Exam Date for All Papers | February 1, 2, 15 & 16, 2025 |
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Exam Date | To be announced |
List of Two Paper Combinations for GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences
Candidates opting GATE 2025 Humanities and Social Science paper can choose the following paper as the second paper. Candidates must note that an additional GATE 2025 application fee will be applicable for the second combination subject.
- Statistics
Total Number of Candidates Appeared for GATE Humanities & Social Sciences: Past Trends
There has been an increase in the number of candidates registering for the GATE Humanities and Social Sciences paper in the last 3 years. In 2024, 16,555 candidates registered for the GATE HX paper. In GATE HX 2023 paper 14195 candidates registered. However, there has been a gap in the total number of candidates registering and a number of candidates appearing for the exam. Not all registered candidates showed up for the GATE HX paper in the last 3 years.
Take a look at the past trends showing the total number of candidates appearing for GATE Humanities & Social Sciences:
GATE Paper Code | Year | Total No. of Candidates Registered | Total No. of Candidates Appeared |
HX | 2024 | 16,555 | 11673 |
2023 | 14195 | 10022 | |
2022 | 14068 | 8641 |
GATE Humanities & Social Sciences Qualifying Trends Over the Years
Considering the GATE HX qualifying trends of last year only a handful of candidates were able to pass the exam. Although several candidates appeared for the GATE HX paper around 2100 to 2600 students could score the GATE cutoff marks. The GATE qualifying percentage in 2024 was 22.66%, in 2023 was 23.54%, and in 2022 was 24.93%.
Take a look at the GATE Humanities & Social Sciences qualifying trends here:
GATE Paper Code | Year | Total No. of Candidates Appeared | Total No. of Candidates Qualified | Qualifying % |
HX | 2024 | 11673 | 2646 | 22.66% |
2023 | 10022 | 2360 | 23.54% | |
2022 | 8641 | 2155 | 24.93% |
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences (XH) Syllabus
Candidates can download the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences syllabus pdf from the official website, gate2025.iitr.ac.in. The official pdf includes a section-wise syllabus for all the Humanities & Social Sciences papers. However, it is important for candidates to know that only the Reasoning and Comprehension section is compulsory for all the candidates. They can then choose one optional section for the exam out of the remaining six sections. The complete section-wise XH GATE syllabus 2025 for is explained in the table below:
Subject | Topic |
Reasoning and Comprehension (XH-B1) (Compulsory for all XH candidates) | Reading Comprehension |
Expression | |
Analytical Reasoning | |
Logical Reasoning | |
Economics (XH-C1) | Microeconomics |
Macroeconomics | |
Statistics, Econometrics, and Mathematical Economics | |
International Economics | |
Public Economics | |
Development Economics | |
Indian Economy | |
English (XH-C2) | Multi-genre literatures in English |
Anglophone and English translation, literature from India and extending to some degree, the Indian subcontinent. | |
Literary criticism and theory | |
History of English literature and English literary studies | |
Research approaches and methodologies | |
Linguistics (XH-C3) | Language and Linguistics |
Levels of Grammar and Grammatical Analysis | |
Historical Linguistics | |
Sociolinguistics | |
Areal Typology, Universals, Cross-linguistic Features | |
Methods of Analysis | |
Applied Linguistics | |
Philosophy (XH-C4) | Classical Indian Philosophy |
Contemporary Indian Philosophy | |
Classical and Modern Western Philosophy | |
Contemporary Western Philosophy | |
Psychology (XH-C5) | Research Methods and Statistics |
Psychometrics | |
Biological and Evolutionary Basis of Behaviour | |
Perception, Learning, Memory and Forgetting | |
Cognition: Thinking, Intelligence and Language | |
Personality: Theories of Personality | |
Motivation, Emotion and Stress and Coping | |
Social Psychology | |
Development Across the Life Span | |
Applications of Psychology | |
Sociology (XH-C6) | Sociological Theory |
Research Methodology and Methods | |
Sociological Concepts | |
Agrarian Sociology and Rural Transformation | |
Family, Marriage and Kinship; Theoretical Approaches | |
Indian Society/Sociology of India | |
Social Movements |
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Syllabus PDF Download
Candidates can download the complete GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences syllabus PDF file from the official IIT Roorkee website. They can also click on the link below to download the complete GATE 2025 XH syllabus.
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Exam Pattern
The GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam pattern is easy to understand and helps candidates choose the right optional sections and prepare for the exam. Similar to other GATE exams, the Humanities & Social Sciences paper also features three sections, however, unlike other exams, Engineering Mathematics is not a compulsory subject here. The GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam will have Reasoning & Comprehension as the compulsory section, along with General Aptitude. However, candidates will be allowed to choose only one out of six optional sections. The exam will be held in online mode (computer-based test) for 3 hours and will feature a total of 65 questions. Let’s have a look at the GATE exam pattern 2025 for Humanities & Social Sciences:
Particulars | Details |
Mode of exam | Online |
Duration | 3 hours (PwD candidates with benchmark disability are eligible for a total compensatory time of one hour) |
Medium | English |
Scheme of questions to test ability |
|
Type of questions |
|
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Marks Distribution
The GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences question paper will have a total of 65 questions and 100 marks. The question paper will be divided into three sections which will include General Aptitude, Reasoning and Comprehension, and Optional Section from the Humanities and Social Sciences syllabus. The following table explains the marks distribution for the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam:
Subject | Marks Allotted |
General Aptitude | 15 Marks |
Reasoning and Comprehension | 25 Marks |
Optional Subject | 60 Marks |
Total | 100 Marks |
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Marking Scheme
The GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam will have three types of questions MCQs, MSQs, and NATs. The questions will carry 1 or 2 marks, while there will be negative markings for some questions, some questions may award partial marks. The official GATE 2025 website explains the complete Humanities & Social Sciences marking scheme in detail, let’s have a look at it with the following:
| Particulars | Details |
Marking Scheme |
|
Negative Marking |
|
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Question Papers
GATE previous year question papers are a great way to start exam preparations. The IIT Roorkee website features previous years’ exam papers in chornological order that candidates can download and get a much clearer idea about the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences question paper. They can also click on the links below to download the past few years’ GATE Humanities & Social Sciences question papers:
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences Expected Cutoff
GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences cutoff will be released after the announcement of the GATE result 2025. The cutoff scores are the minimum marks required by the candidates to pass the examinations. The GATE cutoff 2025 will depend on several factors such as the number of students appearing for the exam, difficulty level of the exam, and number of seats available in various participating institutions. In the following list, we have analyzed the past few years’ GATE cutoff scores and determined an expected cutoff score for the GATE 2025 Humanities & Social Sciences exam.
GATE Humanities & Social Sciences Paper | GATE Exam Year | Category | ||
General | OBC-NCL/EWS | SC/ST/PwD | ||
Economy (XH-C1) | GATE 2025 XH-C1 Expected Cutoff | 36.5-48 | 33-43 | 25-31 |
2024 | 37 | 33.3 | 24.6 | |
2023 | 47.3 | 42.5 | 31.5 | |
English (XH-C2) | GATE 2025 XH-C2 Expected Cutoff | 47.5-53 | 43-47.5 | 31.5-35.5 |
2024 | 48 | 43.2 | 32 | |
2023 | 52.4 | 47.1 | 34.9 | |
Linguistics (XH-C3) | GATE 2025 XH-C3 Expected Cutoff | 46-50 | 41-45 | 30-33.5 |
2024 | 49.7 | 44.7 | 33.1 | |
2023 | 46.4 | 41.7 | 30.9 | |
Philosophy (XH-C4) | GATE 2025 XH-C4 Expected Cutoff | 37.5-40 | 34-35.5 | 25-26.5 |
2024 | 39.3 | 35.3 | 26.1 | |
2023 | 38 | 34.2 | 25.3 | |
Psychology (XH-C5) | GATE 2025 XH-C5 Expected Cutoff | 52-55 | 47-45 | 34-37 |
2024 | 52.7 | 47.4 | 35.1 | |
2023 | 54.9 | 49.4 | 36.6 | |
Sociology (XH-C6) | GATE 2025 XH-C6 Expected Cutoff | 35-50 | 32-45 | 24-34 |
2024 | 36 | 32.4 | 24 | |
2023 | 50 | 45 | 33.3 | |
List of IITs Offering Humanities & Social Sciences through GATE 2025
Almost all IITs offer postgraduate courses in Humanities & Social Sciences. However, the following list includes the best IITs for Humanities & Social Sciences through GATE 2025:
List of NITs Offering Humanities & Social Sciences through GATE 2025
Several NITs are offering M.A. courses in Humanities & Social Sciences through the GATE 2025 exam. The following are some of the best NITs offering Humanities & Social Sciences through GATE 2025:
NIT Uttarakhand | |