Key takeaways
- Eight units built around the four GA areas: verbal, quantitative, analytical and spatial.
- Shortcut formulas for percentages, successive change, average speed, alligation, permutations and clock angles.
- Methods for syllogisms, blood relations, directions, seating and calendars.
- Ten practice questions at the end, in GATE GA style.
- Original Uncodemy revision notes; check the latest official GATE information brochure.
About these handwritten notes
These are original Uncodemy revision notes for General Aptitude, written in a clean handwritten style. They are short on purpose: each unit lists the rules, shortcuts and solved ideas you need to answer questions fast.
The notes follow the General Aptitude (GA) section of GATE, which is common to all GATE papers. The same topics also cover most of the quantitative, logical and verbal questions in campus placement tests. They are not official GATE material or official notes of any university. The exam pattern can change from year to year, so check the latest official GATE information brochure, and check your own university syllabus if you are using the notes for a college aptitude paper.
What's inside the general aptitude notes
The notes have eight units. One line on each:
Unit 1: About the GA section
How the section is set: as the notes describe it, GA carries 15 of the 100 marks, with 10 questions (five of 1 mark and five of 2 marks), negative marking for MCQs and none for numerical answer questions, across four areas.
Unit 2: Verbal aptitude
Grammar points that are asked (articles, prepositions, tenses, agreement, comparatives), vocabulary and analogies, reading comprehension, inference and sentence ordering.
Unit 3: Numbers and percentages
Divisibility rules, HCF and LCM, unit digits of powers, percentages and successive change, profit and loss, and simple and compound interest, including the CI - SI shortcut for two years.
Unit 4: Ratio, time, work and speed
Ratio and averages, time and work, pipes and cisterns, time, speed and distance (average speed, relative speed, trains, boats) and mixtures by alligation.
Unit 5: Counting, probability and data
Permutations and combinations, circular arrangements, basic probability, data interpretation from tables and charts, and quick algebra and geometry formulas.
Unit 6: Analytical aptitude
Statements and conclusions, syllogisms with Venn diagrams, deduction vs induction, number series and letter coding with worked examples, blood relations, directions, seating arrangements, calendars and clocks.
Unit 7: Spatial aptitude
Rotation and mirror images, paper folding and cutting, counting shapes, cube facts, opposite faces in a cube net, and the painted-cube counting rule.
Unit 8: Most asked questions (practice)
Ten practice questions covering all four areas.
How to revise general aptitude with these notes
- Learn shortcuts, then use them. Successive change (a + b + ab/100), average speed for equal distances (2uv/(u + v)), circular arrangements ((n - 1)!) and the clock angle formula |30H - 5.5M| save a lot of time.
- Draw for logic questions. Use Venn diagrams for syllogisms, a family tree for blood relations and a compass sketch for direction questions, as the notes suggest.
- Practise under time. The notes suggest attempting GA first in the exam, in about 15 to 20 minutes. Train with a timer so you are not slow on the day.
- Do previous papers. The tip at the end of the notes advises solving the last five years of GATE GA papers, because question patterns repeat.
- Never leave easy marks. Verbal and spatial questions are usually quick, so attempt them all.
- Take timed tests. Use the free aptitude test and the Mettl-style aptitude practice test to check your speed after each unit.
Exam focus: high-weightage topics
GA questions are short, so every area matters. Based on the notes and their practice set, these topics deserve extra practice:
- Verbal: closest meaning of a word, and arranging jumbled sentences into a paragraph.
- Percentages and profit: marked price, discount and profit percentage questions.
- Time and work: two people working alternately.
- Speed: average speed for a round trip at two speeds.
- Counting: circular seating arrangements.
- Probability: two dice and the probability of a prime sum.
- Clocks: the angle between the hands at a given time.
- Logic: syllogisms and statement-conclusion questions.
- Spatial: choosing the cube that folds from a given net.
Typical questions
Examples from the practice set: "A shopkeeper marks 25% above cost and gives a 10% discount. Find the profit percent" and "Find the angle between the hands of a clock at 7:20". These are practice questions, not a prediction of any paper.
Who these notes are for
- GATE aspirants of every branch, since the GA section is common to all GATE papers.
- Final-year and pre-final-year students preparing for campus placement aptitude rounds, where percentages, time and work, speed, probability and logical reasoning are standard.
- First-year B.Tech and BCA students who want to start aptitude practice early.
Starting early helps because aptitude speed comes from regular practice over months, not from one week of cramming. Half an hour a day with these notes and a timed test is enough to build the habit.
For a full GATE plan, read the GATE CSE preparation strategy PDF. For placements, the 30-day placement preparation plan helps you fit aptitude practice around coding and interviews.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Taking the simple average of two speeds. For equal distances, use 2uv/(u + v), not (u + v)/2.
- Adding successive percentages. A rise of 10% and then 20% is a 32% rise, not 30%.
- Using n! for a round table. Circular arrangements of n people are (n - 1)!.
- Reading extra meaning into a passage. Answer only from what the passage says or clearly implies; be careful with options using "always", "never" or "only".
- Assuming a conclusion in syllogisms. "All A are B" and "Some B are C" does not give "Some A are C". Draw the diagram.
- Mixing up mirror and water images. In a mirror image left and right swap; in a water image top and bottom swap.
A simple 7-day revision plan
- Day 1: Units 1 and 2. Understand the GA pattern, then grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension.
- Day 2: Unit 3. Number basics, percentages, profit and loss, and interest.
- Day 3: Unit 4. Ratio, averages, time and work, speed and mixtures.
- Day 4: Unit 5. Permutations, probability, data interpretation, algebra and geometry formulas.
- Day 5: Unit 6. Logic, series, coding, blood relations, directions, calendars and clocks.
- Day 6: Unit 7. Spatial aptitude and cube nets, then the ten practice questions.
- Day 7: One full previous GATE GA section under exam time. Revise only the questions you got wrong.
Download General Aptitude Handwritten Notes PDF
General Aptitude Handwritten Notes PDF
The PDF carries the same content as this page in a clean, print-ready layout, so you can read it offline and keep it for revision.
7 pages · 303 KB · PDF · Updated 5 Nov 2026