GPAT Most Repeated Questions and Topics: Important MCQs for Exam Preparation

GPAT Most Repeated Questions and Topics: How we did this 5-Year Analysis

Please read this before using the numbers.

• Papers covered: GPAT 2021, 2022, 2023 (Shift 1 and Shift 2), 2024 and 2025, plus a 2026 memory-based recall. That is 754 questions in all.

• Not complete papers: the 2024 set has 124 questions, the 2025 set 115 and the 2026 set only 15. The 2025 and 2026 sets are memory-based, not official question papers. NBEMS does not publish official GPAT question papers, so every set here is a compiled or recalled version. Wording can differ from the real paper. 

• Counts: a topic count means a question whose text or answer matched that topic's keywords. 

• What "repeat" means here: we call a question a repeat only after reading both versions side by side.

Do GPAT Questions Repeat Word for Word?

Rarely. We found one exact repeat across papers: the question "How many optical isomers are possible for lactic acid?" This question appeared in GPAT 2023 Shift 1 and again in 2024.

Far more common is the same concept asked again with new wording. We confirmed these pairs by reading both questions:

If you only memorise answers, rewording catches you. If you understand the concept, these pairs are easy marks.

GPAT Most Repeated Questions and Topics

The table counts questions matching each topic's keywords across all 754 questions. "Sets" is the number of the six full papers (2021, 2022, 2023 Shift 1, 2023 Shift 2, 2024, 2025) in which the topic appeared at least once.

• Appears in all six papers: antibiotics, microbiology, pharmacognosy phytochemistry, spectroscopy, regulatory schedules, pharmacokinetics, stability and ICH, stereoisomerism, named reactions, dissolution and antidiabetic drugs. These are the safest topics to cover first.

• Swings by year: autonomic drugs have 20 matches overall (5 in 2021, 4 in 2022, 3 in 2023 Shift 1, 5 in 2023 Shift 2, 3 in the 15-question 2026 recall) but none in the 2024 and 2025 sets we have. Titrations had 6 matches in the 2025 recall but none in 2021 or 2023 Shift 1. A topic missing for a year is not a reason to skip it.

• Pharmacokinetics peaked once: 7 of its 14 matches come from 2023 Shift 1. Do not read that as a trend.

• Small counts: the 2026 recall has only 15 questions, so it adds little to any count.

GPAT High-Scoring Topics by subject

These follow directly from the table and the repeat pairs above.

1. Medicinal chemistry and organic chemistry: named reactions, stereoisomer counts and ring systems in drugs and alkaloids keep returning. Practise counting stereoisomers and drawing mechanisms.

2. Pharmaceutics: coating, rheology (dilatant, thixotropy), emulsions and HLB, micromeritics, dissolution apparatus and ICH climatic zones appear across papers.

3. Pharmacology: antibiotic classes, anticonvulsant mechanisms and drug interactions (such as clonidine with tricyclics).

4. Pharmacognosy: glycosides, alkaloids (strychnine, cinchona, rauwolfia), rancidity tests and adulterants.

5. Regulatory and research: schedules of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, clinical trial phases and NDA timing.

6. Analysis: UV and IR spectroscopy, Woodward–Fieser rules, chromatography calculations.

How to Use GPAT Most Repeated Questions and Topics Analysis

• Start with the six-of-six topics. Spend your first weeks on them.

• Solve past papers topic-wise, not just year-wise. Group questions on one concept and compare wordings, as we did above.

• Learn the reason behind each answer. Rewording is the usual way a repeat appears.

• Do not trust one answer key. Recall-based keys carry errors. Check an answer against a standard textbook before memorising it.

• Practise under exam conditions. With a −1 penalty, accuracy matters as much as coverage.

For papers and solutions, use the GPAT previous year question papers PDF. For books and subject lists, see GPAT study material.