Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a national-level examination that primarily tests the comprehensive understanding of various undergraduate subjects in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Science/ Commerce/ Arts/ Humanities. The examination is conducted by IISc Bengaluru and seven IITs (IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkee), on behalf of the National Coordination Board - GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India (GoI).

Who Can Apply for GATE Exam 2026?

Candidates who are currently studying in the 3rd or higher years of any undergraduate degree program or who have completed any government approved degree program in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Science/ Commerce/ Arts/ Humanities are eligible to appear for GATE 2026.

(I) Bachelor's Degree Holders: Candidates with a Bachelor's degree in Engineering/Technology (4 years after 10+2 or 3 years after B.Sc./Diploma in Engineering/Technology) are eligible to apply.

(II) Master's Degree Holders: Candidates with a Master's degree in any branch of Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Applications or equivalent can also apply.

(III) Final Year Students: Candidates in the final year of their qualifying degree in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Science/ Commerce/ Arts/ Humanities are also eligible to apply.

(IV) Third Year Students: Candidates in the pre final year/ 3^rd year of their qualifying degree in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture/ Science/ Commerce/ Arts/ Humanities are also eligible to apply.

(V) International Candidates: Candidates from countries other than India can also apply based on specific guidelines.

 

GATE 2026 Notification

GATE 2026 notification will be released by IIT Guwahati and the official detailed advertisement can be also downloaded from the official Gate 2026 IIT Guwahati website.

Particulars	Details
GATE Full Form	Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering (GATE)
GATE Conducting Authority	IIT Guwahati
GATE Total No. of Papers	30
GATE Official Website	To be announced

GATE Exam 2026: Important Dates

 

Particulars	Dates
GATE 2026 Notification Release Date	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Starting Date of Application	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Last Date of Application	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Registration Ends (with late Fees)	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Correction of Applied Forms	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Admit Card Release Date	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Exam Date	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Response Sheet	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Answer Key Release Date	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Answer Key Challenge	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Result Date	Update Soon
GATE 2026 Score Card Availability	Update Soon

GATE Exam 2026: Educational Qualifications

Degree / Program	Qualifying Degree / Examination	Description of Eligible Candidates
B.E. / B.Tech. / B. Pharm.	Bachelor’s degree in Engineering / Technology (4 years after 10+2 or 3 years after B.Sc. / Diploma in Engineering / Technology)	Currently in the 3rd year or higher or already completed
B. Arch.	Bachelor’s degree of Architecture (5-year course) / Naval Architecture (4-year course) / Planning (4-year course)	Currently in the 3rd year or higher or already completed
B.Sc. (Research) / B.S.	Bachelor’s degree in Science (Post-Diploma / 4 years after 10+2)	Currently in the 3rd year or higher or already completed
Pharm. D.(after 10+2)	6 years degree program, consisting of internship or residency training, during third year onwards	Currently in the 3rd/ 4th/ 5th/ 6th year or already completed
M.B.B.S. / B.D.S. / B.V.Sc.	Degree holders of M.B.B.S. / B.D.S. / B.V.Sc and those who are in the 5th/ 6th / 7th semester or higher semester of such programme.	5th/ 6th/ 7th or higher semester or already completed
M. Sc. / M.A. / MCA or equivalent	Master’s degree in any branch of Arts / Science / Mathematics / Statistics / Computer Applications or equivalent	Currently in the first year or higher or already Completed
Int. M.E. / M.Tech.(Post-B.Sc.)	Post-B.Sc Integrated Master’s degree programs in Engineering / Technology (4-year program)	Currently in the 1st/ 2nd/ 3rd/ 4th year or already completed
Int. M.E. / M.Tech. / M.Pharm or Dual Degree (after Diploma or 10+2)	Integrated Master’s degree program or Dual Degree program in Engineering / Technology (5-year program)	Currently in the 3rd/ 4th/ 5th year or already completed
B.Sc. / B.A. / B.Com.	Bachelor degree in any branch of Science / Arts / Commerce (3 year program)	Currently in the 3rd year or already completed
Int. M.Sc. / Int. B.S. / M.S.	Integrated M.Sc. or 5-year integrated B.S.- M.S. program	Currently in the 3rd year or higher or already completed
Professional Society Examinations (equivalent to B.E. / B.Tech. / B.Arch.)	B.E. / B.Tech. / B.Arch. equivalent examinations of Professional Societies, recognized by MoE / UPSC / AICTE (e.g. AMIE by Institution of Engineers-India, AMICE by the Institute of Civil Engineers-India and so on)	Completed Section A or equivalent of such professional courses
B.Sc. (Agriculture, Horticulture, Forestry)	4-years program	Currently in the 3rd/ 4th year or already completed

 

Age limits for GATE 2026: 

According to latest pattern of GATE exam, there will be NO age limit to appear for GATE 2026.

Number of Attempts for GATE 2026:

There is no bar/limit for the number of attempts for a candidate to appear for GATE Exam.

How can we use GATE Score Card? 

1. Several Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have used GATE score to shortlist the candidates for employment. A few such organizations are: Airports Authority of India (AAI), Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Coal India Limited (CIL), Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), Chenab Valley Power Projects Limited (CVPPL), Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Engineers India Limited (EIL), Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL), Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL), National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), NLC India Limited (NLCIL), National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Odisha Power Generation Corporation Limited (OPGC), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID), Power System Operation Corporation Limited (POSOCO), Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), etc.
2. Direct recruitment to Group-A level posts in central government, i.e., Senior Field Officer (Tele), Senior Research Officer (Crypto) and Senior Research Officer (S&T) in Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, is now being carried out on the basis of GATE score. The details of the scheme of recruitment are normally published in National Newspapers/ Employment News/ Rozgar Samachar by the concerned authority.

 

3. Qualifying in GATE is a mandatory requirement for seeking admission and/or financial assistance to:

(i) Master’s programs and direct Doctoral programs in Engineering/ Technology/ Architecture and

(ii) Doctoral programs in relevant branches of Arts and Science, in the institutions supported by the MoE and other Government agencies. Even in some colleges and institutions, which admit students without MoE scholarship/ assistantship, the GATE qualification is mandatory. Further, many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have been using the GATE score in their recruitment process.

 

GATE 2026 Exam Pattern: - 

All test papers of the GATE 2026 examination will be of 3 hours duration (4 hours in case of candidates availing compensatory time), consisting of 65 questions for a total of 100 marks. After the examination duration has elapsed, the examination will terminate automatically.

GATE 2026
FEATURES	DESCRIPTION
Exam Name	GATE
Duration	3 hours
Exam mode	Single-paper Computer-Based Test(CBT)
Type of questions	Multiple choice questions (MCQ) Multiple select questions (MSQ) Numerical Answer type (NAT)
No. of questions	65
Total Marks	100
GATE Section-wise Number of Questions	General Aptitude- 10 questions, Core Discipline- 55 questions
GATE Section-wise Weightage	General Aptitude- 15 marks,   Core Discipline- 85 marks
Marking Scheme	Each correct answer in the exam will be awarded either 1 or 2 marks.
GATE Negative Marking	For 1 mark MCQ, 1/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer; For 2-mark MCQ, 2/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer; No negative marking for MSQs and NATs

Types of Questions & Marking Scheme:

GATE 2026 test papers contain three types of questions:

 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs);

 Multiple Select Questions (MSQs); and

Numerical Answer Type (NAT).

 

1. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) carry 1 or 2 marks each, in all the papers and sections. These questions are objective in nature, and each will have choice of four answers, out of which ONLY ONE choice is correct.

 

Negative Marking for Wrong Answers: There will be negative marking for a wrong chosen answer in MCQ. For 1-mark MCQ, 1/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer. Likewise, for 2-mark MCQ, 2/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer.

 

2. Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) carry 1 or 2 marks each. Each MSQ will have choice of four answers, out of which ONE or MORE than ONE choice(s) is / are correct.

 

There is NO negative marking for a wrong answer in MSQ. However, there is NO partial credit for
choosing partially correct combinations of choices or any single wrong choice.

 

3. Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions carry 1 or 2 marks each. For NAT questions, the answer is a signed real number, which must be entered by the candidate using the virtual numeric keypad on the monitor (keyboard of the computer will be disabled). No choices will be shown for these types of questions. The answer can be a number such as 10 or -10 (an integer only). The answer may be in decimals as well, for example,10.1 (one decimal) or 10.01 (two decimals) or -10.001 (three decimals). The stem of the NAT question will indicate the number of decimal places that must be specified in the
   answer. Candidates are advised to round-off only at the end of the calculation and not at intermediate stages of the calculation.

 

                    There is NO negative marking for a wrong answer in NAT questions. Also, there is NO partial credit in NAT
                    questions.            

 

GATE Cut-Offs (Year: 2025)

 

Branch	CATEGORY
	GEN	OBC/EWS	SC/ST/PWD
CS
EC
EE
CE
ME
IN
XE
CH

 

GATE 2026 Score Card Validity

The GATE score obtained by the candidates will remain valid for a period of THREE years from the date of announcement of results. No information of GATE 2026 score will be available after this period.

GATE 2026 TEST PAPERS

GATE 2026 will be conducted for 30 test papers. The following table shows the list of papers with codes.

TEST PAPER	CODE
Aerospace Engineering	AE
Agricultural Engineering	AG
Architecture and Planning	AR
Bio-medical Engineering	BM
Biotechnology	BT
Civil Engineering	CE
Chemical Engineering	CH
Computer Science and Information Technology	CS
Chemistry	CY
Data Science and Artificial Intelligence	DA
Electronics and Communication Engineering	EC
Electrical Engineering	EE
Environmental Science and Engineering	ES
Ecology and Evolution	EY
Geomatics Engineering	GE
Geology and Geophysics	GG
Instrumentation Engineering	IN
Mathematics	MA
Mechanical Engineering	ME
Mining Engineering	MN
Metallurgical Engineering	MT
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering	NM
Petroleum Engineering	PE
Physics	PH
Production and Industrial Engineering	PI
Statistics	ST
Textile Engineering and Fibre Science	TF
Engineering Sciences	XE
Humanities and Social Sciences	XH
Life Sciences	XL

GATE 2026 TWO PAPER COMBINATION

According to latest GATE exam trend the two paper combination are given below. Consider the table to know 2^nd paper choice according to your selected 1^st paper choice.

Code of the First Paper	Code of the Second Paper	Code of the First Paper	Code of the Second Paper
AE	GE, CE, ME, XE	GE	AR, CE, CS, ES, GG, MN, XE, AE, DA
AG	XE, CE	GG	GE, AR, MN, XE
AR	CE, GE, GG, XE	IN	BM, EC, EE, ME, DA
BM	BT, IN, DA, EE, XE	MA	CS, DA, PH, ST, EY
BT	BM, XL, ES, EY, CS, DA	ME	AE, DA, IN, NM, PI, XE, CS
CE	AE, AG, AR, ES, GE, NM, XE, DA, TF, EE	MT	XE, PI, DA
CH	ES, PE, XE, CY, XL, DA	NM	CE, ME, XE
CS	DA, EC, GE, MA, PH, ST, XE, BT, EE, ME	PE	CH, XE
CY	XE, XL, CH, XH	PH	CS, DA, EC, EE, MA, XE, XL
DA	CS, EC, EE, MA, ME, PH, ST, XE, BM, CE, IN, CH, MT, BT, XH, GE	PI	ME, XE, AG, AR, BM, MT
EC	CS, DA, EE, IN, PH, XL	ST	CS, DA, MA, XH
EE	DA, EC, IN, PH, BM,XL,CS,CE	XE	AE, CE, CH, CY, DA, ME, MT, PH, PI, AG, AR,BM, CS, GE, GG, NM, PE, TF
ES	CE, CH, GE, BT, EY	XH	ST, DA, CY
EY	XL, BT, MA, ES	XL	BT, CY, EY, CH, EE, PH, EC
TF	XE,CE	MN	GE, GG

 

GATE 2026: Application Fee

According to latest GATE exam pattern the registration fees for one paper is given below in the table. Candidate who wants to apply for 2 papers have to pay fees twice.

Category	Regular fees(Rs.)	Late fee(Rs.)
Female/SC/ST/PWD candidates (per test paper)	900	1400
All other candidates including foreign nationals (per test paper)	1800	2300

 

How to apply for GATE Exam 2026?

1. Go to the GOAPS (Gate online application processing system) portal on the official website.
2. Register using a valid email address (ONLY ONE PERSON CAN REGISTER WITH ONE e-mail address) and mobile number.
3. Create a password and generate an Enrolment ID.
4. Log in to the GOAPS 2026 portal using your Enrolment ID and password.
5. Fill out the application form.
6. Upload required documents.
7. Pay the application fee.
8. Preview and confirm the declaration.
9. Submit the application.

 

Documents Required
 

• Candidates MUST upload pdf file of any one of the following valid photo identity (ID): Aadhaar-UID (preferable), Aadhaar Virtual ID, Government issued ID, Passport, PAN Card, Voter ID and Driving License.
  For international candidates, ONLY a valid Passport/ Government issued ID/ Driving License will be accepted as the recognised identification document.
• Candidates who belong to SC or ST category have to upload a valid documentary proof (for availing concession in application fee). OBC-NCL and EWS candidates are not required to submit/upload any category certificate while filling the online application form.
• In order to avail the application fee concession under the Person with Disability (PwD) category, the candidates should attach a recently obtained and proper PwD certificate issued by the competent authority. Benefit would be given to those who have benchmark disability i.e., not less than 40% impairment irrespective of the type of disability. The same document is required to be submitted to the admitting institution at the time of admission.
• GATE 2026 application requires that candidate’s photograph and signature are to be uploaded electronically at GOAPS.

 

Preparation Strategies for GATE 2026

Now a day’s lot of material and courses available in market for GATE preparation but there is no proper plan provided to student for covering complete syllabus and cracking the exam. Student are worried about planning and preparation strategy. To resolve this problem here are some tips to help student to start their GATE Preparation more effectively:

1. Know the Detailed Syllabus and prepare according to Requirement.
2. Before starting get an idea about the GATE Exam Pattern and practice and learn accordingly.
3. Develop a Solid & feasible Study Plan.
4. Start As Soon As Possible without wasting much time and without roaming here and there.
5. Make Complete as well as Short Notes from the Beginning.
6. Solve PYQ’s and Practice Question as much as possible.
7. Choose authentic course like ENGINEERS ACADEMY to study and complete the syllabus on time with best quality and affordable content.
8. The most important factor Stay Consistent and Motivated throughout the prepration.