Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering


The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is an entrance examination conducted in India for admission to technical postgraduate programs that tests the undergraduate subjects of engineering and sciences. GATE is conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science and seven Indian Institutes of Technology at Roorkee, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Chennai and Mumbai on behalf of the National Coordination Board – GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Government of India.
The GATE score of a candidate reflects the relative performance level of a candidate. The score is used for admissions to various post-graduate education programs in Indian higher education institutes, with financial assistance provided by MoE and other government agencies. GATE scores are also used by several Indian public sector undertakings for recruiting graduate engineers in entry-level positions. It is one of the most competitive examinations in India. GATE is also recognized by various institutes outside India, such as Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.

Financial assistance in post-graduate programs

The GATE is used as a requirement for financial assistance for a number of programs, though criteria differ by admitting institution. In December 2015, the University Grants Commission and MHRD announced that the scholarship for GATE-qualified master's degree students is increased by 56% from per month to per month.

Eligibility

The following students are eligible to take GATE:
  • Bachelor's degree holders in Engineering / Technology / Architecture / 10+2+4 and those who are in the final year of such programs.
  • Master's degree holders in any branch of Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Applications or equivalent and those who are in the final year of such programs.
  • Candidates in the second or
-year integrated master's degree programs in Engineering / Technology.
  • Candidates in the fourth or higher year of Five-year integrated master's degree programs or Dual Degree programs in Engineering / Technology.
  • Candidates with qualifications obtained through examinations conducted by professional societies recognized by UGC/AICTE, AMICE by the Institute of Civil Engineers -ICE, AMIETE By IETE) as equivalent to B.E./B.Tech.
  • A candidate who is currently studying in the 3rd or higher years of any undergraduate degree program OR has already completed any government approved degree program in
  • Engineering / Technology / Architecture / Science / Commerce / Arts is eligible to appear for GATE 2022 examination. Those who have completed section A or equivalent of such professional courses are also eligible.
There is no age limit criterion defined by the exam conducting authority to appear in GATE.

Disciplines, structure, syllabus, and marking scheme

Disciplines

At present, GATE is conducted in the following 30 disciplines. A candidate can select any one or two of these subjects relevant to his/her discipline.
From 2022, 2 new papers were introduced: GE and NM.
GATE PaperCode
Aerospace EngineeringAE
Instrumentation EngineeringIN
Agricultural EngineeringAG
MathematicsMA
Architecture and PlanningAR
BiomedicalBM
BiotechnologyBT
Civil EngineeringCE
Petroleum EngineeringPE
Chemical EngineeringCH
PhysicsPH
Computer Science and Information TechnologyCS
Production and Industrial EngineeringPI
ChemistryCY
Textile Engineering and Fiber ScienceTF
Electronics and Communication EngineeringEC
Engineering SciencesXE*
Mechanical EngineeringME
Electrical EngineeringEE
Life SciencesXL**
Environmental Science and EngineeringES
Humanities and Social SciencesXH***
Ecology and EvolutionEY
StatisticsST
Geology and GeophysicsGG
Geomatics EngineeringGE
Naval Architecture and Marine EngineeringNM
Data Science and Artificial IntelligenceDA
-

The paper sections under XE*, XL** and XH*** are defined by some dedicated codes which are mentioned in the following table-
* Engineering Sciences Paper Sections
Code** Life Sciences Paper Sections
CodeHumanities and Social Sciences Paper Sections
Code
Engineering Mathematics AChemistry PReasoning and Comprehension B1
Fluid MechanicsBBiochemistryQEconomicsC1
Materials ScienceCBotanyREnglishC2
Solid MechanicsDMicrobiologySLinguisticsC3
ThermodynamicsEZoologyTPhilosophyC4
Polymer Science and EngineeringFFood TechnologyUPsychologyC5
Food TechnologyGSociologyC6
Atmospheric and Oceanic SciencesH
Energy ScienceI

Duration and examination type

The examination is of 3 hours duration, and contains a total of 65 questions worth a maximum of 100 marks. The examination for all the papers is carried out in an online Computer Based Test mode where the candidates are shown the questions in a random sequence on a computer screen. The questions consist of some Multiple Choice Questions or MCQs. Remaining questions may be of Multiple Select Questions or MSQs and/or Numerical Answer Type questions or NATs.

Syllabus

Questions and marking scheme

The examination will consist of totally 65 questions, segregated as One-mark and Two-mark questions. Out of 65 questions, 10 questions will be from General Aptitude and 55 questions will be Technical, based on the Paper chosen. The General Aptitude section will have 5 One-mark questions and 5 Two-mark questions, accounting for about 15% of total marks. The Technical section and Engineering Mathematics section will combinedly have 25 One-mark questions and 30 Two-mark questions, accounting for about 85% of total marks. Further, all the sections may have some Multiple Choice Questions or MCQs, while remaining questions may be Multiple Select Questions or MSQs and/or Numerical Answer Type questions or NATs. The examination awards negative marks for wrong MCQ answers. Usually, 1/3rd of original marks will be deducted for wrong MCQ answers while there are no negative marks for MSQs and NATs. Also there is NO partial credit for MSQs and NATs.

Result and test score

GATE results are usually declared about one month after the examinations are over. The results show the total marks scored by a candidate, the GATE score, the all-India rank and the cut off marks for various categories in the candidate's paper. The score is valid for 3 years from the date of announcement of the GATE results. The score cards are issued only to qualified candidates.

Normalized GATE Score (new procedure)

Calculation of "normalized marks" for subjects held in multiple sessions :
From 2014 onward, examination for CE, CS, EC, ME and EE subjects is being held in multiple sessions. Hence, for these subjects, a suitable normalization is applied to take into account any variation in the difficulty levels of the question sets across different sessions. The normalization is done based on the fundamental assumption that "in all multi-session GATE papers, the distribution of abilities of candidates is the same across all the sessions". According to the GATE committee, this assumption is justified since "the number of candidates appearing in multi-session subjects in GATE 2014 is large and the procedure of allocation of session to candidates is random. Further it is also ensured that for the same multi-session subject, the number of candidates allotted in each session is of the same order of magnitude."
Based on the above, and considering various normalization methods, the committee arrived at the following formula for calculating the normalized marks, for CE, CS, EC, EE and ME subjects:
Normalized mark of jth candidate in ith session, is given by

where,
After evaluation of the answers, normalized marks based on the above formula will be calculated using the raw marks obtained by a candidate in the CE, CS, EC, EE or ME subject. The "score" will be calculated using these normalized marks. For all other subjects, the actual marks obtained by the candidates will be used in calculating the score.
Calculation of GATE Score for all subjects :
From GATE 2014 onward, a candidate's GATE score is computed by the following new formula.



where,
Percentile:
A candidate's percentile denotes the percentage of candidates scoring lower than that particular candidate. It is calculated as:
Percentile = x 100%

Old formula

Till GATE 2012, the score was calculated using the formula:
GATE score =
where,

Qualifying marks

The rules for qualifying marks have varied from year to year. The qualifying marks are different for different subjects as well as categories.
CategoryQualifying mark
General (GN)25 or 25+, whichever is higher.
Other backward classes (OBC)90% of general category's qualifying mark.
Scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST)2/3 of general category's qualifying mark.

Here μ is the average of marks of all candidates in the subject and σ is the standard deviation of all marks in that subject.
Usually, the general category's qualifying mark is in the 25 to 50 range.
The Government of India implemented reservations for other backward classes in college admissions and public sector job recruitment in the year 2008. Before that, all OBC candidates were included in the "general" category. There was no separate OBC category then.

Statistics

Sources:
The following line chart shows the number of candidates registered, appeared, and qualified.


YearRegisteredAppearedQualifiedPercentage of appeared that qualifiedReference
2006184,308170,25233,81319.86%
2007168,917153,82244,38728.86%
2008184,672166,02731,69419.09%
2009230,341212,13035,27316.63%
2010460,541420,59659,85314.23%
2011612,568558,48096,23917.23%
2012777,134686,614108,52615.81%
20131,200,728984,855136,69913.88%
20141,033,625889,156149,69416.84%
2015927,580804,463121,060
15.05%
2016971,831818,850135,39216.53%
2017922,167787,148129,14916.00%
2018934,461781,854132,24516.91%
2019927,616770,681140,95518.28%
2020858,890685,088129,000*18.80%
2021882,684711,542126,81317.82%
2022845,432597,030112,67818.87%
2023670,000*517,000*93,000*18.00*%
2024826,239653,29212926819.78%
2025936,019747,31914180218.97%

* Precise figures unavailable right now.
The following line chart shows the variation of the number of candidates appeared in the 5 subjects with the largest numbers of appeared candidates, since GATE 2010:


YearElectronics and Communication EngineeringComputer Science and Information TechnologyMechanical EngineeringElectrical EngineeringCivil EngineeringOthersTotalReference
2010104,291107,08659,33852,24619,406About 72,000*About 415,000*
2011137,853136,02781,17572,68029,347About 96,000*About 553,000*
2012176,944156,780112,320110,12536,15694,289686,614
2013256,135224,160165,814152,38167,472118,893984,855
2014216,367155,190185,578141,79990,87299,350889,156
2015172,714115,425185,758125,851101,429103,286804,463
2016183,152131,803234,727146,293118,1474728818,850
2017152,318108,495197,789125,859119,87382814787,148
2018125,870107,893194,496121,383153,078
202254,29277,25789,56769,734100,043597,030
202345,83375,67963,48955,29283,187
202463,092123,96765,54659,59985,869255,219653,292
202581,475170,82562,01567,70179,951

* Precise figures unavailable right now.

Gate Statistics by Years

GATE 2013 statistics----


GATE 2014 statistics---

A total of 1,033,625 candidates registered, of which 889,156 candidates appeared for the exam. Out of the total candidates registered, 30.17% were female candidates while the rest were male candidates and others.


Out of the registered candidates, 86% of the Male and 85% of the Female registrants appeared for the examination. In terms of the number of candidates, the five largest papers were: Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, Electrical Engineering and Civil Engineering. Examination for all these papers was conducted in multi-session mode. A suitable normalization method was followed for these papers.

GATE 2015 statistics----





A total of 927,580 candidates had registered for GATE 2015 and 804,463 candidates have appeared for the examination. Out of the total registered candidates, 567,111 of the Male and 237,235 of the Female registrants appeared for the examination. In terms of the number of candidates appeared, the five largest papers are: Electronics and Communication Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology, Electrical Engineering and Civil Engineering.

Admission to post-graduate programs

Unlike undergraduate admissions in India, candidates must apply individually to each institute after the institute has published its M.Tech. notification. There is no separate counselling held. For admissions in NITs and IIITs, CCMT is held every year and the notification is released around April of each year.
Some institutions specify GATE qualification as mandatory even for admission of self-financing students to postgraduate programs. GATE qualified candidates are also eligible for the award of Junior Research Fellowship in CSIR Laboratories and CSIR sponsored projects. Top rank holders in some GATE papers are entitled to apply for "Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Fellowship" awarded by CSIR. Some government organizations prescribe GATE qualification as a requirement for applying to the post of a Scientist/Engineer.
In recent years, various academics have recognized GATE as being one of the toughest exams in its category. Some non-Indian universities like the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and some technical universities in Germany also identify GATE score as a parameter for judging the quality of the candidates for admission into their Masters and Ph.D. programs.
Most Indian institutes do not specify cut-off marks for previous years. But in the recent years IIT Kharagpur and IIT Guwahati have been specifying last year cut-off mark list. Typically the Indian Institute of Science and Indian Institutes of Technology are the most selective followed by BITS Pilani, National Institutes of Technology and others. Even within the top institutes, the selection criteria varies widely across departments and programs depending on expertise areas.

CSIR's JRF - GATE fellowship

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research introduced the Junior Research Fellowship - GATE scheme in 2002 to allow GATE-qualified engineering graduates and GPAT-qualified pharmaceutical graduates to pursue research through suitable Ph.D. programs at CSIR laboratories.
Stipend and tenure:
The fellowship amount is per month plus HRA. In addition, contingency grant of per annum is also provided. On completion of 2 years as JRF - GATE, the fellowship may be upgraded to SRF - GATE and stipend may be increased to per month in the subsequent years, on the basis of assessment of CSIR JRF-NET guidelines.
The total duration of the fellowship is 5 years, within which the candidate is expected to complete the Ph.D. degree.

Recruitment

Public sector undertakings in India, for long, have had troubles conducting their recruitment processes with more than 100,000 students taking the exams for less than 1000 jobs. After sensing the exponential rise in the number of engineering graduates in India who wish to get a PSU job, the PSUs have decided that a GATE score shall be the primary criteria for initial shortlisting. This change was the primary cause for the rapid increase in applicants for GATE 2012.
Indian Oil Corporation was the first PSU which successfully tested out this system and was followed two years later by National Thermal Power Corporation, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bharat Electronics & PowerGrid Corporation of India.
Usually these companies release their recruitment notifications right after GATE notification, indicating that candidates have to take GATE to be considered for a job in their organizations.

List of companies

Many companies have signed Memorandums of Understanding with the GATE organizing committee, for using the GATE score as a screening tool for recruiting engineers at entry-level positions.
The syllabus for the GATE exam and its preparation remains the same, irrespective of whether one is applying for a job at a PSU or seeking admission for post-graduation in engineering.

Changes in recent years

YearChangesReference
2009
  • The Information Technology and Computer Science tests were merged into a single Computer Science and Information Technology test.
  • The GATE score was valid only for one year but later the GATE committee made it valid for two years in 2010.
2010Pharmacy was no longer a GATE subject, with the Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test as the replacement.
  • The Biotechnology section of the Engineering Sciences GATE paper had been removed and a separate Biotechnology test was started.
  • An additional section of General Aptitude was introduced in GATE. Ten questions carrying 15 marks make up this section of the GATE Exam.
    • 2011
  • Based on a trouble-free pilot project in 2010, four of the GATE papers in GATE 2011 were run using computer-based online mode. The four online papers for 2011 were Aerospace Engineering, Geology and Geophysics, Mining Engineering and Textile Engineering and Fiber Science.
  • GATE was held in the morning session for some papers and afternoon session for others. Also, the computer-based tests were held on a different date.
    • 2012
  • Only final year students and passed-out candidates were declared eligible to take GATE. Pre-final year B.E./B.Tech. students, who were eligible till 2011, were no longer eligible.
  • The application process was made completely online. Candidates could view their responses to the ORS and also GATE Office released official solutions for GATE papers.
  • The admit card was made downloadable from the application website. Sending admit cards by post was discontinued.
  • The exam mode was changed from paper-based to "online" for 2 additional subjects: Agricultural Engineering and Architecture and Planning.
  • The use of pencils to darken the bubbles in the answer sheet was discontinued. Candidates could use only black ink ballpoint pens for darkening of the bubbles in the answer sheet.
    • 2013
  • Female candidates were exempted from paying the application fee.
  • Candidates were required to upload a scanned copy of photograph and signature. Print-out of the completed application form was to be mailed to the institute by post.
  • The application fee was increased from 1000 to 1200.
  • The GATE score formula was changed. Scores calculated using the old formula were effective during the year 2013–14. Scores calculated using the new formula were effective during the year 2014–15.
    • 2014
  • A new subject of Ecology and Evolution was introduced.
  • Examinations for all 22 subjects were conducted by an online Computer-Based Test. The online examination contained some questions for which numerical answers must be keyed in by the candidate using the "virtual" keypad. The rest of the questions were of Multiple Choice Question type.
  • Female candidates were required to pay some fee for application, a change introduced due to many raising complaints about a large portion of female candidates who registered but did not appear for the exam in 2013.
  • Application fee was increased from 1200 to 1500 for general category, OBC male/other candidates, and 750 for all female candidates and SC, ST male/other candidates.
  • GATE score's validity is increased from 2 years to 3 years.
  • Examinations were held during forenoon and afternoon sessions on alternate weekends between 1 February 2014 and 2 March 2014. Examination for the subjects ME, EE, EC, and CS was held in multiple sessions due to the large numbers of registered candidates.
    • 2015
  • The entire application process is made online. All required documents have to be scanned and uploaded on the online application system. Candidates no longer have to send anything by post.
  • Printed scorecards are no longer sent to candidates. Only a digital scorecard can be downloaded by qualified candidates from the official GATE website.
    • 2016
  • Candidates are not permitted to bring their own calculators. An online virtual calculator will be available during the examination.
  • The syllabus has been revised for some subjects.
  • A new subject of Petroleum Engineering has been introduced.
  • After completion of all test sessions, an Answer Key will be provided for candidates to check. Candidates can challenge the GATE 2016 Answer Key on a nominal fee for a specified time period.
    • 2017
  • A New Section has been introduced in the Engineering Sciences Paper. This section is the Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences.
  • International students from countries namely Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and United Arab Emirates are now eligible to apply for GATE 2017.
    • 2018
  • While choosing the exam centers for GATE 2018, the candidates will have to select their first two choices from the same GATE zone. The third choice can be from any other GATE zone.
  • Candidates are not required to upload the scanned image of their thumb impression while filling the GATE online application.
  • GATE will be held across 200 cities in India.
  • GATE 2018 will also be held in the following international cities- Addis Ababa, Colombo, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Dubai, and Singapore.
    • 2019
  • GATE 2019 introduces a new paper "Statistics" with a code of "ST".
  • Candidates who fail to apply by 21 September 2018 can still apply till 1 October 2018 by paying a late fee of 500. The late fee in the case of foreign centers is US$20.
    • 2020
  • GATE 2020 introduces a new paper "Biomedical Engineering" with a code of "BM".
    • 2021
  • Two new subjects - Environmental Science and Engineering and Humanities and Social Science have also been added to the GATE exam 2021.
  • There was a relaxation in minimum eligibility for applying to GATE 2021 due to the COVID-19 situation. As per the announcement, candidates in their third year of undergraduate degree would be eligible for GATE 2021.
    • 2022
  • Two new subjects - Geomatics Engineering and Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering were added to the GATE exam 2022.
    • 2024
  • GATE 2024 introduced a new paper Data Science and Artificial Intelligence.

    • Year and Organizing Institute

    Each year's GATE is organized by any one of 8 institutes: IISc and 7 IITs. The overall coordination and responsibility of conducting GATE lies with this institute, which is designated as the Organizing Institute for GATE of that year. GATE coaching institutes often make speculations regarding the topics to focus upon depending upon the institute that is the OI of that year.
    InstituteGATE editions organized
    Indian Institute of Science1984, 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, 2016, 2024.
    Indian Institute of Technology, Madras1983, 1985, 1991, 1997, 2003, 2011, 2019, 2027.
    Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi1986, 1992, 1998, 2004, 2012, 2020, 2028.
    Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay1987, 1993, 1999, 2005, 2013, 2021, 2029.
    Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur1988, 1994, 2000, 2006, 2014, 2022, 2030.
    Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur1989, 1995, 2001, 2007, 2015, 2023.
    Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee2009, 2017, 2025.
    Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati2010, 2018, 2026.

    Examinations

    Institutes