The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) exam 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 (MoE), Government of India. It is considered to be one of the toughest examinations in the world.

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 (e.g. Master of Engineering, Master of Technology, Master of Architecture, Doctor of Philosophy) 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 (e.g. scholarships) 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 the GATE exam:

Bachelor's degree holders in Engineering / Technology / Architecture (3 years after 10+2/ 10+2+3(ongoing)/ 10+2+4(ongoing)/ Post-B.Sc./ Post-Diploma) and those who are in the final year of such programs ( Also prefinal year of B.tech). 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 final-year integrated master's degree programs (Post-B.Sc.) 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 (e.g. AMIE by IE(India), AMICE by the Institute of Civil Engineers (India)-ICE(I), AMIETE By IETE(India)) 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 the GATE exam.

Disciplines, structure, syllabus, and marking scheme

Disciplines At present (GATE 2027), the GATE exam is conducted in the following 30 disciplines. A candidate can select any one or two of these subjects relevant to their discipline.

GATE Paper CodeAerospace Engineering AEAgricultural Engineering AGArchitecture and Planning ARBiomedical BMBiotechnology BTCivil Engineering CEChemical Engineering CHComputer Science and Information Technology CSChemistry CYData Science and Artificial Intelligence DAElectronics and Communication Engineering ECElectrical Engineering EEEnvironmental Science and Engineering ESEcology and Evolution EYGeomatics Engineering GEGeology and Geophysics GGInstrumentation Engineering INMathematics MAMechanical Engineering MEMining EngineeringMNMetallurgical EngineeringMTNaval Architecture and Marine Engineering NMPetroleum Engineering PEPhysics PHProduction and Industrial Engineering PIRobotics and AutomationRAStatistics ST Engineering Sciences XE*Humanities and Social Sciences XH**Life Sciences XL*** The paper sections under XE*, XH** and XL*** are broader "catch all" type with specific sub-subjects defined by some dedicated codes as listed in the following table. The first section XE0 / XL0 / XH0 is compulsory and carries weightage as indicated; balance weightage is for the chosen specific sub-subject(s). Engineering Sciences (XE*) Paper Sections (XE0 and any 2 of XE1 to XE9) Code Life Sciences (XL***) Paper Sections (XL0 and any 2 of XL1 to XL5) CodeHumanities and Social Sciences (XH**) Paper Sections

(XH0 and any 1 of XH1 to XH6)CodeEngineering Mathematics (Compulsory 15%) XE0 Chemistry (Compulsory 25%) XL0Reasoning and Comprehension (Compulsory 25%) XH0Fluid mechanics XE1 Biochemistry XL1 Economics XH1Materials Science XE2 Botany XL2 English XH2Solid Mechanics XE3 Microbiology XL3 Linguistics XH3Thermodynamics XE4 Zoology XL4 Philosophy XH4Polymer Science and Engineering XE5 Food technology XL5Psychology XH5Food technology XE6 Sociology XH6Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences XE7 Energy Science XE8 Textile Engineering & Fiber Science XE9

Duration and examination type

The examination is 3 hours long, 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 (CBT) mode where the candidates are shown questions in a random sequence on a computer screen.

The questions consist of some Multiple Choice Questions or MCQs (four answer options out of which only ONE is correct, which has to be chosen). The remaining questions may be of Multiple Select Questions or MSQs (four answer options out of which ONE or MORE than ONE is/are correct, hence correct options need to be chosen) and/or Numerical Answer Type questions or NATs (answer is a real number, to be entered via an on-screen keypad and computer mouse).

Syllabus

Verbal Ability: English grammar, sentence completion, verbal analogies, word groups, instructions, critical reasoning and verbal deduction. Numerical Ability: Numerical computation, numerical estimation, numerical reasoning and data interpretation. Engineering Mathematics (not for all papers) Technical Ability: Technical questions related to the paper chosen

Questions and marking scheme The examination consists of a total of 65 questions, consisting of one-mark and two-mark questions. Out of 65 questions, 10 questions are from the General Aptitude section, testing verbal and numerical ability, and 55 questions are from the Technical section, with specifics related to 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 the Engineering Mathematics section will have a combined total of 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 (i.e. -0.33 for wrong one-mark answers and -0.66 for wrong two-mark 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 (AIR) 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 (CE, CS, EC, EE and ME):

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 (ij) of jth candidate in ith session, is given by

where,

Mij is the actual marks obtained by the jth candidate in the ith session, gt is the average marks of the top 0.1 % candidates in all sessions of that subject, Mgq is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks of all candidates in all sessions of that subject, ti is the average of marks of top 0.1 % candidates in the ith session of that subject, Miq is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks of all candidates in the ith session of that subject.

After evaluation of the answers, normalized marks based on the above formula will be calculated using the raw (actual) 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 (whose tests are conducted in a single session), the actual marks obtained by the candidates will be used in calculating the score.

Calculation of GATE Score for all subjects (single-session and multiple-session):

From GATE 2014 onward (and year 2014-15 of the 2-year validity period of GATE 2013 score), a candidate's GATE score is computed by the following new formula.GATE Score

where, S = Score (normalized) of a candidate, M = Marks obtained by a candidate ("normalized marks" in case of multiple-session subjects CE, CS, EC, EE and ME), Mq = Qualifying marks for general category candidates in that subject (usually 25 or μ + σ, whichever is higher), μ = Average (i.e. arithmetic mean) of marks of all candidates in that subject, σ = Standard deviation of marks of all candidates in that subject, t = Average marks of top 0.1 % candidates (for subjects with 10000 or more appeared candidates) or top 10 candidates (for subjects with less than 10000 appeared candidates), St = 900 = Score assigned to t, Sq = 350 = Score assigned to Mq.

Percentile:

A candidate's percentile denotes the percentage of candidates scoring lower than that particular candidate. It is calculated as:

Percentile = ( 1 - ) x 100%

Old formula

Till GATE 2012 (and year 2013-14 of the 2-year validity period of GATE 2013 score), the score was calculated using the formula:

GATE score =

where, m = Marks obtained by the candidate, a = Average of marks of all candidates who appeared in that subject, in that year, with marks less than zero converted to zero, S = Standard deviation of marks of all candidates who appeared in that subject, in that year, with marks less than zero converted to zero, ag = Global average of marks of all candidates who appeared across all subjects in current and past 5 years (i.e. 2010 to 2013 for GATE 2013), with marks less than zero converted to zero,