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.^[2]

From 2022, 2 new papers were introduced: GE (Geomatics Engineering) and NM (Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering).^[12]

The paper sections under XE*, XL** and XH*** are defined by some dedicated codes which are mentioned in the following table-

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 (CBT) 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 (four answer options out of which only ONE is correct, which has to be chosen). 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).^[2]

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 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 (Verbal and Numerical ability) 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 (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.

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:^[14]

Normalized mark (︿M_ij) of j^th candidate in i^th session, is given by

${\displaystyle {\hat {M}}_{ij}={\frac {{\bar {M}}_{t}^{g}-M_{q}^{g}}{M_{ti}-M_{iq}}}(M_{ij}-M_{iq})+M_{q}^{g}}$
where,

M_ij is the actual marks obtained by the j^th candidate in the i^th session,

M^g_t is the average marks of the top 0.1 % candidates in all sessions of that subject,

M^g_q is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks of all candidates in all sessions of that subject,

M_ti is the average of marks of top 0.1 % candidates in the i^th session of that subject,

M_iq is the sum of mean and standard deviation of marks of all candidates in the i^th 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.^[15]
${\displaystyle S=S_{q}+(S_{t}-S_{q}){\frac {M-M_{q}}{{\overline {M}}_{t}-M_{q}}}}$
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),

M_q = 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,

M_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),

S_t = 900 = Score assigned to M_t,

S_q = 350 = Score assigned to M_q.

Percentile:

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

Percentile = ( 1 - All India rank/ No. of candidates in that subject ) 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:^[16]

GATE score = ${\displaystyle 10(a_{g}+s_{g}{\frac {m-a}{S}})}$

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,

a_g = 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,

s_g = Global standard deviation 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.

Gate Statistics by Years

CSIR's JRF - GATE fellowship

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) introduced the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) - 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.^[44]

Stipend and tenure:

The fellowship amount is ₹125,000 (US$1,600) per month plus HRA (house rent allowance). In addition, contingency grant of ₹120,000 (US$1,500) per annum (calculated on pro-rata basis for fraction of a year) is also provided. On completion of 2 years as JRF - GATE, the fellowship may be upgraded to SRF (Senior Research Fellowship) - GATE and stipend may be increased to ₹228,000 (US$2,900) 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.^[44]

COAP

Common Offer Acceptance Portal (COAP) is an online portal that allows candidates clearing GATE to register and get call letters from various IITs and PSUs for interviews. After the declaration of GATE results, candidates must apply through COAP, as its the only platform from which you can book your seat in post graduate programs in various institutes like the IITs.

List of companies

Many companies have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with the GATE organizing committee, for using the GATE score as a screening tool for recruiting engineers at entry-level positions.

• Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.^[45]
• Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.^[46]
• Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.^[47][48]
• National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Ltd.^[49]
• Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd.^[50]
• Mazagon Dock Ltd.^[51]
• Gujarat State Electricity Corporation Ltd.^[52]
• Oil and Natural Gas Corporation^[53]
• Central Electronics Ltd. ^{[citation needed]}
• Coal India Ltd. ^{[citation needed]}
• National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. ^{[citation needed][54]}
• Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. ^{[citation needed]}
• THDC Ltd. ^{[citation needed]}
• Odisha Power Generation Corporation ^{[citation needed]}
• Ircon International Ltd. ^{[citation needed]}
• Bharat Broadband Network Limited^[55]
• National Highways Authority of India^[56]
• Airport Authority of India ^{[citation needed]}
• Delhi Metro Rail Corporation ^{[citation needed]}
• Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited ^{[citation needed]}
• West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company^[57]

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.

Examinations

• Fundamentals of Engineering Examination (FE exam)
• Principles and Practice of Engineering Examination (PE exam)
• Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
• Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT)
• Common Admission Test (CAT)
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL)
• International English Language Testing System (IELTS)
• All India Engineering/Architecture Entrance Examination (AIEEE)
• Joint Entrance Examination (JEE)

Institutes

• Indian Institute of Science
• Indian Institutes of Technology
• National Institutes of Technology
• Indian Institutes of Information Technology