GATE 2026 Exam Pattern is available online. This year a new sectional paper has been added. Students must check complete pattern to make themselves aware about the exam mode, marking & other details. Exam will be conducted on 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th February 2026 via CBT mode.
Official GATE 2026 Exam Pattern is uploaded on the website >>
GATE 2026 Exam Pattern – New Sectional Paper Added (XE -I)
In GATE 2026, A new sectional paper on Energy Science (XE-I) is being introduced in Engineering Science (XE) paper. Check below for complete pattern.
GATE 2026 exam is going to be organised by IIT Guwahati. The exam will be conducted for 30 papers/ subjects. Last year, two paper combination List was added.
The exam pattern of GATE 2026 also discusses about the number of questions, its type, number of sections, papers, time duration, etc.
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Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is conducted for admission to M.E./ M.Tech/ Direct Ph.D programmes in IITs, NITs, CFTI and various private institutions. Students can check below complete & updated GATE Exam Pattern 2026 details.
GATE 2026 Paper Pattern Overview:
| Particulars | Details |
| Mode of Examination | The test papers will be in English. Computer Based Test (CBT) [will be conducted at select- centres in select cities]. |
| Duration | 3 Hours* |
| Number of Subjects (Papers) | 30 |
| Sections | General Aptitude (GA) + Candidate’s Selected Subjects |
| Type of Questions | Candidate’s Selected Subject (s)
|
*Note: Compensatory time provided to PWD candidates.
GATE 2026 Exam Pattern
Students can check here information related to GATE 2026 exam pattern:
- The examination of GATE 2026 will be conducted for 30 papers (1 new sectional subject added). It is conducted via online mode only (Computer Based Test).
- Exam Duration: Paper will be of 3 hours.
- The exam tests candidates various abilities – Recall, Application, Comprehension, Analysis & Synthesis.
- GATE 2026 will be organised on 7th, 8th, 14th and 15th February 2026.
- Question Type: The question paper of GATE 2026 will consist of both Multiple – Choice Questions (MCQs), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) and Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions.
- For multiple choice questions, there will be multiple options available out of which students have to choose only the right answer.
- For multiple select questions, one or more than one options out of four will be correct.
- For numerical answer type questions, candidates will have to enter a number using the virtual keyword available on the computer screen during the examination.
- Number of Questions: The question paper of GATE will contain 65 questions [10 (GA)+ 55 (Subjects)] of maximum 100 marks.
- No of Sections: The questions will be divided in two sections – Common General Aptitude – GA (for all subjects/ papers) & Core subjects. The core subjects will have two types of questions – Compulsory & Optional.
- GATE will be also conducted in International centres and the session timings at as per their local time.
Also Check: What are the Best Books for GATE 2026 Preparation?
Changes In GATE Exam Pattern
We have discussed various changes which have been introduced in GATE exam in the past years:
- This year in GATE 2026, IIT Guwahati has announced addition of new sectional paper on Energy Science (XE-I) in Engineering Science (XE) paper.
- Last year, GATE 2025 saw no new addition of paper. For creating an opportunity in the inter- disciplinary areas, candidates were provided with the option of appearing for more than one subject. Students appeared for ONE or TWO subjects in the GATE exam. However, the option of two subjects was applicable only for a prescribed set of combinations.
- In 2024, authority added one paper – Data Science & Artificial Intelligence (DA).
- In the year 2022, two subjects were added – Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering (NM), and Geomatics Engineering (GE) were added.
- GATE 2021 saw addition of two subjects – Environmental Science & Engineering (ES) and Humanities & Social Sciences (XH).
- In GATE 2020, Bio-medical Engineering (BM) subject was added in the syllabus of GATE.
Know About: GATE Examination Day Guidelines
GATE 2026 Paper Wise Codes
Check the GATE paper and paper codes from the below table. Know about the newly added papers & their paper codes:
| Paper | Paper Code | Paper | Paper Code |
| Aerospace Engineering | AE | Geology and Geophysics | GG |
| Agricultural Engineering | AG | Instrumentation Engineering | IN |
| Architecture and Planning | AR | Mathematics | MA |
| Biotechnology | BT | Mechanical Engineering | ME |
| Bio-medical Engineering | BM | Mining Engineering | MN |
| Civil Engineering | CE | Metallurgical Engineering | MT |
| Chemical Engineering | CH | Petroleum Engineering | PE |
| Computer Science and Information Technology | CS | Physics | PH |
| Chemistry | CY | Production and Industrial Engineering | PI |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | EC | Textile Engineering and Fiber Science | TF |
| Electrical Engineering | EE | Engineering Sciences | XE |
| Environmental Science & Engineering | ES | Humanities & Social Sciences | XH |
| Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering | NM | Geomatics Engineering | GE |
| Ecology and Evolution | EY | Life Sciences | XL |
| Statistics | ST | Data Science & Artificial Intelligence | DA |
What Is Two Paper Combination In GATE ?
Last year, Two paper combination scheme was introduced in GATE 2025 pattern. Under this, students were able to choose a primary and secondary paper in same exam cycle. A list is provided among which students are allowed to make choice of two different subjects.
Click here to view combination list (2015).
Exam Pattern In GATE Papers
- In all the papers except CY, DA, EY, GG, MA, PH, AR, ST, XH and XL, Engineering Mathematics carries 13 marks, General Aptitude section will contain 15 marks, subject questions contains 72 marks, making it total 100 marks (XE includes Engineering mathematics section XE-A of 15 marks).
- In the papers CY, DA, EY, GG, MA, PH, AR, ST, XH and XL, General Aptitude section carries 15 marks and subject questions will carry 85 marks, making it total 100 marks.
- In the paper of AR, General Aptitude section will carry 15 marks. Paper will consist of two parts – Part A (60) & Part B (25) marks. Part A is compulsory for all candidates & Part B contains optional section. Part B1 (Architecture) & Part B2 (Planning).
- The General Aptitude section 5 questions of 1 Mark and 5 questions of 2 marks.
- Question paper other than GG, XE and XL contain 25 questions of 1 mark and 30 questions of 2 marks.
Paper Wise Marks Distribution:
Check below table for paper wise marks distribution for various sections, total marks & timing:
| Paper Code | General Aptitude (GA) Marks | Subject (Optional section) | Subject (Compulsory section) | Total Marks | Time |
| AE, BT, AG, CH, CE, CS, EE, EC, ES, IN, MN, ME, NM, PE, MT, PI, TF, BM | 15 | – | 85 | 100 | 180 minutes |
| CY, EY, DA, MA, ST, PH | 15 | – | 85 | 100 | 180 minutes |
| GE: (Part A is common & compulsory B1 & B2 can be selected during exam B1 – Surveying & mapping or | 15 | 55 | 30 | 100 | 180 |
| AR (Part A is common & compulsory B1 & B2 can be selected during exam B1 – Architecture or | 15 | 60 | 25 | 100 | 180 minutes |
| GG: (Part A is common & compulsory Part B1/ B2 must be chosen at the time of application Part B1 – Geology (B1) or | 15 | 25 | 60 | 100 | 180 |
| XE: Section A (Engineering Mathematics) is common & compulsory Applicants must select any two of the other sections during exam | 15 | 15 | (2×35) | 100 | 180 minutes |
| XL: Section P (Chemistry) is common & compulsory Applicants must select any two of the other sections during exam | 15 | 25 | (2×30) | 100 | 180 minutes |
| XH: Section B1 (Reasoning and Comprehension) is common and compulsory Applicants must select any ONE of the other sections during at the time of application | 15 | 25 | 60 | 100 | 180 minutes |
Also Check:
For XH Paper:
Candidate appearing for XH (Humanities & Social Sciences) paper, will have to attempt the following sections:
- General Aptitude – Common General Aptitude will carry of total 15 marks.
- Paper B1 (Compulsory) – Reasoning & Comprehension (compulsory section) – This compulsory section will be of 25 marks.
- Any one optional papers of XH (C1 to C6) – There are 6 sections (C1 to C6), candidates can opt for any one optional section. The optional section will of 60 marks.
- XH= General Aptitude (15 marks) + Subject questions (85 marks) = 100 marks
XH paper contains the following sections:
| Sections | Code |
| Reasoning & Comprehension (Compulsory) (25 marks) | B1 |
| Any one optional section (60 marks) | |
| Economics | C1 |
| English | C2 |
| Linguistics | C3 |
| Philosophy | C4 |
| Psychology | C5 |
| Sociology | C6 |
For XE Paper:
Candidate appearing for XE paper have to attempt the following sections:
- General Aptitude – Common General Aptitude will carry of total 15 marks.
- Paper A (Compulsory) – Engineering Mathematics (compulsory section) – contains 11 questions (7 questions of 1 mark and 4 questions of 2 marks).
- Any two optional papers of XE (B to H) – There are 7 sections (B to H), candidates can opt for two optional sections. Each section will be of 35 marks (2 section X 35 marks = 75 marks). There will be total 22 questions (9 questions carrying 1 mark and 13 questions carrying 2 marks).
- XE = 15 + [15+(2*35)] = 100 marks
XE paper contains the following sections:
| Sections | Code |
| Engineering Mathematics (Compulsory) (15 marks) | A |
| Any two optional section (2x 35 = 70 marks) | |
| Fluid Mechanics | B |
| Materials Science | C |
| Solid Mechanics | D |
| Thermodynamics | E |
| Polymer Science and Engineering | F |
| Food Technology | G |
| Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences | H |
Also Check:
For XL Paper:
Candidate appearing for XL paper have to attempt the following sections:
- General Aptitude – Common General Aptitude carrying of total 15 marks.
- Paper P (Compulsory) – Chemistry (compulsory section) – It contains total 15 questions (5 questions of 1 marks and 10 questions of 2 marks).
- Any two optional papers of XL (Q to U) – There are 5 sections (Q to U), candidates can opt for two optional sections. Each section will be of 35 marks (2 section X 30 marks = 60 marks). There will be 20 questions (10 questions of 1 mark and 10 questions of 2 marks).
- XL = 15 + [25+(2*30)] = 100 marks
XL Paper of GATE has the following sections:
| Sections | Code |
| Chemistry (Compulsory) 25 marks | P |
| Any two optional section (2x 30 = 60 marks) | |
| Biochemistry | Q |
| Botany | R |
| Microbiology | S |
| Zoology | T |
| Food Technology | U |
Note: Students can choose the sections during examination after viewing the questions.
For GG Paper:
The question paper consist of two parts: Part A and Part B. Part A is common for all candidates. Part B has 2 sections; Section-1 is of Geology and Section-2 is of Geophysics. In Part A, there is total 25 of 1 mark each. In Part B, each section contains 30 questions of 2 marks.
GG= 15+25+60 = 100 marks
Note: Apart from core subject of the paper, General Aptitude (GA) is the common section in each paper of GATE.
GATE 2026 Marking Scheme
There will be a negative marking in GATE for multiple choice questions. For Numerical answer type questions, no negative marking will be there. Questions will carry 1 or 2 mark. For 1 mark question, 1/3 mark will be deducted for wrong answers and for 2 marks question, 2/3 marks will be deducted. Also, there is no partial marking in MSQ.
Also Check: GATE 2026 Virtual Calculator
In conclusion, complete details about the GATE 2026 Exam Pattern is mentioned in the article as per the details furnished by authority. The details about the number of papers/ subjects, their paper codes, number of sections & their types, time duration, marking scheme, etc. is also updated in our article.
If candidates have any query regarding GATE 2026 Exam Pattern, you can leave your comments below.