What's new in the GATE 2026 exam pattern?

<p>All the main new elements and changes of the GATE 2026 pattern of the test are:<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Quantity of Papers and Length</span><br><br>There will be 30 and 30 test papers in the exam and it will be conducted on various days (Feb 7, 8, 14, 15, 2026).<br><br>These papers are 3 hours each, computer based tests which are performed online.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Question Types</span><br><br>A combination of Multiple Select Questions (MSQs), Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) and Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Question will be there in the question paper.<br><br>Wrong answer in MCQs will be negatively marked whereas there will be no negative marking in MSQs and NATs.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Marks Distribution</span><br><br>There are 100 marks per paper normally divided into 15 marks in General Aptitude (GA).<br><br>In the majority of the papers, it is also necessary to complete a compulsory Engineering Mathematics section (13-15 marks depending on the paper).<br><br>The remaining (~70- 85 marks) is devoted to the subject-specific section.<br><br>Sectional distributions of some papers Architecture, Life Sciences, and Humanities, among others are different.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Two-Paper Combination</span><br><br>Candidates are free to sit in one or two papers but they have to combine two papers with an allowed listed of combination.<br><br>The first paper is specific to the discipline of the candidate, whereas the second can be associated with disciplines with which the first mentioned may provide cross-disciplinary proficiencies.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">New Years and Areas</span><br><br>In Engineering Sciences (XE) a new paper with section Energy Science has been proposed.<br><br>The papers on Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) and Life Sciences (XL) have given clarity to mandatory and optional elements, thus it is possible to specialize in particular areas.<br><br><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Marking Scheme</span><br><br>Questions have marks of 1 or 2.<br><br>Negative marking: when the question is 1-mark MCQ, 1/3 mark is cut off when wrong and 2/3 mark is cut off when wrong on 2-marks question.<br><br>There is no negative marking of the MSQ and NAT questions.<br><br>Exam Language<br><br>Only the English language will be used to administer the exam.<br><br>Registration and Application<br><br>The official gate2026. iitg. ac. in opens on August 25, 2025 and online registrations begin.<br><br>The applicants are encouraged to apply once; no extraneous document should be handled with a separate application.<br><br>These changes emphasize more diverse question types, flexibility in paper selection, and some new subject inclusions to reflect interdisciplinary trends in engineering education. The detailed syllabus and paper codes are available on the official GATE 2026 website for candidates to prepare accordingly.</p>

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<p>IIT Guwahati is organising GATE 2026. A new section paper, Energy Science (XE-I), has been introduced under the Engineering Sciences category, alongside the standard 30 papers. Apart from that, there are no changes in the GATE exam pattern 2026. For more details, candidates can check the GATE's official website- gate2026.iitg.ac.in.</p>

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