GATE IN Predicted Minimum Passing Marks 2026 Category-Wise: Will qualifying cutoff marks increase?
GATE IN 2026 qualifying cutoff is expected to rise slightly based on 2024–2025 trends. Check category-wise predicted passing marks, expected GATE score out of 1000, and expert analysis for Instrumentation Engineering.
GATE IN Predicted Minimum Passing Marks 2026 Category-Wise:If you are preparing for the GATE 2026 exam in Instrumentation Engineering (IN), the qualifying cutoff is expected to increase slightly, based on an analysis by Collegedekho that considers statistics from 2024 and 2025. The anticipated cutoff marks for the General category are projected to be between 26 and 27 marks (out of 100) and 350 to 370 marks (out of 1000). In 2025, the qualifying cutoff for the Unreserved (UR) category was 25.6 marks, with a total score of 350, which was a decrease from 2024, when the cutoff was 32.7 marks (out of 100).
GATE IN 2026 Predicted Minimum Passing Marks
Based on the last two years’ data and assuming moderate paper difficulty, the expected GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff is:
Category | Expected Cutoff (Marks out of 100) | Expected Qualifying Score (out of 1000) |
General (UR) | 26–27 | 350–370 |
OBC / EWS | 23–24 | 305–325 |
SC / ST / PwD | 17–18 | 205–225 |
GATE IN Qualifying Cutoff (2025 vs 2024)
The table below depicts the cutoff marks and scores for year 2025 and 2024 across categories.
Year | Category | Cutoff Marks (out of 100) | Qualifying Score (out of 1000) |
2025 | General | 25.6 | 350 |
OBC/EWS | 23.0 | 308 | |
SC/ST/PwD | 17.0 | 210 | |
2024 | General | 32.7 | 350 |
OBC/EWS | 29.4 | 308 | |
SC/ST/PwD | 21.8 | – |
Previous Years' GATE IN Paper Statistics
Year | Appeared | Qualified | Highest Marks | Maximum Score |
2024 | 9,900 | 1,978 | 76 | 1000 |
2025 | 11,935 | 2,570 | 65 | 993 |
As per the above statistics, in 2025, the highest marks scored were around 65, while the maximum scaled score was 993, which depicts that maximum competition is near the qualifying zone, i.e., between 10 and 30 marks.
Final Take by CollegeDekho Experts
Yes, the qualifying cutoff for GATE IN 2026 paper may increase slightly, mainly due to increased participation and clustering of scores near the cutoff range. Therefore, qualifying the given score is not enough; you should aim to score 30+ marks to be eligible for IIT admissions and PSU shortlisting.
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