GATE Exam Pattern 2021

GATE 2021 Exam Pattern (New)

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a popular entrance examination conducted for postgraduate engineering admissions. The exam pattern of GATE 2021 consist of detailed information related to the online examination including, type of questions, mode of examination, marks allotted to each question, number of questions, total marks, the time duration in the entrance examination, negative marking etc. GATE examination also opens doors to attractive employment opportunities in Public Sector Undertakings i.e. PSUs. Candidates looking forward to pursuing research in various fields of engineering can also appear for GATE.

*Important Note: GATE has introduced new papers for GATE 2021; ES (Environmental Science and Engineering) and XH (Humanities and Social Sciences); for which the exam pattern will be different. The below GATE exam pattern has been specified for the Engineering subjects. We will be talking about GATE 2021 new exam pattern for newly added subjects in the below section.

Overview of GATE Exam Pattern

Table of Contents

Highlights of GATE Exam Pattern

In the table given below, candidates who will be appearing for the entrance examination will get an insight into the exam details of GATE 2021:

GATE 2021 New Exam Pattern

The GATE 2021 Exam Pattern for two newly added subjects (Environmental Science and Engineering and Humanities and Social Sciences) are given below:

GATE 2021 XH (Humanities and Social Sciences) Exam Pattern

• The candidates who have opted for XH (Humanities and Social Sciences) subject will also have to appear for Reasoning & Comprehension subject as a mandatory norm.
• The Reasoning & Comprehension section will consist of a total of 15 questions for a total of 25 marks. 5 questions will be for 1 mark (5 marks) and 10 questions will be of 2 marks (20 marks). The questions will be of both numerical and MSQ types.
• The candidates will also have to appear for the compulsory subject General Aptitude which will be of a total of 15 marks.
• The candidate will have to select one of the sections among C1 to C6 at the time of registration. Each of the optional section for XH (Humanities and Social Sciences) subject will be of 60 marks and will have the following exam pattern:

GATE 2021 ES (Environmental Science and Engineering) Exam Pattern

• For the candidates who opted for ES (Environmental Science and Engineering), Engineering Mathematics section will be compulsory which will constitute a total of 15% (15 marks) of total marks weightage.
• The General Aptitude section is also compulsory for the candidates which will constitute a total of 15% (15 marks) of total marks weightage.
• The remaining 70% marks weightage (70 marks) will be given to the subject paper which will be of a total of 85 marks.
• The exam will be of a total of 100 marks.
• The candidates will have a total of 180 minutes to write the exam.

Detailed GATE 2021 Exam Pattern

GATE Exam Pattern for AE, AG, BT, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, IN, ME, MN, MT, PE, PI, TF, and XE Papers:

• For all papers mentioned-above, Engineering Mathematics questions are compulsory and carries 15% of the total weightage .

• The questions based on the specific subject/discipline of the exam have 70% of the total weightage (70 Marks).

• The remaining part of GATE Question Paper includes General Aptitude questions carriers 15% of the total marks

 GATE Exam Pattern forAR, CY, EY, GG, MA, PH, ST and XL Papers:

• The General Aptitude section carriers 15% of the total marks.

• The remaining 85% of the total marks will be based on the subject of the paper.

• There is no question from Engineering Mathematics in these papers.

GATE Exam Pattern for GG Paper:

• GA – General Aptitude section carrying 10 questions a total of 15 marks.

• Apart from the General Aptitude (GA) section, the GG question paper consists of two parts: Part A and Part B.

• Part A is common for all candidates.

• Part B consists of two sections: 

  • Section 1 (Geology)  

  • Section 2 (Geo-Physics).

• Candidates will have to attempt questions in Part A and in Part B attempt either Section 1 or Section 2.

The distribution of the questions and marks is described below:

• Part A consists of 25 questions (MCQs) and carry 1 mark for each question so the total 25 marks (Some questions may be numerical answer type questions)

• Part B (Section 1 and Section 2) consists of 30 questions (MCQs Type) 2 mark for each question so the total 60 marks (Some questions may be numerical answer type questions).

GATE Exam Pattern for XE Paper:

• There are the following sections which will have to be answered in GATE XE paper:

• GA – General Aptitude section carrying 10 questions a total of 15 marks.

• Section A – Engineering Mathematics (Compulsory)

• Any two of XE section from B to H (as given in the paper code table). 

• Candidates can select two sections from B to H during the examination after viewing the questions. Only two optional sections can be answered at a time.

• Apart from the General Aptitude section, XE paper contains total of 33 questions of total 50 marks.

The distribution of the questions and marks is described below:

• Section A Engineering Mathematics :

  • This section contains 11 questions carrying a total of 15 marks in which

  • 7 questions carrying 1 mark each (sub-total 7 marks) 

  • 4 questions carrying 2 marks each (sub-total 8 marks).

  • Some questions may be of numerical answer type.

• Any two of XE section from B to H:

  • XE paper from section B to H contains 22 questions carrying a total of 35 marks.

  • 9 questions carrying 1 mark each (sub-total 9 marks) 

  • 13 questions carrying 2 marks each (sub-total 26 marks).

  • Some questions may be of numerical answer type.

GATE Exam Pattern for XL Paper:

• There are the following sections which will have to be answered in GATE XL paper:

• GA – General Aptitude section carrying 10 questions a total of 15 marks.s.

• Section P– Chemistry (Compulsory)

• Any two of XL Sections Q to U (as given in the paper code table).

• Candidates can select two sections from B to H during the examination after viewing the questions. Only two optional sections can be answered at a time.

• Apart from the General Aptitude section, XL paper contains total 35 questions of total 55 marks.

• The distribution of the questions and marks is described below:

• Section P Chemistry: 

  • This section contains 15 questions carrying a total of 25 marks in which

  • 5 questions carrying 1 mark each (sub-total 5 marks)

  • 10 questions carrying 2 marks each (sub-total 20 marks).

  • Some questions may be of numerical answer type.

• Any two of XL Sections Q to U:

  • XL paper from section Q to U contains 20 questions carrying a total of 30 marks in which 

  • 10 questions carrying 1 mark each (sub-total 10 marks)

  • 10 questions carrying 2 marks each (sub-total 20 marks).

  • Some questions may be of numerical answer type.

Types of Questions in GATE

The question paper of GATE includes 2 types of Questions- MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) & NAT (Numerical Answer Type).

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ):

• In MCQs, candidates are provided with 4 choices out of which one answer is correct. 

• Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) carrying 1 or 2 marks each in all the papers and sections.

• There is a negative marking for every incorrect response i.e.

  • For 1 mark MCQ, 1/3 mark will be deducted for marking an incorrect answer.

  • For 2 mark MCQ, 2/3 mark will be deducted for marking an incorrect answer.

Numerical Answer Type (NAT):

• Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions carrying 1 or 2 marks each in all the papers and sections.

• NAT includes questions with a value or a real number as their answer.

• NAT questions will be mentioned with, up to which decimal places, the candidates need to make an answer.

• The answer has to be entered using the mouse. 

• There won’t be any choices for these questions.

• Using the keyboard must be avoided as it will lock your answer panel.

• There is no negative marking for a wrong answer in NAT questions.

GATE 2021 Marking Scheme

Candidates must take a look at the below-marking scheme of GATE 2021. The paper covers a total of 65 questions of 100 marks for each of the 24 subjects.

Each of the GATE paper is divided into subsections and based on it the marking scheme of GATE is defined.

For Engineering Mathematics:

• This will have 5 questions of 2 marks each and 5 questions of 1 marks each. The remaining 70% weightage of total marks is acquired by the subject of the paper.

• Engineering Mathematics will cover approximately 15% weightage out of 100 marks for the paper bearing codes AE, AG, BT, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, IN, ME, MN, MT, PE, PI, TF and XE.]

For General Aptitude:

• This will have 5 questions of 2 marks each and 5 questions of 1 marks each

• For the paper codes – AR, CY, EY, GG, MA, PH and XL, the General Aptitude will cover 15% out of 100 marks, and other 85% of the total question paper will be covered by the subject of the paper.

For Subject Knowledge:

This will have 25 questions of 2 marks each and 20 questions of 1 marks each.

Negative Marking in GATE 2021

• In NAT questions, there is no provision of negative marking in the examination.

• MCQs carrying 1 marks each, for them 1/3 marks will be deducted as a penalty of marking the incorrect response.

• MCQs carrying 2 marks, for them 2/3 marks will be deducted for marking the incorrect response.

How to Answer Questions in GATE 2021

Since GATE is an online entrance examination. Therefore, all the questions will have to be answered in online mode. Candidates will be required to answer the questions as per the question palette which will be displayed showing the status of each question. The table below includes all the details regarding the question palette of GATE 2021.

Along with a good preparation strategy to crack the entrance exam, candidates must have a detailed understanding of the exam pattern of GATE 2021. GATE 2021 is held in online mode for 24 subjects (papers) with 3 sections namely, General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics, Specific subject of the paper. In all the papers, there will be a total of 65 questions carrying 100 marks, out of which 10 questions carrying a total of 15 marks will be on General Aptitude (GA). The question paper of GATE includes 2 types of questions- MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions) & NAT (Numerical Answer Type) and GATE 2020 will be of 180 minutes duration.