Gate Exam
GATE Exam Pattern 2021: GATE Syllabus 2021, Test Structure for all Papers and Subject-wise marking Scheme
About GATE
GATE score facilitates admissions Post Graduate Programmes such as ME, M.Tech, MS, and direct PhD in institutes like IIT and IISc along with financial assistance offered by MHRD. Scores from GATE are also accepted by PSUs of the Indian government.
GATE EXAM 2021:
Exam Pattern 2021 consists of all important information, such as a total number of questions, the number of sections, types of questions asked, and marking scheme of the exam. So, candidates planning to appear for GATE 2021 exam must be aware of GATE 2021 Exam Pattern. Having an idea about the GATE exam pattern will help candidates in their preparation as it will help them formulate the best strategy required for taking the exam successfully.
GATE 2021 will be conducted for 25 papers and candidates must choose any one of these papers. GATE will be conducted in online mode. The duration of the GATE exam is 3 hours and the maximum marks are 100. In this article, we will give detailed information about GATE Exam Pattern 2021 to help you with your preparation. Read on to find more about GATE 2021 Paper Pattern
GATE Exam Pattern 2021
The highlights of the GATE 2021 exam pattern is tabulated below:
| Mode of Exam | Online (Computer-based mode) |
| Sections | Three |
| Time Duration | 3 hours |
| Total Questions | 65 |
| Question type | MCQ and NAT (Numerical Answer Type) |
| Negative Marking | Only for MCQ’s: 1/3rd for 1-mark questions, 2/3rd for 2 marks questions |
| Total Marks | 100 |
General Aptitude acts as a compulsory section for all papers and it carries 15% weightage of the total marks.
GATE Exam Pattern 2021: GATE Question Type
The GATE 2021 question paper consists of two types of questions and they are listed below:
- Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs): For every question, 4 options will be there out which one is correct.
- Numerical Answer Type :
- a. All the answers to these questions will be real numbers where the candidate must enter the answer with the help of virtual keyboard.
- b. No choices will be provided for this type of questions.
- c. No negative marking will be there for NAT questions.
- 1. General Aptitude acts as a compulsory section in all GATE papers.
- 2. 15 % weightage of total marks will be given to General Aptitude section.
- 3. In this section, candidates will be examined based on their language and assessment skills.
- 4. The detailed GATE exam pattern for General Aptitude is tabulated below:
- 1. For all the papers except for the paper codes GG, XE, XL, the questions will be MCQs and numerical answer type in nature.
- 2.There will be a total of 55 questions out of which 25 questions will be of 1 mark and 30 questions will be of 2 marks each.
- 1. Geology and Geophysics paper consists of two parts. Part A consists of Multiple Choice Questions and Part B is further divided into 2 sections i.e., Section 1 – Geology and Section 2 – Geophysics.
- 2. Part A consists of 25 questions each carrying 1 mark.
- 3. Part B consists of 30 questions each carrying 2 marks.
- 1. There will be a total of 33 questions.
- 2. Engineering Mathematics (Section A) acts as a compulsory subject.
- 3. A total of 11 questions will be asked in Engineering Mathematics.
- 4. Now coming to the Section B, candidates can select any two subjects as optional from the paper code B to H.
- 5. The detailed GATE Exam Pattern for paper code XE is tabulated below:
- 1. General Aptitude section of total 15 should be attempted.
- 2. Chemistry acts as a compulsory subject in section A.
- 3. Now in Section B, aspirants can choose any 2 optional subjects from the paper code Q to U.
- 4. The detailed GATE Life Sciences exam pattern is tabulated below:
- 1. English grammar
- 2. Sentence completion
- 3. Verbal analogies
- 4. Word groups
- 5. Critical reasoning and
- 6. Verbal deduction
- 1. Numerical computation
- 2. Numerical estimation
- 3. Numerical reasoning and
- 4. Data interpretation
GATE Exam Pattern 2021 for Various Paper Codes
The GATE 2021 exam pattern for various paper codes are tabulated below:
| Paper Code | Exam Pattern |
|---|---|
| CE, CS, EC, AE, AG, BT, CH, ME, MN, MT, EE, IN, TF, XE, PE, ST and PI | General Aptitude– 15% Engineering Mathematics – 15% Subject of the Paper – 70% |
| AR, CY, GG, EY, XL, PH and MA |
General Aptitude – 15% Subject of the Paper – 85% |
GATE Exam Pattern 2021: GATE Marking Scheme
The GATE 2021 marking scheme will vary from one code to another. The GATE marking scheme is tabulated below:
| Paper Code | General Aptitude Marks | Subject Marks | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|---|
| CS, CY, EC, EE, CE, CH, AR, AE, AG, EY, BT, GG, IN, ME, MA, PH, PI, TF, MN, MT, PE, ST | 15 | 85 | 100 |
| XE (Section A + any two sections) | 15 | 15+2*35 | 100 |
| XL (Section P + any two sections) | 15 | 25+2*30 | 100 |
GATE Exam Pattern for All Papers
GATE Exam Pattern for General Aptitude
| Question Type | Total Questions | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|
| 1- Mark questions | 5 questions | 5 marks |
| 2- Mark questions | 5 questions | 10 marks |
| Total | 10 Questions | 15 marks |
GATE 2021 Exam Pattern for All Papers except GG, XE, XL
GATE Exam Pattern for GG
GATE Exam Pattern for Engineering Sciences (XE)
| Section | Total Questions | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Section A (Compulsory) | 7 (1-mark question), 4 (2-mark question) | 7, 8 |
| Section B to H (Any two) | 9 (1-mark question) in each of the two sections, 13 (2-mark question) in each of the two sections | 18, 52 |
| Total ( 2 Sections) | 55 Questions | 85 marks |
Note – General Aptitude section of total 15 marks should also be attempted along with the above sections.
GATE Exam Pattern for Life Sciences (XL)
| Section | Total Questions | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|
| P or Chemistry Section | 5 (1-mark each), 10 (2-marks each) | 5, 20 |
| Sections Q to U (Any two) | 10 (1-mark each) in each section, 10(2-marks each) in each section | 20, 40 |
GATE Syllabus 2021
Before getting into the details of GATE syllabus for all paper codes, let’s have an overview of the list of branches and paper codes for each of the subject:
| GATE Paper | Code | GATE Paper | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aerospace Engineering | AE | Instrumentation Engineering | IN |
| Agricultural Engineering | AG | Mathematics | MA |
| Architecture and Planning | AR | Mechanical Engineering | ME |
| Bio-medical Engineering | BM | Mining Engineering | MN |
| Biotechnology | BT | Metallurgical Engineering | MT |
| Civil Engineering | CE | Petroleum Engineering | PE |
| Chemical Engineering | CH | Physics | PH |
| Computer Science and Information Technology | CS | Production and Industrial Engineering | PI |
| Chemistry | CY | Statistics | ST |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | EC | Textile Engineering and Fibre Science | TF |
| Electrical Engineering | EE | Engineering Sciences | XE* |
| Ecology and Evolution | EY | Life Sciences | XL** |
XE & XL Paper Sections
| *XE Paper Sections | Code | **XL Paper Sections | Code |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering Mathematics(Compulsory) | A | Chemistry (Compulsory) | P |
| Any two optional sections | Any two optional sections | ||
| Fluid Mechanics | B | Biochemistry | Q |
| Materials Science | C | Botany | R |
| Solid Mechanics | D | Microbiology | S |
| Thermodynamics | E | Zoology | T |
| Polymer Science and Engineering | F | Food Technology | U |
| Food Technology | G | ||
| Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences | H |
GATE Syllabus 2021 for General Aptitude
The General Aptitude section is common to all papers. This section includes questions based on Verbal Ability and Numerical Ability. The different topics included in the GATE syllabus for General Aptitude are as under:
Verbal Ability:
Numerical Ability:
GATE Syllabus 2021 – Section-wise Exam Pattern for GATE 2021
The GATE exam pattern for admission to M.E/ M.Tech – different sections, number of questions and maximum marks for each section are tabulated below:
| Sections | Number of Questions/ Maximum Marks |
|---|---|
| General Aptitude | 10/15 |
| Engineering Mathematics | 11/15 |
| Subject Specific Section | 44/70 |
| Total | 65/100 |
Revise all the topics from time to time and take GATE mock tests and GATE previous papers regularly. Schedule the whole preparation plan in a way that you get at least two months just for revision. It is vital that candidates stay motivated the whole time to crack GATE 2021.
GATE Exam Pattern 2021 – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is GATE conducted offline as well?
No, GATE is conducted only in the online mode.
What kind of questions are asked in GATE?
There are two types of questions asked in GATE – 1) Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), and 2) Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions.
Is there any penalty for wrong answers in GATE?
Yes, for 1-marks questions, the penalty is 1/3 mark; for 2-marks questions, the penalty is 2/3 marks. However, there is no negative marking for wrong answers of NAT questions.
