GATE 2026: Exam Date (7 Feb), Registration (Closed), Eligibility, Syllabus, and More

The registration portal for the GATE 2026 exam has been closed by IIT Guwahati (exam conducting authority) for all the students.

The exam conducting authority i.e., IIT Guwahati has introduced a new Sectional Paper on Energy Science (XE-I) in the Engineering Sciences (XE) paper. The registration for the GATE 2026 will begin on  25th August 2025 & end on 25th September 2025. Students have to pay Rs. 2000/- for registration (Rs. 1000/- for female / SC / ST / PwD candidates). However, the registration date will be extended up to 6th October 2025 for which a late fee of additional Rs. 500/- will be applicable to the exam fee.

The correction window for the GATE exam 2026 is expected to be available till 20^th November 2025 & till 22^nd November 2025 for the PwD students. Applicants will be able to download their admit card probably from 2^nd January 2026. To download the GATE 2026 admit card / hall ticket, registered candidates need to visit the GOAPS Portal i.e., “goaps.iitr.ac.in” and login with the Enrollment ID / Email Address and Password. In order to appear in the GATE 2026 examination, students should download the admit card before the examination day.

The GATE 2026 exam date is 7^th, 8^th, 14^th, and 15^th February 2026 in two sessions & the results will be published on 19^th March 2026.

Furthermore, the score card will be available for download tentatively from 28^th March 2026 to 31^st March 2026. However, candidates will be able to download the scorecard after the due date most likely from 1^st June 2026 till 31^st December 2026  by paying Rs. 500/- (tentative) per test paper.

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering, commonly known as GATE, is a national-level examination. On the behalf of National Coordination Board (NCB), IISc Bengaluru along with 7 IITs are responsible for conducting GATE exam. IIT Guwahati will conduct the GATE exam 2026.

Aspirants of GATE exam 2026 can go through this article which covers the comprehensive information of the test including important exam dates and schedule, registration procedure, eligibility requirements, paper pattern, syllabus, and other aspects.

The GATE exam 2026 will be conducted in online CBT mode. The duration of the exam will be 3 hours and it will be conducted in English medium / language only. The examination is held for around 30 test papers (subjects) including full papers and sectional papers. It is a two-paper combination exam. Candidates have a choice to select full paper / sectional paper or both.

GATE qualified candidates can seek admission into Master’s Degree and Direct Doctoral programs in various streams such as Engineering, Technology, Architecture, Science, Commerce, Arts, and Humanities. Along with these, qualified students can apply for admission in the academic Ph.D programs in the Engineering, Science and Humanities disciplines only.

GATE aspirants can go through the below-mentioned table to know the important details related to the exam:

The below-given table reflects the important schedule of the test including the GATE exam date 2026:

* The above-mentioned exam schedule is liable to change as per the decision of the conducting authority.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati i.e., the exam conducting body is set to conduct the GATE 2026 exam on 7th, 8th, 14th, and 15th February 2026. The authorities have declared the test paper-wise dates along with the timings which are mentioned in the following table:

It is necessary to fulfil the eligibility criteria to appear for any competitive exams. Those Candidates who meet the GATE 2026 Eligibility Criteria can visit the GOAPS portal of GATE to apply for the exam. The minimum educational qualification required to appear for GATE exam 2026 is that the candidate must be pursuing 3-year or higher years UG Degree/ have qualified Bachelor’s in Engineering / Technology / Architecture / Science / Commerce / Arts / Humanities discipline.

The eligibility criteria of the exam states that there is no age limit to appear for GATE exam 2026. Indian candidates and foreign nationals can apply for the GATE exam. 

The GATE 2026 Registration and application form will be available from 25th August 2025. Interested & eligible students will be able to apply for the entrance test till 25th September 2025. The date for registration will be extended till 6th October 2025 wherein late fee shall be applicable. To check the application status, candidates have to visit the official website and then click on the GOAPS portal “goaps.iitr.ac.in”. Only registered students will be allowed to appear for the GATE exam.

The female / SC / ST / PwD students are supposed to pay Rs. 1000/- as the GATE exam fee, whereas the remaining candidates & the Foreign Nationals have to pay Rs. 2000/- for the same. However, aspirants applying after 25th September 2025 have to pay Rs. 500/- in addition to the requisite registration fee as the late fee.
*It is to be noted that the aforementioned fee is only for a single test paper. Students applying for 2 papers have to pay twice the requisite exam fee amount & have to submit only 1 application form.

Aspirants who have filled the application form can start their preparation on the basis of GATE 2026 Syllabus. The curriculum of the entrance exam is designed by the conducting body to test the knowledge of the students. The GATE syllabus varies as per the subject for which students are applying.

The syllabus is based on the undergraduate and post graduate level subjects in Engineering, Technology, Architecture, Science, Commerce, Arts and Humanities disciplines. The exam paper is completely based on the prescribed syllabus. So, aspirants need to check the detailed syllabus and prepare for the exam accordingly.

According to the GATE 2026 Exam Pattern, the test will be conducted in the online CBT mode. The language of the exam will be English only. The GATE exam is conducted for a total of 30 subjects that are further divided into 2 test papers for each.

The exam is conducted for 4 days in 2 different shifts / sessions for all papers. The duration of the exam is 180 minutes. The exam paper has a total of 100 questions of overall 100 marks. The negative marking criteria varies as per the type of questions in different subject papers.

The exam conducting body has introduced a new sectional paper named ‘Energy Science’ with the code ‘XE-I’ in the Engineering Sciences (XE) paper.

GATE is a two-paper combination exam that will be conducted for 30 test papers. The candidates have a choice to opt for either a single paper or for a combination of 2 test papers. Candidates who want to appear for 2 papers will have to choose 1 primary paper and 1 secondary paper from the allowed combination codes.

The available combination of paper codes are listed in the table given below; students can choose any combination from these as per their choice:

The exam authority will release the GATE 2026 Admit Card probably by 2^nd January 2026 on its official website. It is necessary for the students to access the admit cards and take a print out for the same for carrying it to the exam centre on the day of examination.

Candidates are advised to download their Admit card from ‘gate2026.iitg.ac.in’ within the given dates and time. The admit card consists of the candidate's name, roll number, test centres and date of examination along with shift and time and other essential details.

GATE will be conducted in numerous cities across India. The exam can be held in over 200 cities and towns in the country. There are no exam centres outside India.

Candidates can choose only 3 cities from the same Zone of the GATE 2026 Exam Centres list that is mentioned in the table given-below:

To score well in the GATE exam, candidates must start preparing as early as possible. Some GATE 2026 Preparation tips that can be helpful to prepare effectively for the exam are mentioned below:

• Aspirants should prepare on the basis of the topics that are mentioned in the syllabus of GATE and revise the important topics effectively.
• Before starting the preparation, candidates can take the reference of past year question papers of the GATE exam that will help them to understand the exam pattern.
• To check the level of difficulty of the exam, candidates can appear for a mock test that will be conducted by the exam authorities on the GATE exam’s official website.
• While preparing for GATE, candidates can make their notes and formulate a strategy to solve the question paper.
• Candidates can refer to different study materials, such as books and other resources to prepare important topics of the GATE exam.

Candidates must follow the exam day guidelines prescribed by the IIT Guwahati i.e., the exam conducting body. Read the following guidelines that will help to avoid any confusion among students on the day of examination:

• Candidates should take their admit card printout with original valid photo ID on the examination day at the GATE 2026 exam centre.
• The students have to be present at the exam centre on the specific date and time as mentioned in the admit card.
• Any Bluetooth / communication or any other electronic device, wallets, books, calculators, mobiles, study materials, watches, or any other personal belongings in any form is not acceptable and prohibited in the examination hall. Candidates found with such materials will be disqualified from the exam.
• A writing pad will be provided at the exam centre for rough work. Before using it, candidates should write their name and registration number on the pad.
• Any means or modes of communication with other students are strictly prohibited. Candidates are not allowed to talk either verbally or in any other means inside the exam hall.

Solving previous year question papers before examinations helps in reducing stress and boosts the confidence of students. GATE Previous Year Question Papers will help the students to understand the level of difficulty of question papers. Also, it will assist in effective preparation and refine the time management skills of the students.

Sample papers are considered the best for self-analysing the preparation level and testing the students’ knowledge related to the subject matter. With the help of the past year papers, students can find out their strong and weak points and identify the area of improvement.

The exam conducting body releases the mock test papers for all the candidates. The links for the mock test will be available on the exam’s official website. Once it will be updated by the authorities, candidates can visit the ‘gate2026.iitg.ac.in’ to appear for the GATE Mock Test. Afterwards, they will need to click on the given link as per the test paper code.

Mock tests create the actual exam environment that will make candidates more familiar with the format of the GATE exam. Taking the mock tests will aid the students in elevating their preparation level for the test.

The answer keys of GATE will be released by the exam authority after successfully conducting the GATE 2026 exam. The answer keys for all test papers will be released separately on the exam’s official website.

Candidates can raise any complaint against the answer key in the given time by paying the required amount. After releasing the answer keys, the result will be announced by the authorities. The final result of the GATE exam will be evaluated on the basis of the answer keys.

The exam authority will announce the GATE 2026 Result on 19^th March 2026 on the GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS). Qualified candidates can freely download their score card likely from 28^th March 2026 to 31^st March 2026 from the official website.

Afterwards, candidates will be able to download the Score card from 1^st June 2026 to 31^st December 2026 but they will have to pay an amount of Rs. 500/- per paper during this period. The scores of GATE exam 2026 will be valid for 3 years from the released date of the results.

Once the GATE exam 2026 will be conducted and the result gets announced, the cut off will be out after a few days. The GATE 2026 Cut off will be released by the IIT Guwahati on the official website. In order to get the admission in a PG or a Ph.D course, candidates need to qualify GATE exam 2026 according to the cut-off list.

The cut-off is determined on the basis of various factors such as total number of candidates appearing in the test, the level of exam difficulty, available number of seats, etc. The GATE qualifying cut off marks changes every year; it is important for the students to prepare effectively in order to pass the GATE exam.

Only GATE qualified candidates can participate for GATE 2026 Counselling. Candidates have to participate in either Centralised Counselling for M.Tech / M.Arch / M.Plan (CCMT) or for Common Offer Acceptance Portal (COAP) as a part of GATE counselling process.

Candidates can choose CCMT for admission to M.Tech / M.Arch / M.Plan programs that are offered by NIT, IIIT and CFTIs. Also, students can apply for COAP on the basis of GATE Score to get admission in M.Tech programs offered by IITs. The GATE 2026 Seat Allotment of students will be based on the counselling process.

The GATE exam scores are accepted by 7 IITs, IISc Bengaluru and other institutes in India. Below-mentioned are some of the GATE 2026 Participating Colleges / Institutes which accept admission through the exam:

• IISc Bengaluru
• IIT Guwahati
• IIT Roorkee
• IIT Kharagpur
• IIT Kanpur
• IIT Bombay
• IIT Madras
• IIT Delhi

Check: Colleges Accepting GATE