[Updated*] GATE 2021 Exam Pattern, Marking Scheme, Paper Pattern

GATE 2021 Exam Pattern has been updated, and some new papers/ subjects have been added. The exam pattern includes details such as the no. of questions asked in the examination, no. of sections, marking scheme and time duration. Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is regulated by IIT, Bombay for the academic year 2021 for providing admission into M.E./ M.Tech/ Direct Ph.D programmes in IITs, NITs, GFTI and various private institutions. The comprehensive details regarding GATE exam pattern 2021 are furnished in this article.

GATE 2021 Exam Pattern

• The examination of GATE 2021 consists of 27 papers (2 new subjects added) and shall be supervised via online mode only (Computer Based Test).
• Candidates are given an option to appear for more than one subject. The candidate can attempt one or two subjects in the GATE exam. Nevertheless, the option of two subjects is relevant only for a particular set of combinations.
• Two new subjects – Environmental Science & Engineering (ES) and Humanities & Social Sciences (XH) are additionally included in GATE 2021.
• Bio-medical Engineering (BM) subject was included in the syllabus of GATE Last year (GATE 2020).
• GATE 2021 Examination is expected to commence from 5th to 7th February and 12th to 14th February 2021.

GATE shall be organised in International centres and the session timings as per their local time.

• The question paper of GATE 2021 contains Multiple-Choice Questions (MCQs), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) and Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions.
• In multiple-choice questions, multiple options shall be provided, out of which right answer must be selected.
• In multiple select questions, one or more options out of four shall be accurate, and the candidate is supposed to select the correct answer.
• In numerical answer type questions, the virtual keyword shall be displayed on the computer screen, and the answer must be entered through that.
• The GATE question paper consists of 65 questions [10 (GA) + 55 (Subjects)] set for 100 marks.
• The question paper is segregated into two parts – Common General Aptitude – GA (for all subjects/ papers) & core subjects. The core subjects shall contain two types of questions – Compulsory & Optional.
• Exam Duration is 3 hours.

The GATE subject paper (newly added papers also) and paper codes for GATE 2021 are listed below:

Important Note: CE, CS, EC, EE and ME papers: These examinations shall be organised in multiple sessions. Yet, a candidate is permitted to appear in only one particular session.

Exam Pattern for Different Papers

• In AE, AG, BT, BM, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, IN, ME, MN, MT, PE, PI, TF and XE papers, Engineering Mathematics contains 15% of total marks, General Aptitude section contains 15% marks, and rest of the 70% marks is covered by the core subject of the paper.
• In AR, CY, EY, GG, MA, PH, ST, XH and XL papers, General Aptitude section contains 15% of the total marks and remaining 85% marks is covered by the core subject of the paper.
• The General Aptitude section contains 5 questions carrying 1 mark each and 5 questions carrying 2 marks each.
• The papers other than GG, XE and XL contains 25 questions carrying 1 mark each and 30 questions carrying 2 marks each.

For XH Paper: Newly Added Paper

The XH (Humanities & Social Sciences) paper consists of the following sections:

• Common General Aptitude covers 15 marks.
• Paper B1 (Compulsory) – Reasoning & Comprehension (compulsory section) – This compulsory section covers 25 marks.
• Any optional section of XH (C1 to C6) – Out of 6 sections (C1 to C6), candidates can choose one optional section. The optional section carries 60 marks.

XH paper comprises of the following sections:

For XE Paper

The XE paper contains the following sections:

• General Aptitude – Common General Aptitude carries 15 marks.
• Paper A (Compulsory) – Engineering Mathematics (compulsory section) – includes 11 questions (7 questions each carrying 1 mark and 4 questions each carrying 2 marks).
• Any two optional papers of XE (B to H) – Out of 7 sections (B to H), candidates can choose two optional sections. Each section carries 35 marks (2 section X 35 marks = 75 marks). A total of 22 questions (9 questions carrying 1 mark and 13 questions carrying 2 marks) shall be asked.
  XE = 15 + [15+(2*35)] = 100 marks

XE paper comprises the following sections:

For XL Paper

The XL paper contains the following sections:

• Common General Aptitude carries 15 marks.
• Paper P (Compulsory) – Chemistry (compulsory section) includes 15 questions (5 questions carrying 1 mark each and 10 questions carrying 2 marks each).
• Any two optional papers of XL (Q to U) – Out of 5 sections (Q to U), candidates can choose two optional sections. Each section carries 35 marks (2 section X 30 marks = 60 marks). A total of 20 questions (10 questions of 1 mark and 10 questions of 2 marks) shall be asked.
  XL = 15 + [25+(2*30)] = 100 marks

XL Paper of GATE comprises the following sections:

Important Note: Candidates can select the sections during the examination once the questions are displayed and viewed.

For GG Paper

• The question paper is composed of two parts: Part A and Part B. Part A is standard for all candidates. Part B contains 2 sections; Section-1 covers Geology, and Section-2 covers Geophysics.
• Part A consist of 25 questions each carrying 1 mark. Part B consist of 30 questions, each carrying 2 marks.
  GG= 15+25+60 = 100 marks

Important Note: General Aptitude (GA) is the standard section in each paper of GATE apart from the core subject of the paper.

Marking Scheme

Negative marking in GATE is present for multiple-choice questions. No negative marking is applied for numerical answer type questions. For 1-mark question, 1/3 mark shall be reduced for every incorrect answer and for 2 marks question, 2/3 marks shall be reduced.