GATE Marking Scheme 2026 - IIT Guwahati has published the GATE 2026 marking scheme on the official website, gate2026.iitg.ac.in. Candidates can check the GATE marking scheme 2026 on this page. The marking scheme includes details such as the total number of questions, section-wise questions, and mark distribution. In MCQs, incorrect answers will incur a penalty: 1/3 mark for 1-mark questions and 2/3 mark for 2-mark questions, with no negative marking for MSQs or NATs. The GATE exam will consist of a total of 65 questions: 10 questions from General Aptitude (GA) and 55 subject-specific questions. Each question will carry either 1 or 2 marks. The GATE 2026 exam will be held on February 7, 8, 14, and 15, 2026.
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Students can also attempt the GATE 2026 mock test to understand the marking scheme. The exam will be conducted for 30 test papers. Read this article carefully to better understand the GATE 2026 marking scheme.
Below is the marking scheme for GATE 2026. Check the number of questions and their mark distribution:
Particulars | Details |
Total Numbers of Questions | 65 |
Exam Sections | General Aptitude: 10 Questions Subject Component: 55 Questions |
Marks Carry | 1 or 2 |
Type of Questions | MCQ: Multiple Select Questions MSQ: Multiple Choice Questions NAT: Numerical Answer Type |
Negative Marking | 1 Mark MCQ: 1 for correct attempt and -⅓ for wrong attempt. 2 Mark MCQ : 2 for correct attempt and -⅔ for wrong attempt. |
In test papers AE, AG, BM, BT, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, ES, IN, ME, MN, MT, NM, PE, PI, and TF |
|
In test papers AR, CY, DA, EY, GE, GG, MA, PH, ST, XH, and XL |
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XE has a common compulsory section | XE-A(Engineering mathematics) carry 15 marks |
Below is the section wise question distribution for all GATE 2026 papers. There will be a total of 30 papers.
GATE Paper Code | General Aptitude(GA) | Subject Questions | Total Marks |
AE, AG, BM, BT, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, ES, IN, ME, MN, MT, NM, PE, PI, and TF | 15 | 85 | 100 |
AR [Part A + Part B (B1: Architecture or B2: Planning)] | 15 | 60 + 25 | 100 |
GE [Part A + Part B (Section I or Section II) | 15 | 55 + 30 | 100 |
GG [Part A + Part B (Section 1: Geology or Section 2: Geophysics)] | 15 | 25 + 60 | 100 |
XE (Section A + Any TWO Sections) | 15 | 15 + (2 x 35) | 100 |
XH (Section B1 + Any ONE Section) | 15 | 25 + 60 | 100 |
XL (Section P + Any TWO Sections) | 15 | 25 + (2 x 30) | 100 |
CY, DA, EY, MA, PH | 15 | 85 | 100 |
Candidates must understand the GATE exam pattern and GATE 2026 syllabus before starting the GATE exam preparation. Check the latest exam pattern as well.
GATE Exam Pattern
Particulars | Details |
Examination Mode | Computer based Exam(CBT) |
Language | English |
Exam Duration | 3 Hours (180 minutes) |
Numbers of Questions | 65 |
Marks Carry | 1 or 2 |
Type of Questions | MCQ : Multiple Select Questions MSQ : Multiple Choice Questions NAT : Numerical Answer Type |
Negative Marking | 1 Mark MCQ : 1 for correct attempt and -⅓ for wrong attempt. 2 Mark MCQ : 2 for correct attempt and -⅔ for wrong attempt. |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Most 1-mark questions carry 1 mark each, and 2-mark questions carry 2 marks each. Wrong attempts will have negative marking.
For 1-mark MCQs, ⅓ mark is deducted; for 2-mark MCQs, ⅔ mark is deducted. No negative marking for MSQ and NAT questions.
GATE 2026 will be for 100 marks with a duration of 3 hours.
On Question asked by student community
Hello,
Other than the GATE exam, admission to MTech programs in Data Science/AI for 2026 includes university-specific entrance tests like VITMEE, BITS HD Entrance Test, and SRMJEEE PG, as well as state-level common entrance tests such as Karnataka PGCET and TS PGECET.
I hope it will clear your query!!
Hello
Just visit the link I am attaching below, so that it will help you to download and practice the papers, so that you can practice well and score well.
Hope it will help you!!!
Hello dear candidate,
You will not receive another rectification mail unless and until there is still an error in your reuploaded signature. if everything is okay your status will change to accepted on the GATE portal.
My advice is that you should keep checking your application status on the official website of GATE 2026.
Thank you.
Hello,
Visit the below website to download the previous 15 years question paper of GATE exam.
https://engineering.careers360.com/articles/last-15-years-gate-papers-solutions
You'll also get the solutions from it. These question papers will help you a lot in your preparation.
All the best.
This is likely a temporary portal or validation issue, not something you did wrong. When candidates try to change category from GEN to OBC-NCL during the GATE correction window, the system checks required fields and sometimes a supporting certificate or fee is needed. If any required data or document is missing, or the server is busy, the portal can show Something went wrong, please try again. Explain to them that first they should log into the GATE portal, open the Correction tab and confirm which fields are editable and whether a payment or document upload is required for category change. Tell them to clear browser cache or try a different browser/device and retry. If the error persists, advise contacting GATE support or the zonal office with a screenshot and timing of the error so officials can check server logs.
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