The following students are eligible to take GATE:

• Bachelor's degree holders in Engineering / Technology / Architecture (3 years after 10+2/ 10+2+3(ongoing)/ 10+2+4(ongoing)/ Post-B.Sc./ Post-Diploma) and those who are in the final year of such programs (Also prefinal year of B. tech).
• Master's degree holders in any branch of Science/Mathematics/Statistics/Computer Applications or equivalent and those who are in the final year of such programs.
• Candidates in the second or higher year of Four-year integrated master's degree programs (Post-B.Sc.) in Engineering / Technology.
• Candidates in the fourth or higher year of Five-year integrated master's degree programs or Dual Degree programs in Engineering / Technology.
• Candidates with qualifications obtained through examinations conducted by professional societies recognized by UGC/AICTE (e.g., AMIE by IE(India), AMICE by the Institute of Civil Engineers (India)-ICE(I), AMIETE by IETE(India)) as equivalent to B.E./B.Tech.

Those who have completed section A or equivalent of such professional courses are also eligible.There is no age limit criterion defined by the exam conducting authority to appear in GATE

Duration and Examination type:

The examination is of 3 hours duration, and contains a total of 65 questions worth a maximum of 100 marks. The examination for all the papers is carried out in an online Computer Based Test (CBT) mode where the candidates are shown the questions in a random sequence on a computer screen. The questions consist of some Multiple-Choice Questions or MCQs (four answer options out of which only ONE is correct, which has to be chosen). Remaining questions may be of Multiple Select Questions or MSQs (four answer options out of which ONE or MORE than ONE is/are correct, hence correct options need to be chosen) and/or Numerical Answer Type questions or NATs (answer is a real number, to be entered via an on-screen keypad and computer mouse).

Combination of TWO Papers Allowed to Appear in GATE for GEOLOGY Aspirants:

*Note: Candidates opting to appear in TWO subject papers must have a primary choice of paper, which will be their default choice and second choice of paper, which has to be chosen from the allowed combinations given in the Table. Combinations other than the listed ones are NOT allowed. Under unforeseen circumstances, GATE 2021 committee has the rights to remove certain combinations listed in the Table at a later date. In such case, the fee paid towards the second paper will be refunded to the candidates. Also note that the examination centre for candidate to appear for the second paper may be different (but in same city) from that for the first paper due to the infrastructure and scheduling constraints. GATE committee is NOT liable for any legal obligations related to this issue.

Questions and Marking Scheme:

The examination will consist of totally 65 questions, segregated as One-mark and Two-mark questions. Out of 65 questions, 10 questions will be from General Aptitude (Verbal and basics Numerical ability) and 55 questions will be Technical, based on the Paper chosen. The General Aptitude section will have 5 One-mark questions and 5 Two-mark questions, accounting for about 15% of total marks. The Technical section and Engineering Mathematics section will combinedly have 25 One-mark questions and 30 Two-mark questions, accounting for about 85% of total marks. Further, all the sections may have some Multiple-Choice Questions or MCQs, while remaining questions may be Multiple Select Questions or MSQs and/or Numerical Answer Type questions or NATs. The examination awards negative marks for wrong MCQ answers. Usually, 1/3rd of original marks will be deducted for wrong MCQ answers (i.e., -0.33 for wrong One-mark answers and -0.66 for wrong Two-mark answers) while there are no negative marks for MSQs and NATs. Also, there is NO partial credit for MSQs and NATs.

Result and Test Score:

GATE results are usually declared about one month after the examinations are over. The results show the total marks scored by a candidate, the GATE score, the all-India rank (AIR) and the cut off marks for various categories in the candidate's paper. The score is valid for 3 years from the date of announcement of the GATE results. The score cards are issued only to qualified candidates.

Normalized GATE Score

From GATE 2014 onward, a candidate's GATE score is computed by the following new formula.