GATE 2021 – GATE is the national-level exam will be conducted on February 5-7 and February 12-14 for admission of candidates to postgraduate and doctoral programmes of different institutes across India.
GATE 2021 Information Brochure has been released by the IIT Bombay. The application form for the exam will be available from September 14 onward.
Candidates can read the article below to know details like exam dates, syllabus, pattern, preparation strategy for GATE 2021.
GATE 2021 Question Papers and Final Answer Keys
| Paper Name | Question Paper | FINAL Answer Key |
|---|---|---|
| AE: Aerospace Engineering | View | View |
| AG: Agricultural Engineering | View | View |
| AR: Architecture and Planning | View | View |
| BM: Biomedical Engineering | View | View |
| BT: Biotechnology | View | View |
| CE: Civil Engineering | View (CE-1) View (CE-2) | View (CE-1) View (CE-2) |
| CH: Chemical Engineering | View | View |
| CS: Computer Science and Information Technology | View (CS-1) View (CS-2) | View (CS-1) View (CS-2) |
| CY: Chemistry | View | View |
| EC: Electronics and Communication Engineering | View | View |
| EE: Electrical Engineering | View | View |
| ES: Environmental Science and Engineering | View | View |
| EY: Ecology and Evolution | View | View |
| GG: Geology | View | View |
| GG: Geophysics | View | View |
| IN: Instrumentation Engineering | View | View |
| MA: Mathematics | View | View |
| ME: Mechanical Engineering | View (ME-1) View (ME-2) | View (ME-1) View (ME-2) |
| MN: Mining Engineering | View | View |
| MT: Metallurgical Engineering | View | View |
| PE: Petroleum Engineering | View | View |
| PH: Physics | View | View |
| PI: Production and Industrial Engineering | View | View |
| ST: Statistics | View | View |
| TF: Textile Engineering and Fibre Science | View | View |
| XE-A: Engineering Mathematics | View | View |
| XE-B: Fluid Mechanics | View | View |
| XE-C: Materials Science | View | View |
| XE-D: Solid Mechanics | View | View |
| XE-E: Thermodynamics | View | View |
| XE-F: Polymer Science and Engineering | View | View |
| XE-G: Food Technology | View | View |
| XE-H: Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences | View | View |
| XH-C1: Humanities & Social Sciences – Economics | View | View |
| XH-C2: Humanities & Social Sciences – English | View | View |
| XH-C3: Humanities & Social Sciences – Linguistics | View | View |
| XH-C4: Humanities & Social Sciences – Philosophy | View | View |
| XH-C5: Humanities & Social Sciences – Psychology | View | View |
| XH-C6: Humanities & Social Sciences – Sociology | View | View |
| XL-P: Chemistry | View | View |
| XL-Q: Biochemistry | View | View |
| XL-R: Botany | View | View |
| XL-S: Microbiology | View | View |
| XL-T: Zoology | View | View |
| XL-U: Food Technology | View | View |
GATE 2021 Question Papers and Provisional Answer Keys
| Paper Name | Question Paper | Answer Key |
|---|---|---|
| AE: Aerospace Engineering | View | View |
| AG: Agricultural Engineering | View | View |
| AR: Architecture and Planning | View | View |
| BM: Biomedical Engineering | View | View |
| BT: Biotechnology | View | View |
| CE: Civil Engineering | View (CE-1) View (CE-2) | View (CE-1) View (CE-2) |
| CH: Chemical Engineering | View | View |
| CS: Computer Science and Information Technology | View (CS-1) View (CS-2) | View (CS-1) View (CS-2) |
| CY: Chemistry | View | View |
| EC: Electronics and Communication Engineering | View | View |
| EE: Electrical Engineering | View | View |
| ES: Environmental Science and Engineering | View | View |
| EY: Ecology and Evolution | View | View |
| GG: Geology | View | View |
| GG: Geophysics | View | View |
| IN: Instrumentation Engineering | View | View |
| MA: Mathematics | View | View |
| ME: Mechanical Engineering | View (ME-1) View (ME-2) | View (ME-1) View (ME-2) |
| MN: Mining Engineering | View | View |
| MT: Metallurgical Engineering | View | View |
| PE: Petroleum Engineering | View | View |
| PH: Physics | View | View |
| PI: Production and Industrial Engineering | View | View |
| ST: Statistics | View | View |
| TF: Textile Engineering and Fibre Science | View | View |
| XE-A: Engineering Mathematics | View | View |
| XE-B: Fluid Mechanics | View | View |
| XE-C: Materials Science | View | View |
| XE-D: Solid Mechanics | View | View |
| XE-E: Thermodynamics | View | View |
| XE-F: Polymer Science and Engineering | View | View |
| XE-G: Food Technology | View | View |
| XE-H: Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences | View | View |
| XH-C1: Humanities & Social Sciences – Economics | View | View |
| XH-C2: Humanities & Social Sciences – English | View | View |
| XH-C3: Humanities & Social Sciences – Linguistics | View | View |
| XH-C4: Humanities & Social Sciences – Philosophy | View | View |
| XH-C5: Humanities & Social Sciences – Psychology | View | View |
| XH-C6: Humanities & Social Sciences – Sociology | View | View |
| XL-P: Chemistry | View | View |
| XL-Q: Biochemistry | View | View |
| XL-R: Botany | View | View |
| XL-S: Microbiology | View | View |
| XL-T: Zoology | View | View |
| XL-U: Food Technology | View | View |
During 2nd to 4th March 2021, candidates can challenge the answer keys with detailed description and proof by paying 500 per question on the GOAPS portal.
Final answer keys/ranges will be published around 18th March 2021.
GATE Introduction
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is a national examination conducted jointly by Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore and seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) at Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee on behalf of National Coordination Board (NCB)-GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India. GATE examination is a Computer Based Test (CBT).
Qualifying in GATE is a mandatory requirement for seeking admission and/or financial assistance to Postgraduate Programs (Master’s and Doctoral) with Ministry of Education (MoE) and other Government Scholarships / Assistantships, subject to the admission criteria of the admitting institute.
The GATE score is also used by some Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) for their recruitment and by several other universities in India and abroad for admissions.
About GATE 2021
Organising Institute for GATE 2021 is Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay.
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2021 is basically a national examination on the comprehensive understanding of the candidates in various undergraduate subjects in Engineering / Technology / Architecture and post-graduate level subjects in Arts, Commerce and Science.
GATE 2021 will be conducted for 27 Subjects (also referred to as “papers”).
GATE 2021 examination will be conducted over six days and twelve sessions on Friday 5th, Saturday 6th, Sunday 7th, Friday 12th, Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th of February 2021.
GATE 2021 score will remain valid for THREE YEARS from the date of announcement of results.
The GATE examination is conducted in different cities across India as well as six cities outside India (In International centres, GATE-2021 will be conducted only if the current COVID-19 situation eases and travel and other restrictions are relaxed. Else GATE-2021 in international centres will be “CANCELLED”).
Highlights of GATE 2021
Two NEW subject papers are introduced ES (Environmental Science and Engineering) XH (Humanities and Social Sciences) in Economics / English / Linguistics / Philosophy / Psychology / Sociology.
Syllabi of all subject papers have been revised for GATE 2021.
All Test Papers of GATE 2021 will be entirely objective type. Pattern of questions may include
- Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ),
- Multiple Select Questions (MSQ), and/or
- Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions.
ONE or TWO subject papers allowed. TWO Paper combinations have to be chosen from the given list of combinations of papers. Final allotment of TWO papers will still be subject to availability of infrastructure and dates.
Eligibility criteria are relaxed. A Candidate who is currently studying in the 3rd or higher years of any undergraduate degree program OR has already completed any Government approved degree program in Engineering / Technology / Architecture / Science / Commerce / Arts is eligible to appear for GATE-2021 examination.
Depending on COVID-19 situation, the schedule of the GATE 2021 examination may change.
GATE 2021 Exam Schedule
Paper Wise GATE 2021 Exam Dates
GATE 2021 Papers
Environmental Science and Engineering (ES) and Humanities and Social Sciences (XH) are two new papers introduced in GATE-2021.
Maximum TWO papers in GATE 2021
A candidate may appear either in ONE or TWO subject papers. For candidates who choose TWO papers, the combination must be from the approved list of combinations and subject to the availability of infrastructure and date.
| Code of the First Paper (Primary) | Codes of Papers allowed as the Second Paper |
| AE | XE |
| AG | ES |
| AR | CE |
| BM | BT / XL |
| BT | BM / XL |
| CE | AR / ES |
| CH | CY / PE / XE |
| CS | MA |
| CY | CH / XL |
| EC | IN / PH |
| EE | IN |
| ES | AG / CE |
| EY | XL |
| GG | MN / PE / PH |
| IN | EC / EE / PH |
| MA | CS / PH / ST |
| ME | XE |
| MN | GG / XE |
| MT | PH / XE |
| PE | CH / GG / XE |
| PH | EC / GG / IN / MA / MT / ST |
| PI | XE |
| ST | MA / PH |
| TF | XE |
| XE | AE / CH / ME / MN / MT / PE / PI / TF |
| XH | —- |
| XL | BM / BT / CY |
Note : Candidates opting to appear in TWO subject papers must have primary choice of paper, which will be their default choice and the second choice of paper, which has to be chosen from the allowed combinations.
GATE 2021 Eligibility Criteria
A candidate who is currently studying in the 3rd or higher years of any undergraduate degree program OR has already completed any government approved degree program in Engineering / Technology / Architecture / Science / Commerce / Arts.
Age Limit – No Age Limit
GATE 2021 Important Dates
| Activity | Day | Date |
| GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS) Website Opens | Monday | 14th September 2020 |
| Extended closing date of REGULAR online registration / application portal | Wednesday | 7th October 2020 |
| End of EXTENDED period for online registration / application (with late fee) | Monday | 12th October 2020 |
| Last Date for change of category, paper and examination city (an additional fee will be applicable) | Friday | 13th November 2020 |
| Availability of Admit Card on the Online Application Portal (for download and printing) | Friday | 8th January 2021 |
| GATE 2021 Examination Forenoon: 9:00 AM to 12:00 Noon (Tentative) Afternoon: 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM (Tentative) | Friday Saturday Sunday Friday Saturday Sunday | 5th February 2021 6th February 2021 7th February 2021 12th February 2021 13th February 2021 14th February 2021 |
| Announcement of results in the Online Application Portal | Monday | 22nd March 2021 |
GATE 2021 Application Process
Candidate has to apply online application for GATE 2021.
Candidates has to fill the application form of GATE 2021 in online mode from the GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS) portal.
Candidates must check GATE 2021 eligibility before filling the GATE 2021 application form.
Application Link will be available here.
Data Requirement for Filling the Online Application Form (GOAPS)
The following data will be required while filling the form at GOAPS
- Personal information (name, date of birth, personal mobile number, parents’ name, parents’ mobile number, etc.). Please note that the name of the candidate in the application form must exactly be the same as that in the valid photo ID, which the candidate MUST produce in original while appearing for GATE-2021 examination at the centre.
- GATE 2021 scorecard will be issued as per the name entered in the application form.
- Prefix/title such as Mr/Shri/Dr/Mrs/Smt/Prof/Capt, etc. MUST NOT be used before name.
- Address for Communication (including PIN code)
- Eligibility degree details
- College name and address with PIN code
- GATE paper(s) (subject)
- Four Choices of GATE examination cities
- High quality image of candidate’s photograph conforming to the requirements specified
- Good quality image of candidate’s signature conforming to the requirements specified
- Scanned copy of Category (SC/ST) certificate (if applicable) in pdf format
- Scanned copy of PwD Certificate (if applicable) in pdf format
- Scanned copy of Certificate of Dyslexia (if applicable) in pdf format
- Details of the valid photo Identity Document (ID)(The same ID, in original, MUST be carried to the examination hall)
- Net-banking/debit card/credit card/UPI details for fee payment
Application Fee for GATE 2021 (Per Subject Paper)
| For Examination Centres in India | Regular Period (14th to 30th Sept. 2020) | During the Extended Period (1st to 7th Oct 2020) |
| Female candidates (per paper) | 750 | 1250 |
| SC / ST / PwD* category candidates (per paper) | 750 | 1250 |
| All other candidates (per paper) | 1500 | 2000 |
Tentative List of Examination Cities
| Zone | Zonal GATE Office | Tentative List of Examination Cities/Towns |
| 1 | Chairperson, GATE, IISc Bangalore, Bengaluru – 560 012 http://gate.iisc.ac.in | Ananthapuramu, Angamaly, Bagalkot, Belagavi (Belgaum), Ballari (Bellary), Bengaluru South, Bengaluru North, Bidar, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Hassan, Hubballi (Hubli), Hyderabad, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kolar, Kozhikode, Kurnool, Malappuram, Mangaluru, Manipal, Mysuru (Mysore), Palakkad, Payyanur, Port Blair, Shivamogga (Shimoga), Thrissur, Tumakuru, Vatakara (30) |
| 2 | Chairperson, GATE, IIT Bombay, Powai, Mumbai – 400 076 https://gate.iitb.ac.in | Ahmedabad, Ahmednagar, Amravati, Anand, Aurangabad, Baramati, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Chandrapur, Gandhinagar, Goa, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Mehsana, Mumbai-Navi Mumbai-Thane, Nagpur, Nanded, Nashik, Pune, Raigad, Rajkot, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Solapur, Surat, Vadodara (27) |
| 3 | Chairperson, GATE, IIT Delhi, HauzKhas, New Delhi – 110 016 http://gate.iitd.ac.in | Ajmer, Alwar, Bikaner, Faridabad, Greater NOIDA, Gurugram, Hisar, Indore, Jaipur, Jammu-Samba, Jodhpur, Kota, Mathura, New Delhi, Rohtak, Srinagar, Sikar, Sonepat, Udaipur, Ujjain (20) |
| 4 | Chairperson, GATE, IIT Guwahati Guwahati – 781 039 http://iitg.ac.in/gate-jam | Agartala, Aizawl, Asansol-Durgapur, Bokaro Steel City, Burdwan, Dhanbad, Dibrugarh, Dimapur-Kohima, Gangtok, Guwahati, Imphal, Itanagar, Jorhat, Kalyani, Muzaffarpur, Patna, Purnea, Shillong, Silchar, Siliguri, Tezpur (21) |
| 5 | Chairperson, GATE, IIT Kanpur Kanpur – 208 016 http://gate.iitk.ac.in | Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad, Bareilly, Bhopal, Gorakhpur, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Varanasi (12) |
| 6 | Chairperson, GATE, IIT Kharagpur Kharagpur – 721 302 http://gate.iitkgp.ac.in | Balasore, Berhampur (Odisha), Bhilai, Bhubaneswar, Bilaspur (CG), Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Eluru, Hooghly (WB), Jamshedpur, Kakinada (AP), Kharagpur, Kolkata, Raipur, Rajamahendravaram (Rajahmundry), Ranchi, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Tadepalligudem, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam (23) |
| 7 | Chairperson, GATE, IIT Madras Chennai – 600 036 http://gate.iitm.ac.in | Alappuzha, Aluva-Ernakulam, Attingal, Chengannur, Chennai South, Chennai West, Chirala, Chittoor, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dindigul, Gudur, Guntur, Kadapa, Kanjirapally, Kanyakumari-Nagercoil, Karimnagar, Khammam, Kodad, Kollam, Kothamangalam, Kottayam, Idukki, Madurai, Muvattupuzha, Namakkal, Nellore, Ongole, Puducherry, Salem, Thanjavur, Thiruvananthapuram, Thoothukudi, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli, Tirupati, Vellore, Villupuram, Virudhunagar, Warangal (40) |
| 8 | Chairperson, GATE, IIT Roorkee Roorkee – 247 667 https://www.iitr.ac.in/gate/ | Ambala, Amritsar, Bathinda, Dehradun, Ghaziabad, Haldwani, Hamirpur-Una (HP), Jalandhar, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Ludhiana, Meerut, Mohali-Chandigarh, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, NOIDA, Panipat, Pathankot, Patiala-Sangrur, Roorkee, Shimla-Solan, Yamunanagar (22) |
| 2 | International GATE* | Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Colombo (Sri Lanka), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Dubai (UAE), Kathmandu (Nepal), Singapore (6) |
*Note – International Centres for GATE-2021 will continue IF the travel and other infrastructural issues normalize by November 2020 from the present COVID-19 pandemic situation, OTHERWISE, GATE-2021 examination at International Centres will be “CANCELLED”.
This is a tentative list, and any change will be updated on the website.
Choice of Examination City: The candidate can choose FOUR cities from the list of examination cities given in the above table. The first, second and third choices must be from the same GATE zone and fourth choice can be from any GATE zone.
If a candidate chooses a particular city (in a particular zone) as the first choice, then he/she will be able to choose the city of second and third choice ONLY from that particular zone. However, the fourth choice can be from any one of the listed cities in India (i.e., no restriction on the zone for the fourth choice city). Note that, because of the operational constraints, the GATE Committee reserves the right to add a new city or remove an existing one, and allot a city that may not be from any of the choices selected by the candidate.
GATE 2021 Information Brochure
Click here to Download GATE 2021 Information Brochure
Pattern of GATE 2021 Examination
| Particulars | Details |
| Examination Mode | Computer Based Test (CBT) |
| Duration | 3 Hours |
| Number of Subjects (Papers) | 27 |
| Sections | General Aptitude (GA) + Candidate’s Selected Subject |
| Type of Questions | Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) and/or Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions |
| Questions test these abilities | RecallComprehensionApplicationAnalysis and Synthesis |
| Number of Questions | 10 (GA) + 55 (subject) = 65 Questions |
| Distribution of Marks in all Papers EXCEPT papers AR, CY, EY, GG, MA, PH, XH and XL | General Aptitude: 15 Marks + Engineering Mathematics: 13 Marks + Subject Questions: 72 Marks = Total: 100 Marks |
| Distribution of Marks in papers AR, CY, EY, GG, MA, PH, XH and XL | General Aptitude: 15 Marks + Subject Questions: 85 Marks = Total: 100 Marks |
| Marking Scheme | All of the questions will be of 1 mark or 2 marks |
Detailed Marking Scheme
| Paper Code | General Aptitude (GA) Marks | Subject Marks | Total Marks | Total Time (Minutes) |
| AE, AR, AG, BT, CE, CH, CS, CY, EC, EE, ES, EY, IN, MA, ME, MN, MT, PE, PH, PI, TF, ST and BM | 15 | 85 | 100 | 180 |
| GG [Part A + Part B (Section 1 Geology OR Section 2 Geophysics)] | 15 | 25 + 60 | 100 | 180 |
| XE (Section A + Any TWO Sections) | 15 | 15 + (2×35) | 100 | 180 |
| XH (Section B1 + Any ONE Section) | 15 | 25 + (1×60) | 100 | 180 |
| XL (Section P + Any TWO Sections) | 15 | 25 + (2×30) | 100 | 180 |
GATE 2021 Revised Syllabus
Syllabus for each of the papers has been revised for GATE-2021.
The syllabus for each of the papers can be found by clicking on the papers (subject) below.
GATE 2021 Preparation Tips
Candidates can check here some preparation tips to score well in GATE 2021 the exam:
- Check the complete syllabus, exam pattern, marking scheme of GATE 2021.
- Make a schematic study target with time limit and follow it throughout your preparation.
- Follow good reference books for GATE 2021 preparation.
- Solve previous years question papers and sample papers.
- Take online mock tests.