Preparing for GATE 2022? Here is all you need to know about GATE 2022 exam pattern.

A candidate preparing for GATE 2022 may have many questions regarding the Exam Pattern of the upcoming exam. Preparing for GATE can be quite tricky and stressful sometimes for a student. To avoid such a situation, they need a perfect study plan. Read this article to know all your queries regarding the GATE 2022 exam pattern.
For a good study plan, every candidate must be aware of the GATE exam pattern. The right GATE preparation plan will include overall strategy, hours an aspirant should devote to studies, study material, quality mock tests, and previous year GATE papers. If a candidate is seeking a good rank in the GATE entrance exam to admission to premier engineering institutes of India or a job to top PSUs (Public Sector Unit), candidates will need to prepare for the exam keeping the GATE syllabus, exam pattern, types of questions, and duration of preparation in mind.
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According to the GATE 2022 exam pattern, candidates will need an all-around preparation for the exam. They can start with a week-wise study plan and check the preparation levels weekly.
- GATE Exam Pattern Highlights
- Paper wise GATE Exam Pattern
- GATE Exam Pattern: Important Points
- When to start preparing for GATE?
GATE Exam Pattern Highlights
Have a look at the table below for GATE exam pattern highlights based on the year 2022:
| Particulars |
Details |
|---|---|
| Examination Mode |
Computer Based Test (CBT) |
| Duration |
3 hours (180 minutes) |
|
29 |
| Sections |
|
| Type of Questions |
|
| Questions for testing these abilities |
|
| 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 |
|
| Distribution of Marks in papers AR, CY, EY, GG, MA, PH, XH and XL |
|
| Marking Scheme |
Questions carry 1 mark and 2 marks |
| Negative Marking |
For a wrong answer chosen in an MCQ, there will be negative marking. For 1-mark MCQ, 1/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer. Likewise, for 2-mark MCQ, 2/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer |
Note: Candidates can appear in more than one of the 29 papers of GATE. however, they must choose the paper combination as prescribed by the exam conducting authority.
Paper wise GATE Exam Pattern
Check the paper-wise marking scheme from the table below:
| Paper Code |
General Aptitude (GA) Marks |
Subject Marks |
Total Marks |
Total Time (Minutes) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AE, AG, BM, BT, CE, CH, CS, CY, EC, EE, ES, EY, IN, MA, ME, MN, MT, NM, PE, PH, PI, TF, ST |
15 |
85 |
100 |
180 |
| AR [Part A + Part B1 or B2 (B1: Architecture or B2: Planning)] |
15 |
60 + 25 |
100 |
180 |
| GE [Part A + Part B (Section I or Section II) |
15 |
55 + 30 |
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 x 35) |
100 |
180 |
| XH (Section B1 + Any ONE Section) |
15 |
25 + 60 |
100 |
180 |
| XL (Section P + Any TWO Sections) |
15 |
25 + (2 x 30) |
100 |
180 |
GATE Exam Pattern: Important Points
Too many formula-based questions in some subjects
When an aspirant is focusing on subjects like Mechanical Engineering, they need not ignore the General Aptitude (GA) section of the exam. During the exam, they must try to finish the GA section as soon as possible to score 9-11 marks easily. Mechanical engineering has more than 800 formulae to remember. So, it is important to practice these formulas and learn them regularly.
Managing Time for Preparation
Students in BTech final year find it difficult to manage time with semester exams in Jan/Dec. It is very tough for them to attend classes in college and in coaching along with studying for their course as well as preparing for GATE. To avoid this, candidates must opt for various online channels that will help them to save time as well as prepare well for the exam. Candidates can also take help from online videos from famous coaching centres.
Practice is very important for online calculators
One should appear in the online mock test having calculators in it. It is so, most of the students use the online calculator for the first time while appearing for the exam. Those who have not practised it before will face difficulty and need more time to solve a question. It leads to a lesser number of attempted questions and then lesser marks later.
Avoid any kind of stress
Do not stress yourself too much during the GATE exam 2022 as this will destroy the hard work. Keep yourself calm during the exam to remember formulae and concepts. If at any stage, a candidate is unable to recollect concepts then they must take a deep breath to calm down and again start attempting the paper.
When to start preparing for GATE?
Experts suggest that the GATE aspirants should start their preparation as soon as possible and they must be clear about which exam they should take. This will give the aspirant a head start and they will be able to understand the concepts better for a particular subject/paper. However, many candidates choose to prepare for the exam before a month or two. This also depends on the ability, dedication of the candidate.
While making a preparation strategy, every candidate must devote equal time to every section of a subject while preparing for it. While studying, they must analyse their strengths and weaknesses. After this, they can develop a clear concept before they begin. Once they will have an idea about how to study, the next step would be to focus on how much of the syllabus can they cover in a given time frame.
Now that the candidates have has covered the complete GATE syllabus then they must start taking a mock test. Candidates must devote their last months to mock tests and solving previous year papers. This way, an aspirant will have a good hand of the speed and accuracy required to solve the GATE question.
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Student Forum
Answered a week ago
Yes, ITT Guwahati released GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff marks for all subjects on March 28. Candidates can check passing mark of respective papers now.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered a week ago
Aspirants with GATE scores can get admission in M.Tech programme at IIIT Pune. The seats are allotted via CCMT Counselling. In 2025, the closing GATE cutoff was 354 for Electronics & Communication Engineering and 536 for CSE. The cutoffs are quite competitive considering the limited seats available
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered a week ago
Aspirants without scores can get admission in M.Tech programme at IIIT Pune. Such candidates need to appear for written test conducted by the institute. Selected aspirants also need to pass the personal interview round for final selection.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered a week ago
JNU CCMT cutoff 2025 was based on the results for the GATE exam, followed by the CCMT counselling process. For the M.Tech Computer Science and Technology course, the overall cutoff ranged from 529 to 338 for the OBC AI category.
Candidates can refer to the table below to know the cutoff range for di
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
The JNU M.Tech cutoff 2025 for the OBC AI category varied from 338 to 529 for the M.Tech CSE and M.Tech ECE courses. In the last round, MTech CSE came out as the more competitive course, with the cutoff being 443.
Students can refer to the table below to know the round 1 and last round JNU CCMT cuto
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
IIT Guwahati has updated the status of GATE result on the homepage of the official website (under the notification tab). Candidates can login to their page and access the result link.
P
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 weeks ago
IIT Guwahati has declared GATE 2026 result. Candidates can access their result at official website.
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 weeks ago
Candidates can find the direct link to access GATE result 2026 at gate2026.iitg.ac.in. The new tab will be created at candidate's login dashboard. The link will reflect once you are logged in.
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 weeks ago
The GATE 2026 final answer key will be released soon. The official announcement will be done by the authorities on official website - gate2026.iitg.ac.in. Candidates must note that final answer key cannot be challenged.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 weeks ago
IIT Guwahati released GATE 2026 final answer key. Candidates can login at GOAPS and access master question paper and answer key.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Result - 27 Mar '26 - 31 May '26
Has IIT Guwahati released GATE cutoff 2026?