GATE 2022 Exam Pattern (OUT): Check paper wise marking scheme

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering 2026 ( GATE )

DeskCalelnderResult - 27 Mar '26 - 31 May '26

Updated on Aug 4, 2021 16:55 IST
Preparing for GATE 2022 entrance exam? Read this article to know about GATE 2022 exam pattern.

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.

Table of contents
  • 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:

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Particulars

Details

Examination Mode

Computer Based Test (CBT)

Duration

3 hours (180 minutes)

  • Number of Subjects (Papers)

29

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 for testing these abilities

  • Recall
  • Comprehension
  • Application
  • Analysis & 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

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:

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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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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

Aishwarya Uniyal

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

...Read more

N

Nishtha Shukla

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

Nishtha Shukla

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

...Read more

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Neerja Rohatgi

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

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

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

Piyush Shukla

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 weeks ago

IIT Guwahati has declared GATE 2026 result. Candidates can access their result at official website.

S

Shiksha Gaurav

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

Sumridhi Sinha

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

Abhay Choudhury

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

Aishwarya Uniyal

Contributor-Level 7