GATE 2026 Seat Matrix: Total Intake for IITs & NITs, Reservation Criteria
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering 2026 ( GATE )
Result - 19 Mar '26
GATE 2026 seat matrix: With GATE result 2026 to be released on March 19, and counselling to begin soon. Candidates must have started estimating the total number of seats reserved for admission through GATE in IITs, NITs, and other universities. With 8 lakh applicants (approx) registered, it is expected that the competition is going to get tough. Based on past trends, around 13000+ seats are mainly reserved for IITs and approx 22000+ seats for NITs and IIITs. Check complete GATE 2026 seat intake analysis, predictions, and expected cutoff details here.
GATE 2026 admission counselling is about to start soon. IIT Guwahati will declare GATE result 2026 on March 19, as per the official announcement. After the result, COAP and CCMT portal will be made available for GATE counselling 2026. However, with the help of GATE seat matrix 2026, students can get an idea about how many seats are reserved across CCMT and COAP based on cutoff ranges, category, and other factors.
Latest: IIT Madras GATE MTech 2026 Admission Dates OUT, Check details
For GATE, conducted for 30 test papers and hundreds of institutes participating for admission, understanding how seats are distributed across IITs, NITs, IIITs, and PSUs is important. In this article, we have discussed aspect in detail along with expected GATE qualifying mark, GATE 2026 marks vs rank, and other details.
In addition, candidates can also get an idea on what can be a safe score for GATE CSE, along with GATE 2026 cutoff for NITs and IITs.
Also read:
| GATE Safe Score for Mechanical Engineering | Safe Score for GATE EE | Safe score for GATE 2026 ECE |
| GATE 2026 expected cutoff for DA | GATE 2026 cutoff for ECE | Safe score for GATE DA 2026 paper |
- GATE Result 2026 Date
- What is GATE 2026 Seat Matrix?
- GATE 2026 Branch-Wise Seat Matrix (Expected)
- GATE Reservation Criteria: Seats Allocated for Admission
- IISc Bangalore GATE 2026 Seat Matrix: Reservation Criteria & Seat Intake of Top Branches
GATE Result 2026 Date
IIT Guwahati will announce GATE exam result on March 19. Candidates can check their qualifying status at gate2026.iitg.ac.in at GOAPS portal. To check result, candidates need to provide their enrollment ID and password.
What is GATE 2026 Seat Matrix?
The GATE exam seat intake is the distribution of seats for admission to IITs, NITs, and other institutes. The seat availability for GATE counselling is mainly divided based on three major criteria: institute type, branch or specialisation, and GATE reservation criteria.
Candidates must note that IIT Guwahati will not conduct the counselling process. Separate institutes conduct GATE counselling on a rotational basis similar to how the GATE exam is conducted. Now, the counselling process is again divided into parts: COAP and CCMT.
- COAP - Common Offer Acceptance Portal, this is a counselling portal dedicated for admission to IITs, and IISc Bengaluru. Students will be offered admission to the courses based on their GATE result/scores. While each IIT will release its respective seat matrix, the total intake for MTech programmes for IITs mainly exceeds 13000+.
Predict Now using GATE College Predictor
- CCMT - Centralised Counselling for MTech/MArch/MPlan Admission portal handles admission for around 31 NITs, 26 IIITs, and many GFTIs. Overall, the approx GATE 2026 CCMT seat availability exceeds 20000+. Check: CCMT GATE cutoff.
- GATE 2026 seat matrix for PSU Recruitment - Many PSU companies like NTPC, IOCL, AAI, and BHEL do not provide seats in academics but recruits students based on their GATE rank. Based on past trends and experts analysis, a GATE rank under 200 is excellent, and under 1000 is generally considered safe for PSU jobs through GATE.
Also read:
| GATE 2026 cutoff for ME | GATE 2026 cutoff for civil engineering (CE) | GATE 2026 cutoff for EE |
| GATE 2026 CSE cutoff | GATE Scholarships | Admission to IITs without GATE scores |
GATE 2026 Branch-Wise Seat Matrix (Expected)
The official GATE 2026 seat matrix is updated annually and changes every year, based on candiates appeared, competition level, etc. In this section, candidates can check the estimated GATE seat intake 2026 (IITs and NITs) for popular branches.
| GATE Branch |
Estimated GATE 2026 seat matrix (IITs and NITs) |
Demanding specialisations |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Science (CSE) |
3000+ |
AI, Data Science, and Cybersecurity |
| Mechanical Engineering (ME) |
5500+ |
Thermal, Production Manufacturing, and Robotics |
| Electronics (ECE) |
4500+ |
VLSI, Embedded Systems, and Communication |
| Electrical Engineering (EE) |
3500 - 4500+ |
Power systems, Control and Automation |
| Civil Engineering (CE) |
4000+ |
Geotechnical and Transportation |
GATE Reservation Criteria: Seats Allocated for Admission
Candidates can check an estimated GATE seat intake (as per reservation criteria) below -
| Category |
Reservation Criteria (%) |
|---|---|
| General (GN) |
40.5% |
| OBC |
27% |
| SC |
15% |
| ST |
7.5% |
| EWS |
10% |
IISc Bangalore GATE 2026 Seat Matrix: Reservation Criteria & Seat Intake of Top Branches
The Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore has started GATE 2026 MTech and MDes admission process. In addition, the institute has also released GATE 2026 seat matrix for its counselling and seat allotment process. Online registrations are open and the last date to submit application form is March 23. Candidates can check IISc Bangalore GATE cutoff and selection process to analyse and make their decisions before COAP counselling begins.
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Commonly asked questions
Based on the past-year's records and experts analysis, it is expected that the average expected cutoff for GATE exam 2026 can fall somewhere between 28 to 37 for general category, 26 to 28.3 marks for OBC-NCL/EWS category, and 27 -31 for SC/ST category.
The above cutoff mark can vary for each paper, depending on the question paper difficulty level and past cutoff trends.
Yes, it is expected that the GATE 2026 cutoff may increase compared to last year, for the following reasons -
Increase in the number of registered applicants.
Difficulty level of the question paper
Inclination towards newer branches, such as Data Science, Machine Learning, Quantum Tech, etc.
Due to the introduction of new and innovative programmes, there can be slight increase in the cutoff trend, especially for CSE, EE, EC, DA, CE and ME
A GATE score of 500 can be roughly around 40 to 50 raw scores out of 100 marks. However, it can vary depending for each engineering discipline. For example, for CSE it can be around 45 to 56 marks, for mechanical engineering it can correspond around 46 - 55, and for ECE it can roughly correspond around 50 to 60 marks depending on the paper difficulty level.
GATE 2026 IISc Bangalore Seat Intake for Popular Branches
| Discipline |
GATE 2026 total seat intake |
Category -wise seat intake |
|---|---|---|
| Computer Science (CSE) |
62 |
Gen - 25 | OBC - 17 | SC- 9 | ST - 5 | EWS - 6 |
| ECE |
19 |
Gen - 8 | OBC - 5 | SC- 3 | ST - 1 | EWS - 2 |
| EE |
24 |
Gen - 10 | OBC - 6 | SC- 4 | ST - 2 | EWS - 2 |
| CE |
32 |
Gen - 13 | OBC - 9 | SC- 5 | ST - 2 | EWS - 3 |
| ME |
21 |
Gen - 9 | OBC - 6 | SC- 3 | ST - 2 | EWS - 1 |
As the GATE COAP/CCMT counselling 2026 will begin soon, candidates are advised to keep their documents ready along with GATE scorecard. The seat availability fluctuates every year and expected to remain vacant after round 3 of CCMT and often provide special round, allowing students with low GATE scores to get admission to top MTech colleges in India.
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Commonly asked questions
40 marks in GATE will approximately give a rank between 2000 to 5000 depending on the paper difficulty level and the number of registered candidates in that particular branch. Obtaining 40 marks is mainly considered average, opening chances to a few new IITs (less popular branches) and NITs.
However, rank for 40 marks in the Graduate Aptitude in Engineering can give a different rank value for different branches and disciplines. For example, 40 marks in GATE CSE can correspond to 2000 to 5000 rank. On the other hand, 40 marks in GATE ME, can correspond to 2700 - 7100 rank.
Advice to students who secured 40 marks in GATE exam: Better to apply in some state-level colleges or new NITs.
The highest GATE cutoff score for NIT M.Tech admission typically ranges from 800 to 850 in the first round. Some of the top NITs include NIT Surathkal, NIT Trichy, and NIT Warangal, accept admissions with GATE score 800 above for branches like EC, CS, ME, and EE.
Qualified candidates have to register at the CCMT portal to participate in the GATE counselling. The counselling process will begin in June/July.
Indian Institute of Technology will release GATE cutoff 2026 along with result. The IITG GATE 2026 result date is March 19. The conducting body will declare the exam result and cutoff for all 30 subjects. The cutoff for GATE 2026 will be available category-wise. Candidates securing the minimum cutoff will be eligible to participate in counselling.
Note: The minimum qualifying cutoff will be different for all subjects.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 days ago
Overall, the difficulty level of GATE 2026 paper was moderate to tough. The papers that were held on the first day were easy to moderate. The difficulty level of the popular papers- CSE, ME, CE, ECE, and EE had mixed student reactions from students and experts. Refer below to get a brief analysis of
B
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 6 days ago
Aspirants can get admission in M.Tech at IIITDM Kancheepuram without GATE scores. Candidates need to appear for a written test conducted by the institute for admission to M.Tech programme. The results of the test are announced on the institute's website.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered a week ago
GATE is one of the accepted entrance test for admission to the M.E. programme at SSN College of Engineering. Another accepted entrance exam at SSN College of Engineering is CEETA PG 2026.
R
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No, GATE registrations have been closed for IIT Hyderabad PhD admissions to the academic year 2026. However, GATE is not a mandatory entrance exam for all PhD admissions at IIT Hyderabad.
Thus, candidates can still apply for PhD courses at IIT Hyderabad into the departments which accept candidates wi
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No, GATE is not a compulsory entrance exam for PhD admissions at IIT Hyderabad. However, every department of IIT Hyderabad has a separate eligibility and selection criteria for their offered PhD courses.
In some departments, candidates are required to appear for the GATE in order to be eligible for I
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Yes, according to GITAM University, candidates can answer their paper in whichever order they want.
Y
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a week ago
Yes, University of Mysore does accept GATE scores. Students seeking admissions to MTech/ PhD programmes can submit GATE score. This applies to programmes offered through various affiliated institutes/ college also. Students can check the university's site to know more.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
COAP also called as Common Offer Acceptance Portal is a platform used for GATE qualified candidates to exercise their college acceptance choices for admission to MTech/Ph/ME programmes. The COAP is a counselling platform used by participating IITs, IISc, and PSU for job recruitments.
It is one platfo
H
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 weeks ago
In GATE, normalisation process generally makes a gap of 4 to 7 marks (approximately) between actual and normalised scores. However, if difficulty level of paper was high then the marks might increase. On other hand, for easier paper, marks may reduce offering fairness across sessions.
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 2 weeks ago
No, the GATE 2026 exam has already been concluded at this point for Jerusalem College of Engineering ME admissions. The entrance exam was conducted in the month of February and the result is expected to be revealed soon in the upcoming month of March.
Candidates who failed to appear for GATE can stil
S
Contributor-Level 10
Upasana Pradhan is an Mtech graduate in Electronics and Communication Engineering from DTU who specialises in curating postgraduate and undergraduate engineering entrance exam content, such as GATE, TS PGECET, KCET,
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