GATE 2026 Counselling: Check Eligibility, Documents Required and Process

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering 2026 ( GATE )

DeskCalelnderResult - 19 Mar '26

UPASANA PRADHAN
Updated on Feb 20, 2026 23:27 IST

By UPASANA PRADHAN, Assistant Manager- Editorial

GATE 2026 counselling will be start after announcement of results. As per official notification, GATE 2026 result date is March 19, 2026. GATE 2026 counselling process is done by CCMT and COAP and is held in several rounds. The process of GATE counselling 2026 comprises registration, choice filling and locking, depositing of fees, followed by seat allotment and reporting to institute. COAP counselling is for IITs admission, and CCMT for NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs admission. GATE 2026 admission counselling is conducted by two major bodies- COAP (for admission to IITs) and CCMT (for admission to various universities and institutes, like NITs and IIITs). Read below to know more about GATE MTech counselling process

Table of contents
  • What is GATE 2026 Counselling?
  • GATE 2026 Exam Dates & Schedule
  • GATE CCMT 2026 Counselling Dates
  • GATE 2025 COAP Counselling Dates
  • GATE 2026 Counselling Eligibility Criteria
  • GATE 2026 Counselling Documents Required
  • IIT MTech Admission through GATE 2026 COAP Counselling
  • NIT, IIIT, CFTI MTech Admission Through GATE 2026 CCMT Counselling
  • Tips for Successful GATE 2026 Counselling
  • GATE Counselling 2026 FAQs
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What is GATE 2026 Counselling?

GATE counselling 2026 will take place separately. IIT Guwahati is not responsible for conducting counselling. Only GATE -qualifed candidates will be eligible to participate to admission counselling. The portals: COAP and CCMT are authorities to announce counselling schedule and registration process. The counselling process will be held in different rounds, based on GATE cutoff scores, branch, seat availability, etc. 

  • COAP, also known as Common Offer Acceptance Portal is used for admission to IITs. 
  • CCMT, also known as Centralised Counselling for MTech/MArch/MPlan is used to offer admission to NITs, IIITs, and other GFTIs.

Also Read:

Safe score for GATE ECE

How many candidates qualified in the GATE exam

Top GATE branches and cutoff trends

GATE Cutoff for NITs

 

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   When will GATE 2026 counselling process start?
A: 

The GATE counselling process starts after the announcement of results. The GATE counselling is conducted by COAP and CCMT. The COAP (Common Offer Acceptance Portal) is the counselling portal that offers admission to IITs. While CCMT (Centralised Counselling for MTech/M.Arch/M.Plan) is the counselling portal that offers admission to NITs, IIITs, and other GFTIs. The GATE CCMT/COAP counselling usually starts in the second or third week of May. 

Q:   What is the mode of the GATE 2026 counselling?
A: 

The GATE counselling is conducted online by CCMT and COAP. Authorities will announce GATE results 2026 on March 19. Qualified candidates can participate in counselling. COAP is done IIT and IISc admission and CCMT for NITs and other institutions.

Q:   Who will conduct GATE 2026 counselling?
A: 

GATE counselling 2026 will be conducted by COAP and CCMT, which will be done by respective IITs and IISc on rotational basis. 

  • Through COAP, students will be offered admission to IITs
  • Through CCMT, students will be offered admission to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs.

GATE 2026 Exam Dates & Schedule

Take a look at the table below for the complete schedule of GATE 2026 exam

DatesUpcoming Exam Dates
Feb ' 26

GATE 2026 Master Question Paper

TENTATIVE
Feb ' 26

GATE 2026 Response Sheet Release Date

TENTATIVE
Feb ' 26

GATE 2026 Answer Key (Provisional)

TENTATIVE
19 Mar ' 26

GATE 2026 results

27 Mar ' 26 - 31 May ' 26

GATE 2026 Scorecard (free download)

May ' 26

COAP 2026

TENTATIVE
May ' 26

CCMT 2026

TENTATIVE
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GATE CCMT 2026 Counselling Dates

The CCMT 2026 counselling dates will be released on its official website. The dates will be updated here. It is conducted in three phases, followed by two special rounds (depending on the seat availability). The CCMT dates will comprise the registration, choice filling and locking, seat allotment, and reporting. 

Also read: GATE IIT Bombay Cutoff

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GATE 2025 COAP Counselling Dates

The GATE COAP registration 2026 is expected to start in the first or second week of May. Candidates have to register to generate a COAP ID to participate in the counselling. The dates will be updated here once released. Candidates are advised to go through the website for frequent updates. Also, after the declaration of the result, many IITs like IIT Bombay and IISc Bangalore will release their cutoff, which can be helpful for students to strategise their college choices. 

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GATE 2026 Counselling Eligibility Criteria

The GATE counselling process is done after the result declaration. Respective IIT does not conduct admission counselling. It is done by COAP for IITs and CCMT for NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. The mode of GATE MTech 2026 counselling is online and done in phases. Candidates must meet the eligibility to attend counselling, which are as follows - They must have qualified GATE and required educational qualification with a minimum passing mark of 60%. Relaxation is offered to reserved category students.

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GATE 2026 Counselling Documents Required

While reporting to allotted college, candidates must keep following documents ready for verification

  • Provisional seat allotment letter
  • GATE 2026 scorecard
  • Valid photo ID proof
  • Birth certificate
  • All education marksheets (from class 12 to graduation)
  • Category certificate (if applicable)
  • Provisional certificate or degree certificate
  • Passport size photograph
  • Seat acceptance proof
  • Printout of the registration form
  • Migration and transfer certificate
  • Self-attested photocopies of all the above documents
GATE Logo

IIT MTech Admission through GATE 2026 COAP Counselling

COAP portal allows candidates to apply for IITs for MTech programmes. It conducts five main and five additional rounds of counselling for seat allotment.

GATE COAP 2026 Counselling Registration Process

  • Visit official website of COAP portal and register using GATE details
  • Verify email and mobile number.
  • Login and fill details
  • Fill and lock choices within deadline
  • Wait for allotment results
GATE Logo

NIT, IIIT, CFTI MTech Admission Through GATE 2026 CCMT Counselling

CCMT counselling offers MTech admission to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs. To participate, candidates need to meet criteria for CCMT GATE counselling 2026. 

Eligibility to participate in CCMT

  • Candidates must have a valid GATE score of 2024/2024/2023
  • A minimum of 6.5 CGPA or 60% marks for general and OBC 
  • For SC/ST/PwD category candidates, minimum qualifying mark is 6.0 CGPA or 55% marks.

CCMT Seat Allotment Process

Candidates have to perform following during CCMT GATE counselling process -

  • Freeze: Accept allotted seat and confirm submission

  • Float: Keep seat but open for better choices in upcoming rounds

  • Slide: Keep seat in same institute but opt for a better specialisation.

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Tips for Successful GATE 2026 Counselling

While participating in GATE counselling 2026 process, candidates must research colleges carefully, based on the last five year's cutoff records. Since, select colleges based your preference and look for research facilities and placement records. Do keep an eye on the official website for latest notifications. Lastly, plan properly and keep all documents ready.

Read more
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GATE Counselling 2026 FAQs

Check Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to GATE counselling 2026

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   What are the stages involved in GATE counselling?
A: 

GATE counselling is done by CCMT and COAP to offer admission to MTech and research programmes. The mode of counselling is online. Stages of GATE counselling are as follows -

  • Candidate registration
  • Choice filling
  • Choice locking and fee payment
  • Seat acceptance and downloading the seat allotment letter
  • Reporting to the allotted institute for document verification
Q:   Who can download the GATE scorecard?
A: 

Candidates who have passed GATE exam can download scorecard. The validity of GATE exam scorecard is three years. It is available from March 27 at GOAPS portal. Candidates use their enrollment ID and password to download.

Q:   What is the GATE cutoff for CSE?
A: 

The GATE 2025 cutoff of computer Science and information technology (category-wise) can be checked below -

  • For general - 29.2
  • OBC-NCL/EWS - 26.2
  • SC/ST/PwD - 19.4

The cutoff is the minimum mark that is required for all candidates to qualify for the exam. IIT Guwahati will announce the GATE cutoff 2026 after the announcement of results. 

Q:   What is the expected GATE 2026 cutoff marks?
A: 

The expected GATE 2026 exam cutoff may be somewhere around 28-37 for general category, 26 -28.3 for OBC/EWS and 27-31 for SC/ST category. The actual GATE 2026 cutoff will be announced along with the results in March.

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GATE Exam

Student Forum

chatAnything you would want to ask experts?
Write here...

Answered 2 hours ago

No, the GATE 2026 question paper has not been released. The expected release date is last week of February 2026.

S

Shiksha Hazarika

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 hours ago

The difficulty level of GATE question paper changes every year, as different IITs and IISc Bangalore conduct the competitive exam on rotational basis. However, based on the last past 5 to 10 years of GATE paper review, the difficulty level usually remains moderate to tough mostly.

I

Indrani Uniyal

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 2 hours ago

There is no one IIT that is consistent with GATE question paper difficulty level. However, based on students and subject experts, it is observed that IIT Bombay and IISc Bangalore has a record of setting the toughest GATE question paper so far. Apart from that, IIT Kanpur is also known for setting d

...Read more

P

Piyush Shukla

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 8 hours ago

GATE counselling 2026 will be conducted by COAP and CCMT, which will be done by respective IITs and IISc on rotational basis. 

  • Through COAP, students will be offered admission to IITs
  • Through CCMT, students will be offered admission to NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs.

S

Shiksha Gaurav

Contributor-Level 7

Answered 20 hours ago

GATE EC exam - Electronics and Communication Engineering paper was held on February 15 in the first shift- 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. 

U

UPASANA PRADHAN

Contributor-Level 10

Answered Yesterday

Securing 25 marks in GATE is just reaching the qualifying cutoff. For SC/ST or PwD applicants, 25 marks can be average and safe for securing good GFTIs. However, targeting core branches can be impossible.

In addition, 25 marks in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering can give different results, base

...Read more

P

Piyush Shukla

Contributor-Level 7

Answered Yesterday

GATE qualification is relatively low compared to other postgraduate engineering entrance exams. On average, acceptance rate falls between 15 - 20%. 

Last year, as per statistical report, out of 936019 registered candidates, 747319 candidates appeared, and 8761 students qualified. 

Overall, general cu

...Read more

A

Abhay Choudhury

Contributor-Level 7

Answered Yesterday

No, objections cannot be raised after the declaration of GATE results. Candidates can only challenge provisional answer key. 

S

Sumridhi Sinha

Contributor-Level 7

Answered Yesterday

After the declaration of GATE result, the qualified candidates will have to participate in counselling process. It must be noted that, IIT Guwahati does not conduct GATE counselling. 

Admission counselling is done by COAP and CCMT portals. 

  • Common Offer Acceptance Portal (COAP) is the centralised port

...Read more

U

UPASANA PRADHAN

Contributor-Level 10

Answered Yesterday

Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati will release GATE provisional answer key 2026 in the last week of February. The provisional answer key will have answers created by authorities. With help of answer key, students will be able to tally their responses and calculate probable scores. 

B

Bhumika Uniyal

Contributor-Level 7

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