CUET PG Vs GATE: Major Difference, Participating Institutes Name, Counselling Process

Admission to the postgraduate degree in India is based on an entrance test or merit. Admission to the institutes or universities offering PG programs is based on CUET PG or GATE. Here, we will about the universities or colleges that offer admission based on CUET PG or M.Tech. Detailed information on CUET PG and GATE is also mentioned here.

Common University Entrance Test (CUET) PG and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) are two national-level entrance tests. Both exams are conducted for admission to the postgraduate course in universities in India. CUET PG exam is a gateway to Central, State, Government Institutions / Fully funded, Deemed Universities / Private Universities. GATE provide you access to the top engineering colleges in India for M.Tech admission. Many PSUs accept the GATE score for recruitment. 

CUET PG Vs GATE: Major Difference

Let us know about these two exams in detail.

What is CUET PG?

Common University Entrance Test PG is a national-level entrance examination. The National Testing Agency conducts the CUET PG exam once a year. Students who wish to get admission to the PG degree courses need to appear for the test. Admission to science, M.Tech, Language, Humanities, Common, and Acharya domains are based on CUET PG. Students who qualify the entrance test are eligible for admission to the Central, State, Government Institutions / Fully funded, Deemed Universities / Private Universities.

What is GATE?

The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering is national level exam. GATE is conducted by IISc and all IITs on behalf of the National Coordination Board, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India. Students who qualify the entrance exam get admission to IITs, NITs, IIEST Shibpur, IIITs and CFTIs.

CUET PG Vs GATE: Mode of Exam

CUET PG and GATE are conducted as computer based test across various test cities in India. The exam duration of CUET PG is 90 minutes, and for GATE it is 3 hours. Both of them are conducted in multiple phases.

College Accepting CUET PG

Students can check the name of the CUET PG participating institutes on the website, exams.nta.nic.in/cuet-pg/. Here we have mentioned the top 10 university names.

• Assam Down Town University
• Assam Women's University
• Baba Gulam Shah Badshah University
• Barkatullah University
• Centre for Development Studies
• Cluster University of Jammu
• Cluster University of Srinagar
• Delhi Teachers University
• Delhi Technological University
• Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya

Also Read: CUET PG 2026 Participating Institutes

College Accepting GATE

GATE score is accepted by IITs, NITs, IISc, GFTIs and many government and private universities.

Also Read: GATE 2026 Participating Institutes

CUET PG Vs GATE: Counselling Process

The counselling of CUET PG and GATE takes place in May / June. It is conducted online. Students who qualify in the examination can participate in the online counselling process for admission to the participating institutes. Students are allotted courses and colleges based on their rank in the respective exam. Students have to confirm their admission by paying the seat acceptance fees after the allotment.

M.Tech admission counselling for IITs is done through the COAP portal, and for NITs, IIEST Shibpur and some IIITs, GFTIS M.Tech / M.Arch / M.Plan program admission is done through CCMT. There is no centralised counselling portal for admission to the colleges accepting CUET PG score. Check the exam website for detailed information.

Also Read: 

• CUET PG counselling 2026
• GATE 2026 counselling