GATE Exam Pattern 2017, New Structure & Marking Scheme

GATE Exam Pattern 2017: Graduate Aptitude Test for Engineering is a national level examination conducted every year. It is an examination jointly regulated by seven IIT’s and IISC on rotational basis, for providing admission to the post-graduate engineering courses like M.Tech, M.E offered by the IITs, NITs, other GFTI and various private institutions.

In GATE examinations, candidates can apply for only one of the 23 papers that are mentioned in the table below. Candidates are free to choose any paper according to their admission plan, keeping in mind the eligibility criteria of the institutions. For more information regarding the eligibility criteria, follow the link.

*XE (Engineering Sciences) and **XL (Life Sciences) papers are of general nature and will comprise of Sections listed in the above table.

GATE Revised Scheme of Examination 2017 

First of all, we need to look at the exam structure for GATE 2017. The GATE examination consists of a single paper of 3-hour duration that contains 65 questions carrying a maximum of 100 marks. The question paper will consist of both multiple choice questions (MCQ) and numerical answer type (NAT) questions. ONLINE Computer Based Test (CBT) mode will be followed for all the papers.

1. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) carrying 1 or 2 marks each; Each of  the multiple choice objective questions in all papers and sections contain four answer choices, out of which you have to select correct answer.

2. Numerical Answer Questions, carrying 1 or 2 marks each; The answer is a real number, which you have to enter on the computer screen. No choices are shown for this type of questions.

GATE Exam Pattern 2017

In all the papers, there will be a total of 65 questions carrying 100 marks. Out of these 65 questions, 10 questions carrying a total of 15 marks will be on General Aptitude (GA). The GA section includes 5 questions carrying 1-mark each (sub-total 5 marks) and 5 questions carrying 2-marks each (sub-total 10 marks). However, some of the papers follow different exam patterns for the examination.

GATE Exam Pattern for papers bearing the codes AE, AG, BT, CE, CH, CS, EC, EE, IN, ME, MN, MT, PE, PI and TF is given in the table below:

• Engineering Mathematics questions carrying 15% of the total marks.
• General Aptitude questions carrying 15% of the total marks.
• Technical questions related to the subject of the paper carrying 70% of the total marks.

GATE Exam Pattern for papers bearing the codes AR, CY, EY, GG, MA and PH is given in the table below:

• General Aptitude questions carrying 15% of the total marks.
• Technical questions related to the subject of the paper carrying 85% of the total marks.

GATE Exam Pattern for GG, XE and XL Papers

The GATE Exam pattern for some of the papers i.e GG, XE and XL is different than the rest. It is important for candidates, who are appearing for the above mentioned papers, to closely look into it:

GG (Geology and Geophysics) Paper

The question paper is divided into two parts in GG Paper. Part A is common for all candidates and consists of 25 multiple-choice questions carrying 1-mark each. Part B contains two sections: Section 1 (Geology) and Section 2 (Geophysics) of which the candidate must attempt only one. Each section in Part B consists of 30 multiple choice questions carrying 2-marks each.

XE (Engineering Sciences) Paper

For XE Paper, Engineering Mathematics section (Section A) is compulsory. This section consists of 11 questions carrying a total of 15 marks: 7 questions carrying 1-mark each (sub-total 7 marks), and 4 questions carrying 2-marks each (sub-total 8 marks). Each of the other sections(Sections B through H) of the XE paper contains 22 questions carrying a total of 35 marks: 9 questions carrying 1-mark each (sub-total 9 marks) and 13 questions carrying 2-marks each (sub-total 26 marks).

XL (Life Sciences) Paper

For XL paper, Chemistry section (Section P) is compulsory. This section consists of 15 questions carrying a total of 25 marks: 5 questions carrying 1-mark each (sub-total 5 marks) and 10 questions carrying 2-marks each (sub-total 20 marks). Each of the other sections(Sections Q through U) of the XL paper contains 20 questions carrying a total of 30 marks: 10 questions carrying 1-mark each (sub-total 10 marks) and 10 questions carrying 2-marks each (sub-total 20 marks).

GATE 2017 Marking Scheme

In the GATE 2017 examination, there will be negative marking for the multiple choice type questions. For 1-mark multiple-choice questions, 1/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer. Likewise, for 2-mark multiple-choice questions, 2/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer. There is NO negative marking for numerical answer type questions.

We conclude our article on the GATE exam pattern and its structure. In addition to this, you can know about the syllabus for some of the main papers of GATE Exams from the following links:

• For Civil Engineering Paper
• For Electrical Engineering Paper
• For Mechanical Engineering Paper
• For Computer Science and Information Technology Paper
• For Electronics and Communications Paper

We hope this article provides you with useful information regarding the GATE 2017 examination. Post your doubts or queries in the comment section below.

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