GATE Previous-Year Cut-off: CS, Environmental Science Score 30; Six Papers Touch 40 Marks
Published 12 Sept 20262 min read
IIT Guwahati, the organizing institute for the GATE 2026 examination, has released previous-year paper-wise qualifying cut-off marks for General and SC/ST/PwD categories. The data, covering 35 listed test papers, shows wide variation — from 25 marks in several core engineering and science papers to 40 marks in the toughest-scoring subjects.
The cut-off for Computer Science and Information Technology and Environmental Science and Engineering stood at 30 marks each in the General category. Civil Engineering recorded 28.7 marks, and Electrical Engineering recorded 27.7 marks. Electronics and Communication Engineering and Data Science and Artificial Intelligence were both at 26.4 marks.
Full Paper-Wise GATE Cut-off Table
| Test Paper | Cut-off (General) | Cut-off (SC/ST/PwD) |
|---|---|---|
| Aerospace Engineering | 25 | 16.6 |
| Agricultural Engineering | 25 | 16.6 |
| Architecture and Planning | 40 | 26.6 |
| Biomedical Engineering | 25 | 16.6 |
| Biotechnology | 25.8 | 17.2 |
| Civil Engineering | 28.7 | 19.1 |
| Chemical Engineering | 25 | 16.6 |
| Computer Science and Information Technology | 30 | 20 |
| Chemistry | 25 | 16.6 |
| Data Science and Artificial Intelligence | 26.4 | 17.5 |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | 26.4 | 17.5 |
| Electrical Engineering | 27.7 | 18.4 |
| Environmental Science and Engineering | 30 | 20 |
| Ecology and Evolution | 40 | 26.6 |
| Geomatics Engineering | 25 | 16.6 |
| Geology and Geophysics (Geology) | 39.3 | 26.1 |
| Geology and Geophysics (Geophysics) | 37.1 | 24.7 |
| Instrumentation Engineering | 39.8 | 26.5 |
| Mathematics | 34.7 | 23.1 |
| Mechanical Engineering | 25.2 | 16.7 |
| Mining Engineering | 29.5 | 19.6 |
| Metallurgical Engineering | 40 | 26.6 |
| Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering | 33.7 | 22.4 |
| Petroleum Engineering | 40 | 26.6 |
| Physics | 25.5 | 17 |
| Production and Industrial Engineering | 36 | 24 |
| Statistics | 30.4 | 20.2 |
| Textile Engineering and Fibre Science | 31.5 | 21 |
| Engineering Sciences | 35.2 | 23.4 |
| Humanities and Social Sciences (Economics) | 35.7 | 23.8 |
| Humanities and Social Sciences (English) | 40 | 26.6 |
| Humanities and Social Sciences (Linguistics) | 37.4 | 24.9 |
| Humanities and Social Sciences (Philosophy) | 38.3 | 25.5 |
| Humanities and Social Sciences (Psychology) | 39.3 | 26.1 |
| Humanities and Social Sciences (Sociology) | 40 | 26.6 |
| Life Sciences | 36.3 | 24.1 |
Factors That Determine the GATE Cut-off
The GATE qualifying cut-off is not fixed year to year or paper to paper. According to IIT Guwahati, it depends on:
- Difficulty level of the paper
- Number of candidates appearing for that paper
- Overall performance of candidates
- Marks scored by the top-performing candidates
- Distribution of marks across the candidate pool
- Number of sessions the paper is conducted in
- Normalisation of marks, applied when a paper is held across multiple sessions
This is why papers with fewer candidates or a harder question set — such as Architecture and Planning or the Humanities and Social Sciences streams — tend to show a higher qualifying cut-off than high-volume papers like core engineering branches.
GATE 2026 Candidate Statistics
A total of 7,97,434 candidates appeared for GATE 2026 across all 36 test papers.
GATE 2027 Registration Status
Registration for GATE 2027 is currently open. The regular registration window (without late fee) closes on September 27, 2026; an extended window (with late fee) remains open until October 5, 2026.