GATE Exam Pattern 2020: Syllabus, Highlights

GATE Exam Pattern 2020: GATE is a national level entrance exam conducted annually for admission in engineering programmes in IITs, IISc, and other engineering institutes. There is a large number of applicants who participate in the GATE entrance exam. It requires a lot of patience and high-level preparation to become GATE qualified. GATE exam consists of 23 papers where all are the computer-based test. Candidate must be aware about the exam pattern and syllabus before appearing in the entrance test. The IIT Delhi will conduct the GATE 2020 exam on 1st, 2nd, 8th & 9th February 2020. In this article, aspirants can check crucial information regarding GATE Exam Pattern 2020 and the syllabus of the exam.

Update: The GATE 2020 exam schedule has been released. The registration process is going to start from 3rd September 2019. Interested candidates can submit the application form till 24th September 2019. The GATE 2020 exam is scheduled to be held on 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th February 2020.

GATE Exam Pattern 2020

The GATE exam will include 23 papers (disciplines) which will be held through online mode i.e. Computer Based Test (CBT). One must start preparation according to the prescribed exam pattern and syllabus. The candidates can avail information from the official website of the exam conducting authority. However, the information pertaining to GATE Exam Pattern 2020 is provided here in this article below. Check the details below:

• Papers: The GATE exam consists of 23 papers in different disciplines.
• Mode of Exam: The exam is an online test i.e Computer Based Test.
• Exam duration: The entrance test will be of 3.00 hours
• Total Number of Questions: Paper will consist of 65 questions having weightage of 100 marks.
• Type of Questions: The exam will contain both multiple-choice questions (MCQ) as well as numerical answer type (NAT) questions.
• Marking Scheme: objective type questions will carry 1 mark and NAT questions will carry 2 marks. Negative marking is applicable for MCQ type question only and as a result 1/3rd mark will be deducted for the wrong answer.

List of GATE 2020 Papers with their Respective Codes

Paper	Code	Paper	Code
Aerospace Engineering	AE	Architecture and Planning	AR
Production and Industrial Engineering	PI	Electrical Engineering	EE
Mining Engineering	MN	Chemical Engineering	CH
Textile Engineering and Fiber Science	TF	Ecology and Evolution	EY
Metallurgical Engineering	MT	Computer Science and Information Technology	CS
Physics	PH	Electronics and Communication Engineering	EC
Mechanical Engineering	ME	Civil Engineering	CE
Mathematics	MA	Biotechnology	BT
Petroleum Engineering	PE	Chemistry	CY
Life Sciences	XL	Agricultural Engineering	AG
Engineering Sciences	XE

GATE Exam Pattern 2020: XE and XL Papers and Code

The XE (Engineering Science) and XL (Life Science) papers are of general nature. The papers with their codes are as under:

XE Paper Section	CODE	XL Paper Sections	CODE
Engineering Mathematics (Compulsory)	A	Chemistry (Compulsory)	P
Fluid Mechanics	B	Biochemistry	Q
Materials Science	C	Botany	R
Solid Mechanics	D	Microbiology	S
Thermodynamics	E	Zoology	T
Polymer Science and Engineering	F	Food Technology	U
Food Technology	G
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences	H

Details of Paper and Question Type

General Aptitude Questions: All papers will contain some questions based on General Aptitude. The question will be of Language and Analytical Skills apart from the subject concerned.

XE Paper (Engineering Science): The one, who is appearing in the XE paper, has to answer the following question based on:

1. Section A- Engineering Mathematics as a compulsory subject
2. General Aptitude
3. Any two XE section from B to H

The candidate can choose any two sections from B to H during the examination after analyzing questions. The candidate can answer only two optional sections at a time. If anyone wants to change the option section midway of the exam, he/she must deselect the previously chosen option.

XL Paper (Life Science): Candidate appearing in the XL paper, will have to attempt the following:

1. Section A- Chemistry as a compulsory subject
2. General Aptitude
3. Any two XL section from Q to U

Candidates have to choose two sections from Q to U during the exam after analyzing the questions. At a time only two sections can be answered. Candidate can change midway by deselecting previous chosen option.

Exam duration and Marks

The Gate exam will consist of a single question paper of 3.00 hours duration. Examination for all 23 papers will be held online i.e. Computer Based Test mode. The exam will contain total 65 questions carrying 100 marks. Paper will contain both objective type questions and numerical answer type questions. The computer screen will go off automatically at the end of 3 hours window.

Question Papers and Pattern

• All the papers will contain total 65 questions of maximum 100 marks, where 10 questions carrying a total of 15 marks will be based on General Aptitude.
• Paper belonging the codes AE, BT, AG, CH, CS, CE, EC, EE, ME, IN, MN, MT, PE, TF, PI and XE, the Engineering Mathematics will carry 15% of the total marks, the General Aptitude section will carry 15% of the total marks and the remaining 70% of the total marks will be allotted to the subject concerned.
• Papers belonging to the codes AR, CY, EY, GG, MA, PH and XL, the General Aptitude section will carry 15% of the total marks and the remaining 85 of total marks is allotted to the concerned subject.
• Multiple choice questions will contain four options out of which one answer will be correct. The question will carry 1 or 2 mark in each paper and section.
• Numerical Answer Type Question will also carry 1 or 2 marks each in all paper and sections. The candidate has to answer using the virtual keyboard.

Marking Scheme of the GATE Exam

General Aptitude Questions	In all papers, General Aptitude questions will carry 15 marks. Total 10 questions will be there; where 5 questions carrying 1 mark each (total 5 marks) and 5 questions carrying 2 marks each (total 10 marks).
Question Paper other than GG, XE and XL	25 questions carrying 1 mark each (total 25 marks) and 30 questions carrying 2 marks (total 60 marks). Paper will contain both MCQ and NAT questions where no option will be given for numerical answer type questions.
GG (Geology and Geophysics) Paper	General Aptitude section is compulsory. Apart from GA section, the paper will consist of two part i.e. Part A and Part B. The Part A is common for all candidates. Part B will consist of two section having Geology and Geophysics where candidate has to attempt one part. Part A will contain total 25 MCQ type questions carrying 1 mark each (total 25 marks). Each section of Part B consists of 30 objective type questions carrying 2 marks. Some of the question may be numerical type.
XL Paper (Engineering Sciences)	Section A-Engineering mathematics section is compulsory. The section having total 11 questions carrying 15 marks, 7 questions carrying 1 mark each and 4 questions carrying 2 marks each. Other section from B TO H, contains 22 questions of 35 marks.
XL Paper (Life Sciences)	Section P Chemistry is compulsory. This section will contain 15 questions of 25 marks. Other section of XL paper (Q to U), will contain 20 questions of 30 marks.

GATE Exam Pattern 2020: Important Highlights 

• A candidate can appear in one GATE Paper only.
• If any candidate submitted more than one application for the same paper, he will be allowed to appear in one session only. The duplicate/triplicate application will be treated as one application and the application fee will not be refunded.
• Candidate cannot change Paper after submission of the application form.
• Candidate cannot enter into the exam hall after 30 minutes from the commencement of exam.
• For every wrong attempt in multiple-choice questions, there will be a penalty. 1/3rd mark will be deducted for 1 mark MCQ type question and 2/3 mark will be deducted for 2 mark questions.
• No negative marking for the wrong attempt in numerical answer type questions.
• The candidate is expected to appear in the respective exam in the concerned discipline as per his/her qualifying degree. However, the candidate can choose any paper of GATE 2020 exam, but it is always better to select the paper with corresponding eligibility criteria.

Official Website: http://gate.iitd.ac.in/

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