GATE 2026: New sectional paper under engineering sciences, hike in application fee; what changes this year?
Vagisha Kaushik | August 6, 2025 | 01:40 PM IST | 2 mins read
GATE 2026 registration will start on August 25 at gate2026.iitg.ac.in. GATE exam 2026 will be held for 30 papers on February 7, 8, 14, and 15.
Download GATE previous year question papers to understand exam pattern and difficulty level. Practice with these papers to boost your preparation and improve your score.
Check NowFor the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2026, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has introduced a new sectional paper – energy science – under the engineering sciences subject, giving greater flexibility to the aspirants. The GATE exam 2026 will be conducted for 30 test papers on February 7, 8, 14, and 15 for admissions to postgraduate engineering programmes and recruitment by Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
New: GATE 2026 Admit Card Link; Download Now
GATE 2026: GATE PYQ's | Preparation Tips
GATE 2026 Preparation: Chemical Engineering | CSE | Mechanical Engineering
With the introduction of the new GATE 2026 XE paper section, candidates will now get to choose any two options from eight sections. As per the GATE 2026 exam format, the engineering sciences paper will comprise the following sections:
- Fluid mechanics
- Materials science
- Solid mechanics
- Thermodynamics
- Polymer science and engineering
- Food technology
- Atmospheric and oceanic sciences
- Energy science
The GATE 2026 exam pattern for XE paper gives a weightage of 15 marks to engineering mathematics and 70 marks to the two optional papers (35 marks each).
The addition of a new sectional paper may increase the number of candidates applying for GATE exam 2026 and will impact the GATE cut-off 2026. While the paper will be less competitive, for being new, there will be a lack of exam preparation resources such as previous year question papers.
Also read WBJEE results 2025 tomorrow after prolonged delay over OBC quota
A total of 14,937 candidates registered for the XE paper in the GATE exam held last year, of which; 11,156 attempted the questions. GATE cut-off 2025 for XE dropped to 35.4 for the general category. Anant Prakash Pandey secured the All India Rank (AIR) 1 in the paper with fluid mechanics and solid mechanics as his two sectional paper options.
Among the changes this year, the GATE application fee 2026 has been increased for all categories. While there has been a hike of Rs 100 in the application fee for female and reserved applicants, the fee has gone by Rs 200 for the other candidates including the foreign nationals.
GATE 2026 registrations will start from August 25 on the official website, gate2026.iitg.ac.in. The last date to apply is September 25.
GATE 2026: Sectional papers
Rest of the sectional papers in the GATE exam remain the same as last year.
|
XE Paper Sections |
Code |
XH Paper Sections |
Code |
XL Paper Sections |
Code |
|
Engineering Mathematics (Compulsory) (15 marks) |
A |
Reasoning and Comprehension (Compulsory) (25 marks) |
B1 |
Chemistry (Compulsory) (25 marks) |
P |
|
Any TWO optional Sections (2x35 = 70 marks) |
|
Any ONE optional Section (60 marks) |
|
Any TWO optional Sections (2x30 = 60 marks) |
|
|
Fluid Mechanics |
B |
Economics |
C1 |
Biochemistry |
Q |
|
Materials Science |
C |
English |
C2 |
Botany |
R |
|
Solid Mechanics |
D |
Linguistics |
C3 |
Microbiology |
S |
|
Thermodynamics |
E |
Philosophy |
C4 |
Zoology |
T |
|
Polymer Science and Engineering |
F |
Psychology |
C5 |
Food Technology |
U |
|
Food Technology |
G |
Sociology |
C6 |
|
|
|
Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences |
H |
|
|
|
|
|
Energy Science (Newly Introduced) |
I |
|
|
|
|
Follow us for the latest education news on colleges and universities, admission, courses, exams, research, education policies, study abroad and more..
To get in touch, write to us at news@careers360.com.
Next Story
]Featured News
]- Degrees Without Jobs: 40% of graduates in India can’t find work, fewer get salaried employment, finds report
- IIT Delhi’s Jhajjar campus expansion shelved after technical survey flags weak soil, waterlogging: Govt
- Post-Matric Scholarship: Government plans to impose fee cap, raise income limit to Rs 4.5 lakh next year
- What is the Rohith Act? Provisions, origin, politics of a draft law to combat caste discrimination on campus
- Jadavpur University civil engineer’s work on vernacular architecture and climate resilience wins plaudits
- Minority Scholarships: Rs 3,400 crore unspent, panel says revive scheme in states ‘with no irregularities’
- NMC to medical colleges: File monthly reports on student suicides, ragging cases, faculty vacancies
- Primary school teachers in Karnataka must serve 12 years before promotion, say new recruitment rules
- Education Loan: PM-USP scholarships up 31.6% nationally, but J-K and Ladakh see 10.9% drop in 5 years
- Experts propose 7 spots for university townships in education ministry’s post-budget webinar