IIT Guwahati confirms GATE schedule won’t overlap with UPSC ESE 2026 exam

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has confirmed that the schedule for the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2026 key papers will not affect the UPSC ESE 2026 scheduled on February 8.

IIT Guwahati has assured aspirants that key engineering papers, including Civil Engineering (CE), Electronics Engineering (EC), Electrical Engineering (EE), Geology and Geophysics (GG), Instrumentation (IN), Mechanical Engineering (ME), Production and Industrial (PI), and Geomatics Engineering (GE), will not be scheduled on February 8.

The decision is a relief for thousands of aspirants who were planning to take both exams. Now they can focus on their preparation and plan without worrying about the exam.

Candidates can apply for GATE 2026 by September 28 on the official website, goaps.iitg.ac.in, without any late fee charge. The deadline for GATE 2026 registration with a late fee is October 9.

Also read GATE 2026 syllabus for computer science paper has 10 sections; topics covered

IIT Guwahati will conduct the GATE 2026 exam for MTech aspirants on February 7, 8, 14, and 15 for 30 subjects. Exams will be held in two shifts: morning session, 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, and afternoon session, 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm.

“GATE 2026 committee is aware of a potential schedule clash between GATE and UPSC ESE on February 8, as per the Annual Calendar released by UPSC. Hence, while scheduling the GATE 2026 Test Papers, it will be ensured that the GATE papers (CE, EC, EE, GE, GG, IN, ME, PI) are not scheduled on February 8, 2026,” IIT Guwahati posted on its official X account.

This year, the GATE 2026 registration fee has been increased. All candidates now have to pay Rs 2,000, up from Rs 1,800. For SC, ST, and female applicants, the fee has gone up from Rs 800 to Rs 1,000.