IAE ACADEMY BLOG
GATE preparation,
from the past papers.
Where the marks come from, what to study first and how to handle the paper, worked out from the previous-year papers we have solved.
New to GATE? Start with the GATE Guide: how the exam is marked, scored and applied for.
STARTING OUT
General Aptitude and Engineering Mathematics marks
General Aptitude is 15 marks in every GATE paper, from one shared syllabus. Engineering Mathematics is a further 13 marks in six of the seven papers IAE teaches, but each paper prints its own list. Here is where those marks have landed across 21 solved EC, EE and IN papers.
7 min read · 1 source · 4 tables
6–12 MONTHS OUT
Where GATE EC's marks have come from
Across the seven papers of 2018, 2020 and 2022–2026, GATE EC's 85-mark subject component has leaned towards some subjects: Engineering Mathematics averaged 12.7 marks a paper against Networks' 6.7. This post lines up every subject's marks year by year and orders them by average, for a candidate deciding what to study first. It is not a forecast for 2027.
6 min read · 3 tables
6–12 MONTHS OUT
Where GATE EE's marks have come from
Nine published study subjects, mapped against the seven GATE EE papers of 2018, 2020 and 2022–2026, show where the 85-mark subject component's marks have landed, subject by subject and year by year. The same counts, ranked by average marks per paper, turn into an order for deciding what to open first.
7 min read · 3 tables
6–12 MONTHS OUT
Where GATE IN's marks have come from
A subject-by-subject count of where GATE Instrumentation Engineering's 85-mark subject component has gone across the seven papers of 2018, 2020 and 2022–2026. The counts, not a forecast, are turned into an order.
6 min read · 3 tables
6–12 MONTHS OUT
Where GATE BT's marks have come from
Of the study library's three GATE BT subjects, Fundamentals of Biological Engineering has carried the most marks on average across the seven papers of 2019, 2020 and 2022–2026: 20.4 a paper, against 16.7 for Genetics, Cell and Molecular Biology and 12.1 for Recombinant DNA Technology and Tools. This post lines those marks up year by year and names the three syllabus sections the library has not covered yet. It is a count of past papers, not a forecast for 2027.
6 min read · 3 tables
6–12 MONTHS OUT
Recurring slips in GATE questions, by subject
Every worked solution in the IAE study library ends with a note on the slip that question can lead to. Read together, the notes show the same slips coming back from question to question: this post lists the recurring slips found in each subject, 120 in all, each recorded in at least three solutions and linked to past questions that turn on it.
35 min read · 1 table
THE FINAL WEEKS
What a wrong answer costs in GATE, by question type
A wrong answer costs different amounts on GATE depending on whether it is MCQ, MSQ or NAT — the brochure spells out how much. This post sets out that rule and how many of each paper's 85 subject marks have fallen into each type across the papers counted (2018, 2020 and 2022–2026; BT: 2019, 2020 and 2022–2026), plus the arithmetic behind what a guess is worth.
6 min read · 5 tables
THE FINAL WEEKS
GATE's most repeated topics, paper by paper
The topics that had a GATE question in six or seven of seven years, listed for EC, EE, IN, BT and CS, with each paper's questions and marks per topic. Every topic links to its notes, and to its formula sheet where it has one. A count of past papers, not a forecast for 2027.
10 min read · 5 tables
AFTER THE RESULT
IISc's GATE cut-offs and offer scores, 2024–2026
IISc publishes three different GATE score figures each year — the M.Tech call cut-off, the lowest score at which an M.Tech offer was made, and the research interview cut-off — and they answer different questions. This post sets all three side by side for seven papers, 2024–2026, from IISc's own reports, naming the programmes behind the 2026 call cut-off ranges and every offer floor.
9 min read · 3 tables
IF YOU WOULD RATHER TALK IT THROUGH