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GATE cut-off: the qualifying formula, the 2026 figures and what they do not tell you

By the PrepMatic team · Updated 9 Oct 2026 · 6 min read

The GATE cut-off is the qualifying mark for each paper and category, out of 100. For the General category it is max(25, min(40, μ + σ)), where μ is the mean and σ the standard deviation of all candidates who appeared in that paper. OBC-NCL and EWS candidates need 0.9 times that mark, and SC, ST and PwD candidates need two-thirds of it. In the official GATE 2026 figures, the General cut-off ran from the 25-mark floor to the 40-mark cap, depending on the paper. It decides only whether you get a scorecard; admission and PSU cut-offs are separate. GATE 2027 cut-offs are computed after the exam, so nobody can state them today.

The formula, and what the floor and cap do

The General qualifying mark is calculated paper by paper after the exam. Three rules shape it.

• Floor of 25. If μ + σ comes out below 25, the cut-off is 25.
• Cap of 40. If μ + σ comes out above 40, the cut-off is 40. Older articles that say "25 or μ + σ, whichever is higher" leave this cap out.
• Category scaling. OBC-NCL and EWS use 0.9 times the General mark. SC, ST and PwD use 2/3 times it.

The same rules give a useful bound, because the formula cannot step outside the floor and cap:

In other words, a General candidate who scores 40 or more out of 100 (after normalisation, if the paper has several sessions) clears the qualifying mark in any paper under the formula in the GATE 2027 brochure. That is a statement about qualifying only, and it says nothing about admission. The score itself is explained on the GATE score calculation page, where a General candidate at the qualifying mark scores 350.

GATE 2026 official cut-offs by paper

These are the figures from the IIT Guwahati cut-off page. They illustrate how the formula played out, and they say nothing about 2027.

Reading the table:

• The CS row shows the multipliers cleanly: 0.9 × 30.0 = 27.0 and 2/3 × 30.0 = 20.0. Other rows differ slightly from the simple product because the published figures are shown to one decimal place. For AR, 2/3 of 40.0 is 26.67 and the table shows 26.6.
• The CS cut-off sits at 30.0, between the floor and the cap, so for CS the formula's μ + σ was about 30. IN sat just under the cap at 39.8.
• Six cut-offs were exactly 40: AR, EY, MT, PE, XH-English and XH-Sociology. For these papers μ + σ came out at 40 or more. Six papers sat at the 25 floor: AE, AG, BM, CH, CY and GE. For those, μ + σ was 25 or less.
• The "appeared" column counts papers, not people. A candidate who took two papers appears twice.

A cut-off near 26 in a large paper like EC or DA is not a sign that the paper was easy. The formula is relative to how everyone scored, so a very low cut-off can mean the paper was hard and scores clustered low.

Qualifying, admission and PSU cut-offs are different things

There is no single "GATE cut-off for IIT". Each institute sets its own by branch and category, and many add a written test or interview. Ministry of Education guidelines ask for at least 70% weightage to GATE in postgraduate admission, and the rest may be a test, interview or academic record. For PSUs, read the advertisement: POWERGRID's Engineer Trainee notice for GATE 2027 (dated 24 September 2026) asks for a qualified score in the matching paper, a minimum of 60% in the degree and an upper age of 28 as on 31 March 2027, and will announce the selection process later. Qualifying is the entry ticket, and the routes after it are on the after-GATE guide.

Using the numbers to set a target

1. Find your paper in the table above, or on the official 2026 page, and note the General (or your category's) figure.
2. Treat it as the minimum. Aim for a mock average well above it, because mocks are not the exam and a normalised mark can differ from a raw one.
3. Check whether your paper might have several sessions. The list for 2027 has not been announced, and in 2026 CS and CE ran two sessions each.
4. After the exam, compute your raw marks from the official key with the method on the GATE answer key page and compare them with the cut-off the organiser publishes after the exam. The GATE result page covers what follows.
5. For admission targets, look at the institute's own published criteria, not an aggregator's "GATE cut-off" list.

Because the 2027 syllabi were revised, past-year patterns are a weaker guide than usual, so practise with the official papers for question style and not for prediction. See GATE previous year papers and mock tests.

Preparing for a cut-off with PrepMatic

A qualifying mark is a modest target; the real competition is for admissions and jobs. PrepMatic's free GATE assessment (about 15 questions, no timer) shows where you stand against the paper's maximum marks, your readiness and your weakest subjects. Mocks follow the real paper and apply negative marking, so you see an honest score and a subject-wise breakdown. The app's predicted score is a preparation guide, not a GATE score, because it does not reproduce the official normalisation. The GATE hub links every guide.

Frequently asked questions

What is the GATE 2026 cut-off for CSE?

The General cut-off for CS was 30.0 out of 100, with 27.0 for OBC-NCL and EWS and 20.0 for SC, ST and PwD. That is an illustration, and 2027 will be computed separately.

What is the minimum qualifying mark in GATE?

For the General category the formula never goes below 25. For OBC-NCL and EWS the floor is 22.5, and for SC, ST and PwD it is about 16.7.

Can the GATE cut-off be more than 40?

Not for the General category: the formula caps it at 40. Several 2026 papers sat exactly at 40 and none went above it.

Is the GATE cut-off the same for every branch?

No. It is computed separately for each paper, so CS, EC, ME and the others have different cut-offs each year.

Is the GATE qualifying cut-off the same as the IIT admission cut-off?

No. The qualifying mark gives you a scorecard. Each IIT or institute sets its own admission criteria, usually with a written test or interview.

Official sources

• GATE 2026 cut-off page (IIT Guwahati): registered, appeared and qualifying marks by paper.
• GATE 2027 information brochure: the qualifying-mark formula (section 8).
• GATE 2027 official website (IIT Madras): results and scorecards.
• POWERGRID ET-2027 advertisement: an example of PSU criteria.

Check the official site for the cut-off that applies to your own cycle.

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