GATE EXAM PATTERN

QUESTION PAPER PATTERN

The question paper will consist of only objective type questions. Candidates have to mark the correct choice by darkening the appropriate bubble against each question on an Objective Response Sheet (ORS). There will be negative marking for wrong answers. The deduction for each wrong answer will be 25% of the allotted marks.

Each paper contains 60 questions carrying 100 marks.

Question Papers bearing the codes : AE, AG, AR, CE, CH, CS, CY, EC, EE, IN, MA, ME, MN, MT, PH, PI, PY and TF

Paper Code	Patterns of Question papers	Negative Marks for wrong Answer
AE, AG, AR, CE, CH, CS CY, EC, EE, IN, MA, ME, MN, MT, PH, PI , PY, TF	Q.1 to Q.20 : Will carry one mark each (sub-total 20 marks).	1/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer
	Q.21 to Q.50 : Will carry two marks each (sub-total 60 marks)	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.51 through Q.56 (3 pairs) will be common data questions. Each question will carry two marks	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Question pairs (Q.57, Q.58) and (Q.59, Q.60) will be linked answer questions. The answer to the second question of the last two pairs will depend on the answer to the first question of the pair. If the first question in the linked pair is wrongly answered or is un-attempted, then the answer to the second question in the pair will not be evaluated. Each question will carry two marks	There will be negative marks only for wrong answer to the first question of the linked answer question pair i.e. for Q.57 and Q.59, 2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer. There is no negative marking for Q.58 and Q.60.
GG Paper : (Geology & Geophysics) Paper
PART  A	Part A common to both Geology & Geophysics candidates
	Q.1 to Q.20) carrying one mark each (sub-total 20 marks).	1/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
Sections 1 & 2 in PART B	Part B will contain two sections : Section 1 (Geology) and Section 2 (Geophysics).
	In this section, Q.21 to Q.50 (30 questions) will carry two marks each (sub-total 60 marks).	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.51 to Q.56 (3 pairs) will be common data questions Each question will carry two marks.	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Question pairs (Q.57, Q.58) and (Q.59, Q.60) will be linked answer questions:. The answer to the second question in these two pairs will depend on the answer to the first question of the pair. If the first question in the linked pair is wrongly answered or is un-attempted, then the answer to the second question in the pair will not be evaluated.	There will be negative marks only for wrong answer to the first question of the linked answer question pair i.e. for Q.57 and Q.59, 2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer. There is no negative marking for Q.58 and Q.60.
XE Paper - Section A (Engineering Mathematics)
Section A in XE paper	There will be 12 questions carrying 20 marks in XE Section A (Engineering Mathematics) paper
	Q.1 to Q.4 (4 questions) will carry one mark each (sub-total 4 marks).	1/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.5 to Q.12 (8 questions) will carry two marks each (sub-total 16 marks)	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
XE section papers (Sections B through G) will contain 24 questions carrying 40 marks
Sections B, C, D, E, F & G in XE papers	Q.1 to Q.8 (8 questions) will carry one mark each (sub-total 8 marks)	1/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.9 to Q.18 (10 questions) will carry two marks each (sub-total 20 marks).	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.19 through Q.22 (2 pairs) will be common data based questions. Each will carry two marks	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.23, Q.24 will be linked answer questions. The answer to the second question of the pair of linked question will depend on the answer to the first question of the pair. If the first question in the linked pair is wrongly answered or is un-attempted, then the answer to the second question in the pair will not be evaluated. Each will carry two marks	For Q.23, 2/3 mark will be deducted for wrong answer. There will be no negative mark for Q.24.
XL Paper Section H (Chemistry)
Section H in XL paper	There will be 18 questions carrying 30 marks in XL Section H paper
	Q.1 to Q.6 (6 questions) will carry one mark each (sub-total 6 marks).	1/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.7 to Q.14 (8 questions) will carry two marks each (sub-total 16 marks)	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	(Q.15, Q.16) will be common data questions . Each question will carry two marks each	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Question pair (Q.17, Q.18) will have linked answer question. Each question will carry two marks each. There will be negative marks only for wrong answer to the first question of the linked answer question pair.	For Q.17, ⅔ mark will be deducted for wrong answer. There is no negative mark for Q.18.
XL Paper Sections (Sections I through M)
Sections I, J, K, L & M in XL paper	XL section papers (Sections I through M) will contain 21 questions carrying 35 marks
	Q.1 to Q.7 (7 questions) will carry one mark each (sub-total 7 marks).	1/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.
	Q.8 to Q.21 (14 questions) will carry two marks each (sub-total 28 marks).	2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong answer.