GATE Question Paper Pattern

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

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Paper Negative Marks for wrong

Patterns of Question papers
Code Answer

Q.1 to Q.20 : Will carry one

1/3 mark will be deducted for each
mark each (sub-total 20
wrong answer.
marks).

Q.21 to Q.50 : Will carry two

2/3 mark will be deducted for each
marks each (sub-total 60
wrong answer.
marks)

Q.51 through Q.56 (3 pairs)

AE,AG, will be common data 2/3 mark will be deducted for each
AR,CE, questions. Each question will wrong answer.
CH,CS carry two marks
CY,EC,
EE,IN, Question pairs (Q.57, Q.58)
MA,ME, and (Q.59, Q.60) will be linked
MN,MT, answer questions.
PH,PI, The answer to the second There will be negative marks only
PY,TF question of the last two pairs for wrong answer to the first
will depend on the answer to question of the linked answer
the first question of the pair. question pair i.e. for Q.57 and
If the first question in the Q.59, 2/3 mark will be deducted
linked pair is wrongly for each wrong answer. There is no
answered or is un-attempted, negative marking for Q.58 and
then the answer to the second Q.60.
question in the pair will not be
evaluated. Each question will
carry two marks

Paper Negative Marks for

Patterns of Question papers
Code wrong Answer

GG Paper : (Geology & Geophysics) Paper

PART A Part A common to both Geology & Geophysics candidates

(Q.1 to Q.20) carrying one mark 1/3 mark will be deducted

 each (sub-total 20 marks). for each wrong answer.

Part B will contain two sections : Section 1 (Geology) and

Section 2 (Geophysics).

In this section,Q.21 to Q.50 (30

2/3 mark will be deducted
questions) will carry two marks
for each wrong answer.
each (sub-total 60 marks).

Q.51 to Q.56 (3 pairs) will be

2/3 mark will be deducted
common data questions Each
for each wrong answer.
Sections question will carry two marks.
1&2
in Question pairs (Q.57, Q.58) and
There will be negative
PART B (Q.59, Q.60) will be linked answer
marks only for wrong
questions:. The answer to the
answer to the first question
second question in these two pairs
of the linked answer
will depend on the answer to the
question pair i.e. for Q.57
first question of the pair. If the
and Q.59, 2/3 mark will be
first question in the linked pair is
deducted for each wrong
wrongly answered or is un-
answer. There is no
attempted, then the answer to the
negative marking for Q.58
second question in the pair will
and Q.60.
not be evaluated.

XE Paper - Section A (Engineering Mathematics)

There will be 12 questions carrying 20 marks in XE Section A

(Engineering Mathematics) paper

Q.1 to Q.4 (4 questions) will carry

Section A 1/3 mark will be deducted
one mark each (sub-total 4
in XE for each wrong answer.
marks).
paper
Q.5 to Q.12 (8 questions) will
2/3 mark will be deducted
carry two marks each (sub-total
for each wrong answer.
16 marks)

XE section papers (Sections B through G) will contain 24 questions

carrying 40 marks

Sections B, Q.1 to Q.8 (8 questions) will carry

1/3 mark will be deducted
C, D, E, F & one mark each (sub-total 8
for each wrong answer.
G in XE marks)
papers
Q.9 to Q.18 (10 questions) will
2/3 mark will be deducted
carry two marks each (sub-total
for each wrong answer.
20 marks).

Q.19 through Q.22 (2 pairs) will 2/3 mark will be deducted

 be common data based questions.
for each wrong answer.
Each will carry two marks

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 For Q.23, 2/3 mark will be
question of the pair. If the first deducted for wrong answer.
question in the linked pair is There will be no negative
wrongly answered or is un- mark for Q.24.
attempted, then the answer to the
second question in the pair will
not be evaluated. Each will carry
two marks

XL Paper Section H (Chemistry)

There will be 18 questions carrying 30 marks in XL Section H

paper

Q.1 to Q.6 (6 questions) will carry

1/3 mark will be deducted
one mark each (sub-total 6
for each wrong answer.
marks).

Q.7 to Q.14 (8 questions) will

2/3 mark will be deducted
carry two marks each (sub-total
for each wrong answer.
16 marks)
Section H
in XL (Q.15, Q.16) will be common data
paper 2/3 mark will be deducted
questions . Each question will
for each wrong answer.
carry two marks each

Question pair (Q.17, Q.18) will

have linked answer question. Each
For Q.17, ? mark will be
question will carry two marks
deducted for wrong answer.
each. There will be negative
There is no negative mark
marks only for wrong answer to
for Q.18.
the first question of the linked
answer question pair.

XL Paper Sections (Sections I through M)

Sections I, XL section papers (Sections I through M) will contain 21

J, K, L & M questions carrying 35 marks
in XL paper
Q.1 to Q.7 (7 questions) will carry 1/3 mark will be deducted
one mark each (sub-total 7 for each wrong answer.
marks).
 Q.8 to Q.21 (14 questions) will
2/3 mark will be deducted
carry two marks each (sub-total
for each wrong answer.
28 marks).

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Multiple choice questions in all papers and sections will contain four answers,
of which only one is correct. The types of questions in a paper may be based
on following logic:

(i) Recall:

These are based on facts, principles, formulae or laws of the discipline. The
candidate is expected to be able to obtain the answer either from his/her
memory of the subject or at most from a one-line computation.Example

Q. During machining maximum heat is produced

(A) in flank face (B) in rake face
(C) in shear zone D) due to friction between chip and tool.
(ii) Comprehension:

These questions will test the candidate's understanding of the basics of

his/her field, by requiring him/her to draw simple conclusions from
fundamental ideas.

ExampleQ. A DC motor requires a starter in order (A) to develop a starting

torque
(B) to compensate for auxiliary field ampere turns
(C) to limit armature current at starting
(D) to provide regenerative braking

(iii) Application:

In these questions, the candidate is expected to apply his/her knowledge

either through computation or by logical reasoning.

Example

Q. The sequent depth ratio of a hydraulic jump in a rectangular channel is

16.48. The Froude number at the beginning of the jump is:
(A) 10.0 (B) 5.0
(C) 12.0 (D) 8.0
(iv) Analysis and Synthesis:

These can be linked questions, where the answer to the first question of the
pair is required in order to answer its successor. Or these can be common
data questions, in which two questions share the same data but can be
solved independently of one another.

Common data questions:

Multiple questions may be linked to a common data problem, passage and

the like. Two or three questions can be formed from the given common data
problem. Each question is independent and its solution obtainable from the
above problem data/passage directly. (Answer of the previous question is not
required to solve the next question). Each question under this group will
carry two marks.
Example
Common Data, for instance, Questions 55 and 56 in main paper:
Let X and Y be jointly distributed random variables such that the conditional
distribution of Y, given X=x, is uniform on the interval (x-1,x+1). Suppose
E(X)=1 and Var(X)=5/3.

First question using common data:

Q.55 The mean of the random variable Y is

(A) 1/2 (B) 1 (C) 3/2 (D) 2b

Second question using common data:

Q.56 The variance of the random variable Y is

(A) 1/2 (B) 2/3 (C) 1 (D) 2/

Linked answer questions:

These questions are of problem solving type. A problem statement is followed

by two questions based on the problem statement. The two questions are
designed such that the solution to the second question depends upon the
answer to the first one. In other words, the first answer is an intermediate
step in working out the second answer. Each question in such linked answer
questions will carry two marks.

Example
Statement for Linked Answer Questions, for instance, for Questions 59 and 60 in Main
Paper:
Consider a machine with a byte addressable main memory of 216 bytes. Assume that a
direct mapped data cache consisting of 32 lines of 64 bytes each is used in the system. A
50x50 two dimensional array of bytes is stored in the main memory starting from
memory location 1100H. Assume that the data cache is initially empty. The complete
array is accessed twice. Assume that the contents of the data cache do not change in
between the two accesses.

First question of the pair:

Q.59 How many data cache misses will occur in total?

(A) 48 B) 50 (C) 56 (D) 59

Second question of the pair:

Q.60 Which of the following lines of the data cache will be replaced by new
blocks in accessing the array for the second time?
(A) line 4 to line 11 (B) line 4 to line 12
(C) line 0 to line 7 (D) line 0 to line 8

The questions based on the above four logics may be a mix of single
stand alone statement / phrase / data type questions, combination
of option codes type questions or match items types questions.