GATE Cutoff 2026: Expected for IITs and NITs

The GATE 2026 cut-off is expected to range between 28-34 marks for popular branches like Computer Science Engineering, and 25-30 marks for core branches like EEE and ECE. To get into a top IIT, you'll likely need around 60–75+ marks, and for PSUs, a score around 70–85+ is needed.  

The GATE Exam 2026 concluded on Feb 15, 2026. The GATE cutoff will be released soon after the release of the GATE result 2026. This article will provide you with a detailed breakdown of the GATE Exam Cutoff 2026, including expected cutoffs, previous year trends, college-wise cutoffs, and factors affecting them. 

GATE (Expected) Cutoff 2026 Category-wise

The GATE 2026 cutoff will be released after the GATE results are released. The expected GATE 2026 cutoff has been added below for your reference, based on previous year’s trends.

GATE (Expected) Cutoff 2026 Category-wise

Paper	General	OBC-NCL/EWS	SC/ST/PwD
Computer Science (CS)	27–30	24–27	18–21
Mechanical (ME)	29–32	26–29	19–22
Electrical (EE)	25–28	22–25	17–20
Civil (CE)	26–29	23–26	18–21
Electronics (EC)	28–31	25–28	19–22
Chemical (CH)	31–34	28–31	21–24
Instrumentation (IN)	32–35	29–32	22–25
Physics (PH)	33–36	30–33	23–26
Mathematics (MA)	26–29	23–26	18–21
Life Sciences (XL)	35–38	31–34	25–28

What are the different types of GATE Cutoff?

The GATE Cutoff is divided into 3 types of cutoffs, i.e., qualifying cutoff, Admission cutoff, and PSU cutoff. The detailed version of all trees has been added to the table below:

Types of GATE Cutoff

Type	Declared By	Purpose	Basis
Qualifying Cutoff	Conducting IIT (e.g., IIT Roorkee for 2026)	To determine if a candidate has qualified for GATE	Depends on exam difficulty and normalization
Admission Cutoff	IITs, NITs, IIITs, and GFTIs	For admission to postgraduate courses	Depends on seats, applications, and branch demand
PSU Cutoff	Individual PSUs (like ONGC, NTPC, BHEL)	For shortlisting candidates for interviews	Based on the job role and the number of applicants

The "Marks vs. Score" Concept

GATE marks and scores are two different aspects of marking. The GATE marks are the raw or normalised score based on correct or incorrect answers, whereas the score is a relative rank calculated using the formula provided by the IITs for multi-session paper variations. The GATE marks are calculated out of 100, whereas the GATE score is calculated out of 1000.

In popular branches like Civil and Mechanical, 75 marks can lead to a score around 800. In less popular streams like Ecology, the same 75 marks can result in a score above 950.

Understanding the Normalization Process

As the gate exam is conducted in multiple sessions to ensure fairness the authorities have released a normalisation formula, this formula helps in adjusting the variations in the difficulty level of the question paper across all the gate sessions that means if you appeared in a tough exam shift your raw marks might be increased using the normalisation formula to match the easier shift of that exam the gate normalisation formula is as follows:

Where:

M̂ij = Normalized marks of the jth candidate in the ith session
Mij = Actual marks obtained by the candidate
Mgt = Average marks of the top 0.1% candidates across all sessions
Mtq = Mean + Standard deviation of marks across all sessions
Mti = Average marks of the top 0.1% candidates in that session
Mgq = Mean + Standard deviation of marks of that particular session

Previous Years GATE Cutoff (2025, 2024, 2023)

The Previous year's GATE cutoff has been added below. This will help you in analyzing and figuring out the graph of the cutoff during the previous years and the expected cutoff.

Previous Years GATE Cutoff (2025, 2024, 2023)

Paper	Year	General Cutoff	Reserved Category Cutoff (OBC-NCL/EWS/SC/ST/PwD)
CS	2025	28.4	25.5 – 19.0
ME		29.1	26.2 – 19.5
EE	2024	26.0	23.4 – 17.3
CE		27.2	24.3 – 18.1
EC	2023	25.0	22.5 – 16.6
IN		31.0	28.0 – 21.0
CH		32.1	29.0 – 22.0

GATE Cutoff for Top Institutes (IITs & NITs)

The expected GATE Cutoff for Top Institutes is as follows:

• IITs Admission Cutoff (Expected)

IITs Admission Cutoff (Expected)

Institute	Branch	Cutoff (GATE Score)
IIT Bombay	Computer Science	780–850
IIT Delhi	Mechanical Engineering	750–810
IIT Madras	Electrical Engineering	720–780
IIT Kharagpur	Civil Engineering	680–740
IIT Kanpur	Chemical Engineering	700–760
IIT Roorkee	Electronics & Communication	710–770

• NITs Admission Cutoff (Expected)

NITs Admission Cutoff (Expected)

NIT	Branch	Cutoff (GATE Score)
NIT Trichy	Computer Science	660–720
NIT Surathkal	Mechanical Engineering	620–690
NIT Warangal	Electrical Engineering	630–700
NIT Calicut	Civil Engineering	600–670
NIT Rourkela	Electronics Engineering	610–680

Relevant articles related to GATE

GATE Counselling	GATE Seat Allotment 2026
GATE Marks Vs Rank	GATE Qualifying Marks 2026

GATE PSU Cutoff Scores (Expected)

The PSU Cutoff scores will be released along with the results. The expected PSU cutoff is as follows:

GATE PSU Cutoff Scores (Expected)

PSU	Branch	General Cutoff (GATE Score)
ONGC	Mechanical	830–860
NTPC	Electrical	780–820
IOCL	Chemical	700–750
HPCL	Civil	720–760
BHEL	Electrical	760–810
PowerGrid	Electronics	780–820

How to Check GATE 2026 Cutoff?

Once the GATE 2026 result is released, you can check their cutoff:

1. Visit https://gate.iit.ac.in.
2. Log in using Enrollment ID and Password.
3. View your GATE Scorecard, which shows:

• Marks out of 100
• GATE Score (normalized)
• Qualifying Marks for your category
• All India Rank (AIR)

Understanding the GATE Cutoff 2026 helps you in setting realistic preparation goals and targets. The cutoff will tell you if you have qualified for the exam, been admitted into the master's getting a job in PSU. While qualifying marks show the minimum eligibility to clear the exam, admission cutoffs for IITs, NITs, and PSUs are significantly higher. So, try focusing on the GATE preparation strategy and planning to get the marks above the GATE cutoff. Try aiming well above the cutoff to keep every opportunity open from top IIT admissions to PSU roles.