Zollege is here for to help you!!
Need Counselling
Nidhi Bamnawat's profile photo

Nidhi Bamnawat

| Updated On - Mar 26, 2026

GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff decides the minimum marks needed to pass the GATE exam and get a valid scorecard. IIT Guwahati released GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff on March 19, 2026 along with results for all 30 papers. GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff ranges from 25 marks to 39.8 marks across different branches for the General category.

  • Instrumentation has highest GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff at 39.8 marks followed by Mechanical at 35.8 and Mathematics at 34.7 for General category

  • Electrical has lowest GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff at 25 marks with Electronics at 26.4 and Chemical at 29 marks for General category
  • Data Science cutoff jumped from 29 to 32.5 marks showing 3.5 marks increase compared to GATE 2025 due to rising popularity
GATE 2026 Qualifying Cutoff Out: Check Branch Wise Cutoffs

Related Articles:

Key Summary:
  • Over 7.47 lakh students appeared in GATE 2026 across 30 papers with results and qualifying cutoff declared together
  • Category wise GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff follows fixed formula where OBC gets exactly 90% of General cutoff and SC/ST gets exactly 67% of General marks
  • Scorecard validity is 3 years from result date meaning GATE 2026 scorecard works for admissions till 2029 but does not guarantee seat
  • CSE cutoff remained stable at 30 marks while Mechanical stayed at 35.8 showing consistent difficulty level compared to GATE 2025

GATE 2026 Qualifying Cutoff: Branch Wise Marks

Branch / Paper General OBC-NCL / EWS SC / ST / PwD Paper Code
Computer Science & Engineering 30.0 27.0 20.0 CS
Data Science and AI 32.5 29.2 21.6 DA
Mechanical Engineering 35.8 32.2 23.8 ME
Mathematics 34.7 31.2 23.1 MA
Civil Engineering 29.2 26.2 19.4 CE
Electronics and Communication 26.4 23.7 17.6 EC
Electrical Engineering 25.0 22.5 16.6 EE
Instrumentation Engineering 39.8 35.8 26.5 IN
Chemical Engineering 29.0 26.1 19.3 CH
Aerospace Engineering 30.0 27.0 20.0 AE
GATE 2026 Qualifying Cutoff Out: Check Branch Wise Cutoffs

GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff is out of 100 marks. Students scoring above GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff get valid scorecards.

Related Articles:

GATE 2026 Qualifying Cutoff: Category-wise Comparison

Category Cutoff Formula CSE Example ME Example EE Example
General / EWS 100% of base cutoff 30.0 35.8 25.0
OBC-NCL 90% of General cutoff 27.0 32.2 22.5
SC / ST / PwD 67% of General cutoff 20.0 23.8 16.6

GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for OBC is calculated as 9/10 times General marks. GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for SC/ST is 2/3 times General marks.

GATE 2026 vs 2025 Qualifying Cutoff Trends

Branch GATE 2024 GATE 2025 GATE 2026
CSE 29.5 29.2 30.0
ME 32.5 35.8 35.8
EE 25.0 25.0 25.0
ECE 25.0 25.0 26.4
CE 26.6 29.2 29.2
DA 29.5 29.0 32.5
GATE 2026 Qualifying Cutoff Out: Check Branch Wise Cutoffs

GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for Data Science jumped by 3.5 marks compared to 2025 due to more students choosing this paper.

Read More:

GATE 2026 Qualifying Cutoff vs Admission Cutoff

Cutoff Type What It Means Example Marks Use
Qualifying Cutoff Minimum marks to pass GATE and get scorecard 25 to 40 out of 100 Get scorecard valid for 3 years
IIT Admission Cutoff Marks needed for IIT MTech seat 650 to 850 GATE score Actual admission to IIT Bombay, Delhi
NIT Admission Cutoff Marks needed for NIT MTech seat 500 to 750 GATE score Admission through CCMT counselling
PSU Cutoff Marks needed for PSU jobs 700 to 850 GATE score GAIL, BHEL, NTPC recruitment

GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff only confirms you passed GATE exam. Admission to IITs and NITs needs much higher scores than qualifying cutoff.

Also Check:

GATE 2026 Qualifying Cutoff FAQs

Ques. What is GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for CSE General category?

Ans. GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for CSE General category is 30 marks out of 100. GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for CSE OBC is 27 marks and SC/ST/PwD is 20 marks. This is minimum marks to get GATE 2026 scorecard.

Ques. What is difference between GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff and admission cutoff?

Ans. GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff is minimum marks to pass exam and get scorecard (25 to 40 marks). Admission cutoff is much higher marks needed for IIT or NIT seat (650 to 850 GATE score). GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff only gives you scorecard, not admission.

Ques. Which branch has highest GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff?

Ans. Instrumentation Engineering (IN) has highest GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff at 39.8 marks for General category. Mechanical Engineering is second with GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff at 35.8 marks and Mathematics is third at 34.7 marks.

Ques. How is GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff calculated for OBC and SC/ST?

Ans. GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for OBC is 90% of General cutoff (multiply General by 9/10). GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff for SC/ST is 67% of General cutoff (multiply General by 2/3). For example, if CSE General GATE 2026 qualifying cutoff is 30, then OBC is 27 and SC/ST is 20.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, please refer the official website of the exam.

Ask your question

Subscribe To Our News Letter

Get Latest Notification Of Colleges, Exams and News

© 2026 Patronum Web Private Limited