GATE
Updated: Oct 9, 2026
GATE Cutoff 2027: Branch-wise Qualifying Marks & PSU Admission Benchmarks
The GATE Cutoff 2027 represents the minimum qualifying marks out of 100 required to pass the examination in each subject paper. Two separate cutoffs are relevant to GATE aspirants: the Qualifying Cutoff (announced by IIT Madras alongside results to issue scorecards) and the Admission/PSU Cutoff (determined independently by IITs, COAP, CCMT, and PSUs for admissions and hiring).
Factors Determining GATE Qualifying Cutoff
- Difficulty Level of the Paper: Higher difficulty typically lowers the qualifying benchmark.
- Total Number of Test Takers: Competition density in high-volume papers like Computer Science (CS), Mechanical (ME), and Civil (CE).
- Relative Candidate Performance: Aggregate scoring patterns and standard deviation among top percentiles.
- Reservation Policies: Category-based relaxation rules established by the Ministry of Education (MoE).
Previous Years Branch-wise Qualifying Cutoff Trends (Out of 100)
| Paper Code & Branch | General (UR) | OBC (NCL) / EWS | SC / ST / PwD |
|---|---|---|---|
| CS - Computer Science & IT | 27.6 - 32.5 | 24.8 - 29.2 | 18.4 - 21.6 |
| DA - Data Science & AI | 35.0 - 37.5 | 31.5 - 33.8 | 23.3 - 25.0 |
| ME - Mechanical Engineering | 28.5 - 33.0 | 25.6 - 29.7 | 19.0 - 22.0 |
| CE - Civil Engineering | 26.5 - 30.2 | 23.8 - 27.1 | 17.6 - 20.1 |
| EE - Electrical Engineering | 25.0 - 28.5 | 22.5 - 25.6 | 16.6 - 19.0 |
| EC - Electronics & Communication | 25.0 - 29.0 | 22.5 - 26.1 | 16.6 - 19.3 |
| CH - Chemical Engineering | 31.0 - 35.5 | 27.9 - 31.9 | 20.6 - 23.6 |
| IN - Instrumentation Engineering | 32.0 - 36.0 | 28.8 - 32.4 | 21.3 - 24.0 |
Difference Between Qualifying Cutoff and Admission Cutoff
Aspirants must distinguish between two essential thresholds:
- Qualifying Cutoff: Decided by the GATE committee to declare candidate qualification. Clearing this allows you to download your scorecard.
- Admission Cutoff: Decided individually by institutions (e.g. IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi via COAP; NITs via CCMT) or PSUs (e.g. IOCL, ONGC). Admission cutoffs are usually expressed as a GATE Score out of 1000 (e.g. 750+ for premier IITs) and are significantly higher than the qualifying cutoff.