GATE CS Exam Pattern and Marking Scheme

Before you plan your preparation, know exactly how the GATE Computer Science and Information Technology (CS) paper is built and marked. This page explains the pattern, the three question types, negative marking, and how to work out your raw score from a response sheet.

The paper at a glance

Engineering Mathematics (including Discrete Mathematics) and the core subjects together make 55 questions worth 85 marks: 25 one-mark and 30 two-mark questions.

The three question types

Points that cost students marks every year:

• An MSQ gives marks only if you select exactly the set of correct options. One extra or one missing option gives zero.
• A NAT answer may be an integer or a decimal; read whether the question asks you to round, and to how many places. The official answer key often gives a range for decimal answers.
• An unattempted question gives zero. Guessing is free on MSQ and NAT, but costs marks on MCQ when wrong.

Calculating your raw score

Raw score = (marks from correct answers) − (negative marks from wrong MCQs).

For example, suppose you answer 15 one-mark MCQs correctly and 4 wrongly, 20 two-mark MCQs correctly and 6 wrongly, and score 20 marks from MSQ and NAT:

• Correct MCQ marks: 15 × 1 + 20 × 2 = 55
• Negative marks: 4 × 1/3 + 6 × 2/3 = 4/3 + 4 = 16/3 ≈ 5.33
• Raw score: 55 + 20 − 5.33 = 69.67

const correct = 15 * 1 + 20 * 2;
const negative = 4 * (1 / 3) + 6 * (2 / 3);
const raw = correct + 20 - negative;
console.log("negative:", negative.toFixed(2));
console.log("raw score:", raw.toFixed(2));

negative: 5.33
raw score: 69.67

Raw marks, normalised marks and GATE score

When a paper is held in a single session, the marks out of 100 are used directly. When it is held in more than one session (for example as CS1 and CS2), the marks are normalised first, so that a harder session does not put its candidates at a disadvantage. The marks are then converted into a GATE score out of 1000, which PSUs and admissions use. The exact formula is published in the official information brochure each year.

The qualifying marks (cut-off) are set separately for each paper and each category every year, so do not rely on old numbers: check the result notification of the year you appear.

Exam-day strategy

1. First pass: attempt every question you can solve in under two minutes, NATs and MSQs included.
2. Second pass: come back to the longer two-mark questions.
3. Last 15 minutes: review marked questions; guess a NAT or MSQ rather than leaving it blank, but guess an MCQ only if you can eliminate at least two options.

With four options and no elimination, a random MCQ guess has an expected value of 1/4 × 1 − 3/4 × 1/3 = 0 marks for a one-mark question. Eliminating even one option makes the expected value positive.

Practice