Qn Pattern--

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
P
a
p
er
Patterns of Question papers Negative Marks for wrong Answer
C
o
d
e
A Q.1 to Q.20 : Will carry one mark each (sub- 1/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong
E, total 20 marks). answer.
A
G
,
A
R
,
C
E,

C
H
,
C
S
C
Y
,E
C
,
E
E,
I
N
,
M
A
,
M
E,

M
N
,
M
T,
P
H
,P
I,
P
Y
,T
F
Q.21 to Q.50 : Will carry two marks each 2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong
(sub-total 60 marks) answer.
Q.51 through Q.56 (3 pairs) will be common 2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong
data questions. Each question will carry two answer.
marks
Question pairs (Q.57, Q.58) and (Q.59,
Q.60) will be linked answer questions. There will be negative marks only for wrong
The answer to the second question of the last answer to the first question of the linked
two pairs will depend on the answer to the
answer question pair i.e. for Q.57 and Q.59,
first question of the pair.
If the first question in the linked pair is 2/3 mark will be deducted for each wrong
wrongly answered or is un-attempted, then answer. There is no negative marking for
the answer to the second question in the pair Q.58 and Q.60.
will not be evaluated. Each question will
carry two marks

Paper
Patterns of Question papers Negative Marks for wrong Answer
Code
GG
Paper :
(Geolog
y&
Geophys
ics)
Paper
Part A common to both Geology &
PART A
Geophysics candidates
(Q.1 to Q.20) carrying one mark each 1/3 mark will be deducted for each
(sub-total 20 marks). wrong answer.
Sections
1&2
Part B will contain two sections : Section
in
1 (Geology) and Section 2 (Geophysics).
PART B

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

2/3 mark will be deducted for each
questions) will carry two marks each
wrong answer.
(sub-total 60 marks).
Q.51 to Q.56 (3 pairs) will be common 2/3 mark will be deducted for each
data questions Each question will carry wrong answer.
two marks.
Question pairs (Q.57, Q.58) and (Q.59,
Q.60) will be linked answer questions:. There will be negative marks only for
The answer to the second question in wrong answer to the first question of the
these two pairs will depend on the linked answer question pair i.e. for Q.57
answer to the first question of the pair. If and Q.59, 2/3 mark will be deducted for
the first question in the linked pair is each wrong answer. There is no negative
wrongly answered or is un-attempted,
marking for Q.58 and Q.60.
then the answer to the second question in
the pair will not be evaluated.
XE
Paper -
Section
A
(Enginee
ring
Mathem
atics)
Section
There will be 12 questions carrying 20
A
marks in XE Section A (Engineering
in XE
Mathematics) paper
paper
Q.1 to Q.4 (4 questions) will carry one 1/3 mark will be deducted for each
mark each (sub-total 4 marks). wrong answer.
 2/3 mark will be deducted for each
Q.5 to Q.12 (8 questions) will carry two
marks each (sub-total 16 marks) wrong answer.

XE
section
papers
(Section
sB
through
G) will
contain
24
question
s
carrying
40
marks
Sections
B, C, D,
Q.1 to Q.8 (8 questions) will carry one 1/3 mark will be deducted for each
E, F &
mark each (sub-total 8 marks) wrong answer.
G in XE
papers
Q.9 to Q.18 (10 questions) will carry two 2/3 mark will be deducted for each
marks each (sub-total 20 marks). wrong answer.
Q.19 through Q.22 (2 pairs) will be 2/3 mark will be deducted for each
common data based questions. Each will wrong answer.
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 For Q.23, 2/3 mark will be deducted for
the answer to the first question of the wrong answer. There will be no negative
pair. If the first question in the linked mark for Q.24.
pair is wrongly answered or is un-
attempted, then the answer to the second
question in the pair will not be evaluated.
Each will carry two marks
XL
Paper
Section
H
(Chemis
try)
Section
There will be 18 questions carrying 30
H in XL
marks in XL Section H paper
paper
Q.1 to Q.6 (6 questions) will carry one 1/3 mark will be deducted for each
mark each (sub-total 6 marks). wrong answer.
2/3 mark will be deducted for each
Q.7 to Q.14 (8 questions) will carry two
marks each (sub-total 16 marks) wrong answer.

(Q.15, Q.16) will be common data 2/3 mark will be deducted for each
questions . Each question will carry two wrong answer.
marks each
Question pair (Q.17, Q.18) will have
linked answer question. Each question For Q.17, ? mark will be deducted for
will carry two marks each. There will be wrong answer. There is no negative mark
negative marks only for wrong answer to for Q.18.
the first question of the linked answer
question pair.
XL
Paper
Sections
(Section
sI
through
M)
Sections
XL section papers (Sections I through
I, J, K, L
M) will contain 21 questions carrying 35
& M in
marks
XL paper
Q.1 to Q.7 (7 questions) will carry one 1/3 mark will be deducted for each
mark each (sub-total 7 marks). wrong answer.

Q.8 to Q.21 (14 questions) will carry two 2/3 mark will be deducted for each
marks each (sub-total 28 marks). wrong answer.

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.