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GATE Negative Marking

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Exam

Prachi Bhatia
Prachi Bhatia

The GATE paper consists of around 60 questions for a total of 100 Marks. The question "Is there a GATE Negative Marking?" will now come up for prospective GATE applicants. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), Multiple Select Questions (MSQs), and/or Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions make up a GATE exam paper. As a result, most applicants are skeptical that negative marking is applicable to GATE examinations. Let us first go through the GATE Exam Pattern.

GATE Exam Pattern 

Particulars

Details

Exam Mode

Online - Computer-Based Test

Number of Questions

65

Total Marks

100

Number of Subjects (Papers)

29

Type of Questions

MCQs (Multiple Choice Questions), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ), and NAT (Numerical Answer Type)

Language

English

Number of Sections

General Aptitude+ Candidates selected Subjects

Name of the Sections

General Aptitude, Engineering Mathematics* and Subject Specification Section* In place of Engineering Mathematics, Chemistry will be compulsory for Life Science (XL) Paper

Marking Scheme

Questions carry 1 mark and 2 marks

Negative Marking

For a wrong answer chosen in an MCQ, there will be a negative marking.

For 1-mark MCQ, 1/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer.

For 2-mark MCQ, the 2/3 mark will be deducted for a wrong answer.

NO negative marking for MSQ & NAT.

Negative Marking in GATE 2023

In NAT and MSQ questions, there is no negative marking. However, each wrong MCQ answer will result in a mark reduction. 

The following table summarizes the negative marking criteria for MCQ questions in the GATE 2023 paper:

Sections

Marks

Negative

General Aptitude (MCQ)

1

-⅓

2

-⅔

Subject (MCQ)

1

-⅓

Subject (NAT)

1

No negative

Subject (MCQ)

2

-⅔

Subject (NAT)

2

No negative

In the table given above, there is no GATE Negative Marking System for Multiple Select Questions (MSQs) and/or Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions. However, GATE Negative Marking applies to Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). If a candidate responds incorrectly to a one-mark MCQ,1/3rd mark will be deducted. Similarly, for two-mark MCQs, around  ⅔ marks are deducted if the answer is wrong.

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