GATE 2027: The Application Season Checklist
The brochure set the registration deadline at 27 September 2026 without a late fee, and 5 October 2026 with one. The examination is held by IIT Madras on 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21 February 2027, and results are announced on 19 March 2027. The application fee is ₹1,000 or ₹2,000 per paper, by category.
Updated 5 September 2026 · Valid until 5 October 2026
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GET NOTIFIED
The dates moved during registration
Between 29 August and 5 September 2026 the registration opening date moved a second time, and the exam city allotment date was published. The closing dates were revised once and have not moved since. When the portal changes, we update the checklist and add a changelog. Leave your email and we will write to you the day the update is up.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Organising institute | IIT Madras |
| Registration opened | 2 September 2026 |
| Last date — no late fee | 27 September 2026 |
| Last date — with late fee | 5 October 2026 |
| Application rectification window | 14–21 October 2026 |
| Exam city allotment | 4 January 2027 |
| Admit card download | Not announced |
| Examination — weekend 1 | 6 & 7 February 2027 |
| Examination — weekend 2 | 13 & 14 February 2027 |
| Examination — weekend 3 | 20 & 21 February 2027 |
| Results | 19 March 2027 |
| Score validity | three years from the date of announcement of the results |
Source: gate2027.iitm.ac.in/important_dates for each dated row; the organising institute and the score validity from the Information Brochure, pages 2, 3 and 28. Dates as on 5 September 2026. The 2 September 2026 opening date and the start of the 14–21 October 2026 rectification window appear on the portal only. IIT Madras states that all published GATE 2027 dates are liable to change.
| Category | Regular one paper | Regular two papers | Extended one paper | Extended two papers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Female / SC / ST / PwD candidates | ₹1,000 | ₹2,000 | ₹1,500 | ₹2,500 |
| All other candidates, including foreign nationals | ₹2,000 | ₹4,000 | ₹2,500 | ₹4,500 |
Source: All eight figures are on gate2027.iitm.ac.in/application_fees; the four one-paper figures match Table 5, page 14 of the Information Brochure, which has no two-paper columns. Regular window: to 27 September 2026. Extended window: 28 September 2026 to 5 October 2026. The fee excludes bank service charges, processing charges and any other charges the banks may levy. Note that the PwD concession applies only to candidates with a benchmark disability of 40% or higher under the RPwD Act 2016.
| Paper | What changed from 2026 |
|---|---|
| Data Science & AI (DA) | Nothing added, removed or reworded: the listed items are identical to 2026. The 2027 PDF presents the same seven topics as numbered Sections 1 to 7, which the 2026 PDF did not. |
| Instrumentation (IN) | Listing changes in all 10 sections, including: newly listed permanent magnet synchronous machines, buck and boost converters, single phase inverters, IoT and basic AI applications in instrumentation; three phase induction motors not listed by name. Single phase transformers are still listed. |
| Computer Science (CS) | The GATE 2027 Computer Science syllabus differs from 2026 in three of its ten sections; the other seven are unchanged. Computer Networks is substantially shorter. |
| Biotechnology (BT) | The GATE 2027 Biotechnology syllabus has six sections where 2026 had seven: there is no counterpart to the 2026 Bioprocess Engineering and Process Biotechnology section, and most of its list appears under Section 4. |
| All other papers | Not compared. A paper’s absence from this table does not mean it is unchanged. |
Source: the official GATE 2026 and GATE 2027 syllabus PDFs. IIT Madras publishes no per-paper change log.
About this resource
Every date, fee and eligibility rule on this page is from IIT Madras's GATE 2027 portal (gate2027.iitm.ac.in) and the official GATE 2027 Information Brochure (143 pages, marked "Revised version, Date: 27th August 2026"), as on 5 September 2026, not from coaching sites, aggregators or news reports.
Where the portal and the brochure disagree, the page says so and says which one it follows.
Dates not yet announced have their own section, including the admit card release date, which the portal and the brochure list as TBA. Where a number is our own arithmetic rather than a published figure, it is labelled.
What's included
- ✓The five things to do first, in order, before you open the form
- ✓When the GATE 2027 exam is held, and how the sessions work
- ✓The registration deadline: both dates, as a pair
- ✓What it costs to apply, by category and by number of papers
- ✓Who is eligible for GATE 2027, including the postgraduate first-year carve-out
- ✓What has changed for GATE 2027
- ✓What happens between the application and the exam
- ✓What we could not confirm
- ✓Sources for every claim, with the date
How to use this resource
Read the answer block and the five-step checklist first, between them they cover the whole application in a page. Then go to the eligibility section and check your own case in the official table before you pay anything, because a wrong category or paper cannot be fixed after the form closes. Put the 14–21 October 2026 rectification window in your calendar: it is the only chance to change your category, test paper, examination city choices or personal details, or to add a second paper. Finally, check which dates are still not announced, such as the admit card date.
Frequently asked questions
When is the GATE 2027 exam?+
GATE 2027 is held on six days across three consecutive weekends: 6, 7, 13, 14, 20 and 21 February 2027. A candidate sits only one session, on the date and slot specified on the admit card. There are two sessions on each exam day, forenoon 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and afternoon 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
What is the last date to apply for GATE 2027?+
The brochure set the registration deadline at 27 September 2026, or 5 October 2026 with a late fee, and states the two dates only as a pair. The brochure ends the application correction window on 21 October 2026. The application portal opened on 2 September 2026, and applications and fee payment are made online through the GOAPS portal, after the opening date had been announced twice before, 14 August 2026, then 27 August 2026.
Can a second-year undergraduate apply for GATE 2027?+
No, a first- or second-year undergraduate is not eligible on the undergraduate route. Some other routes have a lower floor: the third-year floor is an undergraduate rule only, and M.Sc., M.A. and MCA students are eligible from the first year, as are post-B.Sc. integrated M.E./M.Tech. students. If your qualification is not a standard B.E. or B.Tech., check the official eligibility table rather than any summary, this page included. There is no upper age limit, and no cap on the number of GATE attempts.
Can I apply for two GATE papers, and does it cost double?+
Yes, a candidate may apply for one or two test papers. In the regular window the fee doubles, ₹2,000 for female, SC, ST and PwD candidates, or ₹4,000 for all other candidates. In the extended window it does not: two papers cost ₹2,500 or ₹4,500, because the extended-period surcharge is a flat ₹500 levied once on the application, not once per paper. Note that the permitted two-paper combinations are published in Table 4 of the brochure, which labels the table tentative and subject to change.
When will the GATE 2027 admit card be released?+
The admit card download date has not been announced, both the portal and the brochure print TBA. Exam cities are notified to candidates on 4 January 2027, and the admit card follows the city allotment, which is our own reading of the Important Dates sequence rather than a stated rule. Some websites say admit cards come out on 3 January 2027; IIT Madras has not said so, and that date would come before the 4 January 2027 city allotment.
How long is a GATE 2027 score valid?+
A GATE 2027 score is valid for three years from the date the results are announced, which for GATE 2027 means from 19 March 2027. That works out to 19 March 2030, IAE Academy's arithmetic, not a published figure; IIT Madras states the three-year term but no end date. Beyond that, whether an institute or PSU accepts an older score is that organisation's own rule, so check each advertisement. The scorecard itself costs ₹500 per test paper after the free window, until 31 December 2027.
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