Skip to main content

GATE Rank Predictor 2026

Estimate your All India Rank (AIR) from your GATE score. Includes admission prospects for IITs, NITs, and PSUs.

GATE Rank Predictor

Estimate your All India Rank (AIR) from your GATE score. Based on approximate historical trends. Not official data - use as a directional guide only.

How GATE Ranks Are Determined

GATE ranks are assigned based on your normalized score within each paper. Candidates are sorted by score in descending order, and ranks are assigned sequentially. If two candidates have the same score, they receive the same rank. The score normalization formula is published in the official GATE 2026 brochure.

The rank is specific to your paper (CS, ME, EE, etc.), not across all GATE papers combined. A rank of 500 in CS means you are 500th among all qualified CS candidates, which is different from rank 500 in ME because the candidate pools are different sizes.

Need to calculate your score first? Use the GATE score calculator with your marks and qualifying cutoff.

Qualified Candidates by Paper (Approximate)

PaperAppearedQualifiedPass Rate
CS (Computer Science)~1,50,000~28,000~18%
ME (Mechanical)~90,000~18,000~20%
EC (Electronics)~80,000~17,000~21%
EE (Electrical)~75,000~16,000~21%
CE (Civil)~70,000~14,000~20%
DA (Data Science & AI)~25,000~5,000~20%
CH (Chemical)~15,000~3,500~23%
IN (Instrumentation)~15,000~3,500~23%

These numbers are approximate and based on recent GATE cycles. The organizing IIT publishes paper-wise statistics (total appeared, qualified, cutoffs) on the official GATE website after results are declared. The pass rate stays surprisingly stable at 18-23% across papers. CS has the lowest pass rate because of the largest pool of casual test-takers. Chemical and Instrumentation have higher pass rates because their candidate pools tend to be more serious aspirants.

Score-to-Rank Patterns

The relationship between GATE score and rank is non-linear. The top 50-100 ranks are bunched within a narrow score range (usually 850-1000), while ranks 5,000-20,000 span a much wider range. A 10-point score difference matters significantly at the top but barely changes your rank in the middle of the pack.

Score RangeApprox. Rank (CS)What It Gets You
900+1-20IIT Bombay/Delhi CS, top PSUs
800-90020-200Any IIT M.Tech, most PSUs
700-800200-1,000IITs (newer), IISc, top NITs
600-7001,000-4,000NITs, IIITs, some PSUs
500-6004,000-12,000State universities, limited PSUs
350-50012,000-28,000Qualified but limited options

These ranges are for CS specifically. For smaller papers like Instrumentation or Biotechnology, the same score translates to a much better rank because fewer candidates qualified. Use the predictor above with your specific paper for an adjusted estimate. For IIT M.Tech cutoffs, check the COAP portal which publishes round-wise opening and closing ranks. After finding your rank, check your percentile to see how you compare percentage-wise.

Frequently Asked Questions

How accurate is this GATE rank predictor?
This predictor gives a directional estimate, not an exact rank. GATE does not publish the official score-to-rank mapping. Our estimates are based on historical qualified-candidate counts published by IIT and crowd-sourced score-rank data points from student forums. Actual ranks can vary by 20-30% from the prediction depending on paper difficulty and score distribution for that year.
What is the difference between GATE rank and GATE score?
GATE score is a normalized value out of 1000 calculated from your raw marks using the official formula. GATE rank (AIR) is your position among all qualified candidates in your paper. Score stays fixed on your scorecard for 3 years. Rank can change context depending on whether you are looking at overall rank or category rank. Use our score calculator to find your score, then this predictor for rank.
Do IITs use GATE score or rank for M.Tech admission?
IITs use GATE score for initial shortlisting and then rank candidates by score within each category. Top IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Madras) typically need AIR under 200-500 for popular branches like CS and EE. Newer IITs and NITs accept ranks up to 3,000-5,000 depending on the branch and reservation category.
What GATE rank is needed for PSU recruitment?
PSU cutoffs vary widely. ONGC, IOCL, and NTPC (the most competitive PSUs) typically require ranks in the top 500-1,500 for General category. Less competitive PSUs may accept ranks up to 5,000-10,000. PSUs use GATE score directly for shortlisting, not rank. Read our marks vs score vs rank guide for detailed PSU cutoffs.