Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is one of the toughest exams in India, and lakhs of aspirants face a new challenge every year in GATE. GATE 2025 exam has concluded, and now many are turning their focus to GATE 2026. This naturally raises a common question among students and educators alike: Will GATE 2026 be more difficult than GATE 2025?
As per data from past cycles, GATE 2025 had witnessed more than 9 lakh applications, and close to 6 lakh appeared in the examination. The fact that there are more serious candidates who apply to this course and the fact that much greater attention is being paid to the numerical and application-type questions prove that competition is rising. Although the exact format of GATE 2026 is not known yet, since IIT Guwahati will conduct it, the exam will likely follow the same pattern but with more in-depth and precise questions.
In the coming years, more candidates will be competing for a few seats in the best institutes and PSU vacancies, which means the stakes of GATE 2026 will increase, i.e., not only in difficulty but also in strategy. GATE 2026 Exam Centres will be released by the IIT Guwahati.
GATE 2026 vs GATE 2025: What’s Changing?
GATE 2026 Forecasts: GATE 2026 might also look more or less like GATE 2025, and the intensity of the competition will increase. Based on recent trends and experts’ opinions, GATE 2026, conducted by IIT Guwahati, will be moderately difficult, similar to GATE 2025, which was held by IISc Bangalore. However, the competition is expected to increase a lot because more students want jobs in PSUs, get admission to M.Tech colleges, or study abroad.
Scholars foresee that Numerical Answer Type (NAT) and Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) might occupy almost 30-40 per cent of the paper, which has been the trend in recent times. The accuracy in such forms of questions does not allow them to be incorrectly marked, and analytical thinking and definition of concepts become extremely crucial.
What was the difficulty level of GATE 2025?
GATE 2025 was overall considered to be of medium difficulty; however, the level of this difficulty tended to differ by discipline. Student responses and the coaching institutes provide the following trends:
- The paper was easy to moderate in Computer Science, although basic topics such as Algorithms, Data Structures, and Operating Systems had a higher percentage of tough MSQs, which raised the level of difficulty to moderate-tough.
- Time pressure and long MSQs were deemed to be making the first shift especially fierce, and therefore, time management was a problem.
- In the case of Civil Engineering, mathematical and analytical reasoning were more concentrated on the paper and particularly in its MSC section, and thus there was a decline in anticipated cut-offs relatively decreased as compared to 2024.
Reasons why GATE 2026 May Become More Difficult
Several reasons will likely cause the level of difficulty to increase in GATE 2026:
More Significance on NATs and MSQs
It is believed that these no-guesswork formats will comprise a bigger part of the paper. There is no partiality in scoring, and therefore, very little room to make an error.
Cross-disciplinary Problem Sets
IIT Guwahati can combine a variety of subject areas, and the candidate has to link the concepts of Engineering Mathematics, General Aptitude, and subject-wise facts and knowledge.
Increasing Number of Examinees
The 2026 cycle has the potential to surpass the 10 lakh mark, as there were more than 9 lakh registrations in GATE 2025. The competition may go up further and increase cutoff and rank fluctuation as it may increase the number of aspirants, particularly in high-demand streams such as CS, EE, ME, and EC.
GATE Exam 2026: Previous Year Trends and Difficulty Levels
In 2025, the GATE examination was made more difficult in certain aspects. Such papers as Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering had more practical and numerical problems than the previous year. Students can refer to the table below for the GATE Cutoff :
Will GATE 2026 Raise the Bar?
Whether GATE 2026 is going to be harder than the earlier editions or not is one question that has caught the attention of even the aspirants of GATE 2026. The problem is that since the exam remains a gateway to the top IITs, NITs, IISc, and prestigious PSUs, the paper setters are making the exam more difficult in subtle and yet noticeable ways to make sure only the best-prepared students pass the exam.
The core syllabus is expected to change little (at least, in form), but changes in recent years have seen a slight change, like questions. In GATE 2025, there was an increased number of papers with numerical answer type (NAT) and application-based questions due to an increase in conceptual clarity required and the ability to apply the knowledge rather than crowd-calling the answers. As per the Chief, 35-40% of the papers in better branches, such as ME, EE, CS, were roughly numerical or analytical problems.
In addition, there is also an improvement in the quality of competition. Whereas in the previous 3 years, the ability of candidates to get above the top 500 AIR has been filled up, and more so in Computer Science, Electronics, and Mechanical Engineering, where minor compromises in precision can impact ranking.
As IIT Guwahati will conduct GATE 2026, an institute that boasts a centrality of focus on numerical depth and multidisciplinary integration, applicants can now be placed even closer on the track of smart preparation, time management, and interdisciplinary reasoning, as opposed to aptitudes of formula memorisation.
Check: GATE 2026 Exam Pattern
Focus Forward: A Smarter Approach for GATE 2026
GATE 2026 can be more difficult than the old tests, or it can not. The most effective strategy of the people who intend to pass is to base their preparation on what the recent trend and expectations hold. This entails going through every official notice, doing practice questions of the past five years, and trying to get correct answers that come quickly. Conducting mock tests frequently, learning concepts, and not simply memorising the facts, and also having definite schedules to revise are other intelligent acts to be performed. Especially give importance to the numerical answer type (NAT) and beware of the weightage each topic is going to have, and do a wise mock test series to minimise unpredictability and take it as an advantage.
Final Thought
The level of difficulty of the GATE 2026 will again be hard to say, but one thing is definite: like previous years, the examination will test their usefulness at conceptual knowledge, rapidity in problem solving, and capability of applying core concepts precisely. Though with each year there are incidental changes in scope, the general objective of GATE is unchanging: it is to find applicants who have good analytical and technical abilities.
Instead of trying to guess how difficult the paper will be, aspirants must train and cultivate a healthy study attitude, learn to be disciplined, and make the most of the available time and resources. Even the GATE paper that is considered the most difficult can be dealt with confidently during the exam day, provided that there is a systematic study schedule in place to focus and form a predictable pattern of exam preparation.
