Mechanical Engineering Exam Pattern for GATE

GATE EXAM PATTERN

The GATE exam will be conducted for 3 hours and it’s a computer-based test. This online test consists of a total of 65 questions – both objective type and numerical answer type (NAT) questions. The total mark is 100 and is divided into 3 sections, namely Aptitude Engineering, Mathematics, and Subject-Specific Questions.

All candidates who are appearing for GATE must answer the general aptitude section. No negative marking for numerical answer type section; no marks will be deducted for unanswered questions. All disciplines in GATE exam consist of 3 sections except for AR, CY, GG, EY, XL, PH, and MA.

The paper code for mechanical engineering is ME and below is the marks distribution for each section.

1. General Aptitude – 15% of the total marks

2. Engineering Mathematics – 15% of the total marks

3. Subject Questions (Mechanical Engineering) – 70% of the total marks

TYPES OF QUESTIONS

As mentioned above, the first 2 sections in the GATE Mechanical Engineering exam consists of multiple choice and numerical answer type questions. The multiple-choice questions come with 4 options – out of which only one option is right. In numerical type questions sections, candidates must enter a numerical value as the answer.

Candidates must make use of the mouse and virtual and keyboard to answer these kinds of questions. Here are the different types of questions that candidates are supposed to answer:

1. Recall - These types of questions are generally based on well-known facts, principles, proven facts, formulae or laws of the mechanical engineering discipline. The candidates are expected to answer the questions either by recollecting the answers from his/her memory or from a one-line computation.

2. Comprehension – These questions test the candidate’s knowledge and understanding of the mechanical engineering subjects. Candidates are expected to derive simple conclusions in this section based on fundamental ideas.

3. Application – This section covers the questions where the candidates must apply their knowledge either through logical reasoning or by computation.

4. Analysis and Synthesis – This section consists of questions that can be in a linked format, means the 1st question of the pair is mandatory to answer its sequence or successor question. Candidates can also expect some common data questions, where 2 questions share the same data but are independent of each other.

5. Common Data Questions – Questions in this section consists of multiple questions that would be linked to a common data problem or a passage. Multiple questions can be formed, say 2 or 3, based on the given input data. Each question in this section carries 2 marks and is independent and solution for the question can be derived separately.

6. Linked Answer Questions – This section consists of problem-solving questions, where candidates are given with a problem statement followed by 2 questions. These questions are linked with each other, means the 2nd question completely depends on the 1st questions answer. Each question in this section carries 2 marks.

PAPER WEIGHTAGE

General Aptitude

Numerical Ability

SECTION 1: Engineering Mathematics

SECTION 2: Applied Mechanics and Design

SECTION 3: Fluid Mechanics and Thermal Sciences

SECTION 4: Materials, Manufacturing and Industrial Engineering

MARKING SCHEME

In Objective Type questions:

• 1 & 2 marks for each correct answer according to the assigned marks.
• -1/3 & -2/3 mark for each incorrect answer according to the assigned marks.

There is no negative marking for Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions.