The exam is jointly conducted by seven Indian Institutes of Technology (Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) and the Indian Institute of Science under the department of higher education, ministry of human resources development (MHRD) once in a year. The exam assesses candidate’s technical competence. GATE exam is taken by around 10 lakh aspirants, making it the second most competitive exam in the country in terms of candidates’ influx, with the first being the IIT-JEE entrance test.

 

The GATE has been used as a tool for admitting candidates to post graduate courses in engineering from 1984. Since the year 2012, the examination has also been used by PSUs in their recruitment process. The report showed that the number of PSUs using the GATE score has considerably gone up over the past few years. In 2016, GATE score was used by 37 PSUs in their recruitment process. GATE 2016 score was also used for recruitment of positions in the cabinet secretariat in the union India.

 

This year’s GATE examinations will be conducted in February.