GATE 2016 Exam Date Notification-cum-Information Brochure

GATE 2016 Notification has been published. This article introduces you to GATE, helps you download GATE 2016 Notification and apply for this exam.

GATE 2016 Notification has already been announced and submission of application form  has started from 1st September, 2015. Are you one of those GATE aspirants who has still not applied for this exam, but would like to? If yes, let me help you in doing that. Focus of this article is on GATE 2016 application process. It would help you download the GATE 2016 Notification-cum-Information Brochure, introduce you to the GATE exam, tell you about the important dates and at last point you to the GATE 2016 application form. Towards the end of this article you would also find the GATE 2016 Prep Materials.

You can click here to download the Official GATE 2016 Notification-cum-Information Brochure. IISC Bangalore has been designated as the Organizing Institute for GATE 2016.

But first. what is GATE for the uninitiated!

What is GATE:

Contrary to popular perception, GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) is not only an entrance exam for PG studies in the elite tech-institutes of India (i.e. the seven IITs & one IISC – IISC, Bangalore), but GATE score is also used for following purposes:

1.0 As Entrance exam for admission to PG studies in close to 300 tech institutes: yes, you can get admission in these very good engineering colleges through GATE.

2.0 As Recruitment exam by many top-notch PSU like HPCL, GAIL, Power Grid, BPCL, MECL, BHEL, DDA, NTPC, BEL & IOCL, NALCO, CONCOR & MECON.  etc: yes, these days many organizations as given above have discontinued their own written recruitment exam (as these exams used to consume a lot of time/money/effort). These organizations uses GATE scores to shortlist the candidates for interview and further selection process. Many organisations have already issued notification for recruitment through GATE 2016. I am enlisting them in a separate article  titled: Jobs through GATE 2016: List of PSU Recruiting.

3.0 As Qualifying exam for various fellowships/scholarships like those for MHRD (Ministry of Human Resource Development) scholarship.

Hence for these reasons, number of students appearing for GATE has increased over time.

How competitive GATE is:

GATE is a very competitive exam and with each passing year, number of students appearing in GATE has increased by leaps and bounds as you can find from the following graphic of number of GATE aspirants from 2008 onwards:

You can find more details on this from my article: GATE Exam Statistics: GATE 2008 To GATE 2015

But the number of candidates qualifying GATE is very less - e.g. in GATE 2014, 8,89,156 appeared in the exam out of which 1,49,694 qualified, which is only 16.84%. Afraid of facing this exam already? Do not be... you should only work hard for this exam.

What is new in GATE 2016:

Nothing much has changed in GATE 20165, baring few minor changes as listed below:

1.0 No physical calculator will be allowed. An online virtual calculator will be available to examinees at the time of examination.
2.0 A new paper Petroleum Engineering (PE) is introduced in GATE 2016. With this, the total number of GATE Papers is 23.

3.0 Examinations for all the 23 papers will be conducted by an ONLINE Computer Based Test (CBT).

Eligibility for GATE 2016:

Please go through the section "4.1 Eligibility for GATE 2016" in page: 8 to 10 of the notification.

GATE 2016 Online Application Form:

You can apply only online for GATE 2016. There is no offline form.

Click here to find GATE 2016 Online Application Form.
This Online form would be available up to 1st October, 2015.

GATE 2016 Important Dates

Date for on-line submission of GATE 2016 forms: 01.09.2015 to 01.10.2015
Download GATE 2016 Admit Card: 17.12.2015..
Date of GATE 2016 Online Examination: Saturday and Sundays from January 30 to February 07, 2016
Date of GATE 2016 Result declaration: 19.03.2016.

GATE 2016 Prep Materials:

My following blog articles should help you prepare for GATE 2016, which points you to the sources for downloading syllabus, sample papers, books & coaching institutes for the exam:
GATE EC Prep material Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books
GATE CS study material: Syllabus, Exam Papers & Books
GATE EE Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books
GATE ME Prep material: Syllabus, Exam Papers & Books
GATE CE Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books
GATE IN Prep material: Syllabus, Sample Papers & Books

That is all for now. Hope with above you can not only apply confidently for GATE 2016, but also prepare for the same and crack the exam easily. Best Wishes!