GATE CS Cutoff 2023–2026: Qualifying Marks, NIT/IISc Admission Scores & 2028 Targets
Official GATE CS (CSE) qualifying cutoffs by category for 2023–2026, CCMT 2026 NIT closing scores, published IISc/IIT shortlisting scores, official marks distributions, and how to set a realistic target for GATE CS 2028.
Cutoffs and counts from official GATE cut-off pages and reports (2023–2026). Figures marked “The ML Hub’s estimate” are our own calculations.
In short
The GATE CS cutoff is two different numbers. The qualifying cutoff (marks out of 100) only makes your scorecard valid; for General candidates it was 32.5 (2023), 27.6 (2024), 29.2 (2025) and 30.0 (2026). The admission cutoff is a GATE score out of 1000: in CCMT 2026, the lowest OPEN-category score admitted to core CSE in Round 1 was 782 at NIT Trichy and 766 at NIT Warangal, and IISc's 2026–27 interview cut-off for M.Tech AI was 880 (UR). In GATE 2026, only 295 CS candidates scored 70 or more marks out of 2,11,020 who appeared.
Two Types of GATE CS Cutoffs
Qualifying Cutoff
Minimum marks (out of 100) to receive a valid GATE scorecard, announced by that year's organizing institute. Calculated as max(25, min(40, μ + σ)) for the General category, with fixed ratios for reserved categories.
Admission Cutoff
GATE score (out of 1000) at which a specific IISc/IIT/NIT programme shortlists or admits candidates. Set by each institute (or by CCMT rounds for NITs) and far above the qualifying score of 350.
Many aspirants see a qualifying cutoff of around 28 to 32 marks and feel comfortable, without realising that the qualifying mark only earns a GATE score of 350, while CCMT 2026 Round 1 closing scores for CSE at the top NITs were 761–782. Qualifying is the floor; admission is what you are actually aiming for.
GATE CS Qualifying Cutoffs: 2023–2026
Official qualifying marks (out of 100) and candidate counts for the CS paper, as published by each year's organizing institute.
| Year | Organizing Institute | Registered | Appeared | General | OBC-NCL / EWS | SC/ST/PwD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | IIT Guwahati | 2,59,922 | 2,11,020 | 30.0 | 27.0 | 20.0 |
| 2025 | IIT Roorkee | 2,07,851 | 1,70,825 | 29.2 | 26.2 | 19.4 |
| 2024 | IISc Bangalore | 1,52,652 | 1,23,967 | 27.6 | 24.8 | 18.4 |
| 2023 | IIT Kanpur | 99,555 | 75,679 | 32.5 | 29.2 | 21.6 |
OBC-NCL and EWS candidates share one qualifying mark (9/10 of General); SC, ST and PwD candidates qualify at 2/3 of General. Earlier years (2020–2022) are not listed because we could not retrieve those organizing institutes' official cut-off documents to re-verify them. For a year-by-year discussion, read our GATE CSE cutoff analysis.
Sources: GATE 2026 cut-off marks (IIT Guwahati) · GATE 2025 cut-off marks (IIT Roorkee) · GATE 2024 cut-off marks (IISc, archived copy) · GATE 2023 Performance Report (IIT Kanpur, archived copy)
How the Qualifying Cutoff Is Calculated
Per the GATE 2027 Information Brochure (Section 8.1): the mean plus one standard deviation of the paper's marks, with a floor of 25 and a ceiling of 40.
Qualifying Mark (General) = max( 25, min( 40, μ + σ ) )
μ (mu)
Mean marks of all candidates who appeared for the paper
σ (sigma)
Standard deviation of marks of all candidates who appeared
Worked from the official reports: GATE 2026 CS had μ = 18.51 and σ = 11.58 (μ + σ = 30.09 → cutoff 30.0); GATE 2025 CS had μ = 16.46 and σ = 12.83 (μ + σ = 29.29 → published as 29.2). When μ + σ falls below 25 the floor applies — for example GATE 2026 Aerospace Engineering (μ + σ = 24.30) was set at 25.
Category-Wise Relaxation
General
No relaxation (base qualifying mark)
OBC-NCL / EWS
90% of the General qualifying mark
SC / ST / PwD
Two-thirds (⅔) of the General qualifying mark
GATE Score Needed for IISc and IIT M.Tech
GATE-score thresholds (out of 1000, GATE CS paper) that the institutes themselves have published.
| Institute / Programme | General | OBC-NCL | EWS | SC | ST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IISc Bangalore M.Tech Artificial Intelligence (2026–27, interview/test call cut-off) | 880 | 845 | 845 | 650 | 590 |
| IISc Bangalore M.Tech Computational and Data Sciences (2026–27, interview/test call cut-off) | 790 | 730 | 750 | 500 | 425 |
| IIT Delhi (CSE) M.Tech full-time shortlisting (2023–24) | 800 | 720 | 800 | 550 | 550 |
Sources: IISc Cut Off Report, M.Tech/M.Des Admissions 2026–27 (dated 03-04-2026) · IIT Delhi CSE M.Tech shortlisting criteria, 2023–24 (SC/ST/PH share one threshold). IITs admit M.Tech students through their own department processes, with offers made via COAP; there is no single official list of IIT closing scores, so we do not publish IIT-wise score ranges. Check the admissions page of each IIT department you are targeting for its current criteria.
GATE Score Needed for NITs (CCMT 2026)
NITs admit through CCMT, which publishes the highest and lowest GATE score allotted in every round. Core CSE programmes, CCMT 2026.
| Institute | OPEN, Round 1 (highest – lowest) | OPEN, lowest in any round | OBC-NCL, Round 1 lowest | SC, Round 1 lowest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NIT Trichy Computer Science & Engineering | 815 – 782 | 734 | 739 | 601 |
| NIT Warangal Computer Science & Engineering | 811 – 766 | 731 | 726 | 556 |
| NIT Surathkal Computer Science & Engineering | 791 – 761 | 712 | 702 | 561 |
| NIT Rourkela Computer Science | 774 – 730 | 645 | 678 | 548 |
| NIT Calicut Computer Science & Engineering | 735 – 714 | 641 | 674 | 516 |
| MNNIT Allahabad Computer Science & Engineering | 742 – 705 | 637 | 663 | 503 |
Source: CCMT Opening Score–Closing Score report (CCMT Counselling 2026, all rounds: Round 1–3, Special Rounds 1–2 and National Spot Round). Scores fall in later rounds as seats are re-allotted. Specialised tracks can close lower than core CSE — for example, in Round 1 the OPEN lowest was 738 for NIT Surathkal's CSE (Information Security) versus 761 for its core CSE, and 681 for MNNIT Allahabad's CSE (AI & Data Science) versus 705 for its core CSE.
GATE CS Marks vs Rank vs Score
Number of CS candidates at or above each mark, from the official marks distributions. Your rank is roughly the number of candidates at or above your marks.
| Marks (out of 100) | Candidates, GATE 2026 | Candidates, GATE 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 90 or more | 4 | 8 |
| 80 or more | 42 | 122 |
| 70 or more | 295 | 546 |
| 60 or more | 1,170 | 1,851 |
| 50 or more | 3,655 | 4,387 |
| 40 or more | 10,340 | 9,447 |
| 30 or more | 29,611 | 20,485 |
| GATE Score (out of 1000) | Candidates, GATE 2026 | Candidates, GATE 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| 900 or more | 84 | 72 |
| 800 or more | 365 | 350 |
| 700 or more | 1,170 | 1,299 |
| 600 or more | 3,188 | 3,206 |
| 500 or more | 7,661 | 6,961 |
| 400 or more | 18,601 | 14,928 |
Computed by adding up the “Range of Marks” and “Range of Score” tables for appeared CS candidates in the GATE 2026 Statistical and Performance Report (IIT Guwahati; 2,11,020 appeared) and the GATE 2025 Statistical and Performance Report (IIT Roorkee; 1,70,825 appeared). CS was held in two sessions in both years, so these are normalised marks. Full breakdown in our GATE CSE marks vs rank guide.
Estimating your GATE score from marks
GATE Score = Sq + (St − Sq) × [(M − Mq) / (Mt − Mq)]
From the GATE 2027 Information Brochure: Sq = 350 (score at the General qualifying mark), St = 900 (score at Mt), M = your marks (normalised marks for multi-session papers), Mq = General qualifying mark, Mt = mean marks of the top 0.1% or top 10 (whichever is larger) of candidates. For CS, Mt was 83.24 in GATE 2025 and 77.03 in GATE 2026 (official reports). Example with GATE 2026 values (M = 70, Mq = 30.0, Mt = 77.03): Score = 350 + 550 × (40 / 47.03) ≈ 818. The same 70 marks with GATE 2025 values (Mq = 29.2, Mt = 83.24) gives ≈ 765.
GATE CS Cutoff Trend Analysis
Paper difficulty
Because the cutoff is μ + σ, a paper on which candidates score lower on average tends to produce a lower qualifying mark.
Number of candidates
GATE CS registrations were 99,555 in 2023, 1,52,652 in 2024, 2,07,851 in 2025 and 2,59,922 in 2026 (official figures). More candidates means more people competing for the same top ranks.
Seats and rounds
Admission scores move with seat availability: in CCMT 2026, every NIT in the table above admitted OPEN candidates in later rounds at scores 35–85 points below its Round 1 lowest.
Specialised programmes
Tracks such as Information Security or AI & Data Science have their own cutoffs, which in CCMT 2026 were sometimes lower than core CSE at the same NIT.
Multi-session normalisation
GATE CS was held in two sessions in 2025 and 2026. Marks from different sessions are normalised with the brochure formula before scores are computed.
Year-over-year variation
The cutoff is not a stable band. The 2026 General cutoff of 30.0 was the second-highest of 2023–2026, after 2023's 32.5.
The ML Hub's estimate: GATE CS 2027 qualifying cutoff
This is our estimate, not an official figure. The General range brackets the official 2023–2026 values (27.6 to 32.5); the other rows apply the official 9/10 and 2/3 ratios. IIT Madras will publish the actual GATE 2027 cutoffs with the results.
| Category | Estimated Qualifying Marks (out of 100) |
|---|---|
| General | 27.0 – 33.0 |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 24.3 – 29.7 |
| SC / ST / PwD | 18.0 – 22.0 |
Setting Your GATE CS 2028 Target Score
The ML Hub's estimate: official score references from the tables above, converted to the marks that would have produced that score in GATE 2026 and GATE 2025. Set yours at least 5 marks above the figure for your goal.
| Goal | Official GATE Score Reference | Marks Needed (GATE 2026 scale) | Marks Needed (GATE 2025 scale) |
|---|---|---|---|
| IISc M.Tech AI — interview/test call (UR) | 880 (IISc 2026–27 cut-off) | ≈ 75 | ≈ 81 |
| IISc M.Tech CDS — interview/test call (UR) | 790 (IISc 2026–27 cut-off) | ≈ 68 | ≈ 72 |
| NIT Trichy CSE — Round 1 (OPEN) | 782 (CCMT 2026 Round 1 lowest) | ≈ 67 | ≈ 72 |
| NIT Warangal CSE — Round 1 (OPEN) | 766 (CCMT 2026 Round 1 lowest) | ≈ 66 | ≈ 70 |
| MNNIT Allahabad CSE — Round 1 (OPEN) | 705 (CCMT 2026 Round 1 lowest) | ≈ 60 | ≈ 64 |
| Qualify (General) | 350 (score at the qualifying mark) | 30.0 | 29.2 |
Conversion uses the official score formula with GATE 2026 (Mq = 30.0, Mt = 77.03) and GATE 2025 (Mq = 29.2, Mt = 83.24) values. The same score needs different marks each year, so read these as a band, not a promise.
Just qualify (scorecard)
Score above the qualifying cutoff (30.0 marks in 2026 for General). That earns a GATE score of 350 — far below any admission score on this page, so don't treat it as your target.
PSU eligibility
PSUs that recruit through GATE set their own cutoffs in each recruitment notification. Always check the specific PSU notification for the year you apply.
Top NITs
CCMT 2026 Round 1 lowest OPEN scores for CSE at NIT Trichy and NIT Warangal (782 and 766) correspond to roughly 66–67 marks on the GATE 2026 scale (our conversion).
Top ranks are compressed
In GATE 2026, 295 CS candidates scored 70 or more but only 42 scored 80 or more — about 250 ranks sit inside those 10 marks.
Important note on admission cutoffs
Qualifying cutoff ≠ admission cutoff. Admission scores on this page are from CCMT 2026 and from IISc/IIT Delhi notices for the years stated; they change every year with paper difficulty, candidate count and seat availability. A GATE score stays valid for three years, so CCMT and institutes may compare scores from different GATE years. Check CCMT and each institute's admissions page for the latest figures. To prioritise the subjects that move your marks most, see the GATE CSE subject-wise weightage.
Aim above the cutoff — start preparing strategically
The ML Hub's GATE CS course is taught by Jay Bansal (AIR 2 GATE CS 2019, M.Tech IIT Bombay) and Sriniwas Paliwal (AIR 90 GATE CS 2019, M.Tech IIT Bombay) to help you score well above the qualifying cutoff and compete for top IIT seats.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the GATE CS qualifying cutoff for 2026?+
The GATE CS (CSE) 2026 qualifying cutoff, published by IIT Guwahati, is 30.0 marks for General, 27.0 marks for OBC-NCL/EWS and 20.0 marks for SC/ST/PwD candidates. It is listed on the official GATE 2026 cut-off page at gate2026.iitg.ac.in, where 2,59,922 CS candidates registered and 2,11,020 appeared.
How is the GATE CS qualifying cutoff calculated?+
Per the GATE 2027 Information Brochure, the General qualifying mark is max(25, min(40, μ + σ)), where μ is the mean and σ the standard deviation of marks of all candidates who appeared for the paper. OBC-NCL and EWS candidates qualify at 9/10 of the General mark, and SC/ST/PwD candidates at 2/3. For example, GATE 2026 CS had μ = 18.51 and σ = 11.58, giving a General cutoff of 30.0.
Is EWS grouped with General or with OBC-NCL for the GATE cutoff?+
With OBC-NCL. The GATE 2027 Information Brochure sets one qualifying mark for OBC-NCL/EWS candidates, equal to 9/10 of the General qualifying mark, and the GATE 2026 cut-off table lists a single OBC-NCL/EWS column (27.0 for CS).
What GATE score is needed for IISc or IIT M.Tech CSE admission?+
There is no single official list for IITs; each IIT department sets its own criteria and makes offers via COAP. Published examples: IISc's 2026–27 interview/test cut-off for M.Tech Artificial Intelligence was 880 (UR) on the GATE CS paper, and 790 for M.Tech Computational and Data Sciences. IIT Delhi CSE's 2023–24 full-time M.Tech shortlisting score was 800 for General/EWS and 720 for OBC. Check each department's current notice.
What GATE CS score is needed for NITs?+
In CCMT 2026, the lowest OPEN-category GATE score allotted to core CSE in Round 1 was 782 at NIT Trichy, 766 at NIT Warangal, 761 at NIT Surathkal, 730 at NIT Rourkela, 714 at NIT Calicut and 705 at MNNIT Allahabad. Scores fall in later rounds; the lowest OPEN allotments across all 2026 rounds ranged from 637 (MNNIT Allahabad) to 734 (NIT Trichy). Source: CCMT Opening Score–Closing Score report.
What rank can I expect with 70 marks in GATE CS?+
Around 300 to 550, based on the last two years. According to the official marks distributions, 295 CS candidates scored 70 or more in GATE 2026 and 546 did in GATE 2025, so 70 marks placed you at roughly those ranks or better. Ranks shift every year with paper difficulty and candidate count.
How many marks do I need for a top NIT or IISc?+
The ML Hub's estimate, converting official scores to marks with the GATE score formula: NIT Trichy CSE's CCMT 2026 Round 1 lowest OPEN score (782) corresponds to about 67 marks on the GATE 2026 scale (about 72 on the 2025 scale), and IISc M.Tech AI's 880 cut-off to about 75 marks (about 81 on the 2025 scale). Aim at least 5 marks above the figure for your goal.
How is the GATE score different from GATE marks?+
GATE marks are your marks out of 100 (normalised marks for multi-session papers such as CS). The GATE score is out of 1000, calculated as Sq + (St − Sq) × [(M − Mq) / (Mt − Mq)], with Sq = 350, St = 900, Mq the General qualifying mark and Mt the mean of the top 0.1% or top 10 candidates. Institutes and CCMT use the GATE score, not raw marks, for admission.
Does a lower qualifying cutoff mean the paper was harder?+
Usually. Because the cutoff is the mean plus one standard deviation of all candidates' marks, a paper on which candidates score lower on average tends to produce a lower cutoff. When μ + σ falls below 25 the cutoff is set at the floor of 25 — for example, GATE 2026 Aerospace Engineering (μ + σ = 24.30) had a General cutoff of 25.
What should my target score be for GATE CS 2028?+
Aim well above the qualifying mark, which only earns a GATE score of 350. As The ML Hub's estimate based on CCMT 2026 and IISc 2026–27 figures, about 60–67 marks (GATE 2026 scale) matched Round 1 CSE closing scores at MNNIT Allahabad to NIT Trichy, and about 75 marks matched IISc M.Tech AI's interview cut-off. Set your target at least 5 marks above the figure for your goal to absorb exam-day variability.