GATE 2021 will be held from from February 5-7 and February 12-13. Representational image/ file 

GATE 2021: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay has announced the dates of the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2021. The exam will be conducted from February 5-7 and February 12-13.

It is scheduled to be conducted in two shifts – forenoon shift from 9:30-12:30 am and afternoon shift to be conducted from 2:30-5:30 pm.

A major change introduced from the next year is that the students from humanities background will be allowed to take GATE 2021 exam. “Two new subjects are also being introduced starting this year, environmental science and engineering and humanities and social sciences. Candidates will also have the option of appearing for two subjects this year onwards,” read the institute statement.

The eligibility criteria has also been changed, the students in the third will be eligible for GATE. “Eligibility criteria to appear for GATE-2021 is relaxed from the minimum 10+2+4 (ongoing) to minimum 10+2+3 (ongoing), enabling even those in the third year of their undergraduate studies to appear for the examination, thus providing an additional opportunity to candidates to improve their performance to secure better career options,” read the IIT Bombay statement.

The GATE 2021 will be a computer-based multiple-choice question or MCQ-based exam. Candidates will have to answer 65 questions for a total of 100 marks within three-hours’ time. The exam consists of two sections. The paper will contain questions on general aptitude (15 marks), engineering mathematics (10-13 marks) and core engineering area of the candidate.

Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) is an examination conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore and the seven IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) on behalf of the National Coordination Board (NCB)-GATE, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India.