We all know Gate exam is of 100 marks. You must be worrying then how Gate is giving you a score on 1000 marks scale. In this article, we are clearing this doubt. This article will also help you in calculating your normalized marks on a scale of 1000 (if you have your gate marks ready).
See also: GATE exam notifications
Gate normalization process
As we all know that there are 10 lacs + students who appear in 23 different engineering streams in Gate exam. Since the number of students is high in some streams, these engineering streams conduct exam in multiple shifts. The rest of streams have relative lesser number of candidates and therefore don’t require to be held in multiple sessions. As there is a paper difference in each of these shift for same engineering stream, Gate board normalize marks of students keeping in check marks obtained by the student, marks obtained in that particular shift and marks obtained in all shift.
In Gate exam, the normalization process is the method used to convert the marks of students into normalized scores after computing according to the specifications prescribed by the GATE authorities. Normalization will be different for the single session and multiple session GATE papers. While the raw marks of the single session GATE papers will be used for computing the GATE scores, the actual marks for multiple sessions will be normalized and these normalized marks will be used to compute the GATE scores.
See also: How to prepare for Gate exam
Calculation of Gate normalized marks
Gate normalized marks are used for calculating ranks in various engineering streams, They are calculated on basis of performance of students in different shits. Here is an equation for calculating Gate normalized marks.
Equation 1
Example:
Lets assume student marks = 60
Average marks of top 0.1% in ith session = 55
Average marks of top 0.1% in all sessions = 52
Sum of mean marks and standard deviation in ith session = 38
Sum of mean marks and standard deviation in all sessions = 34
Normalised marks = 18/17 x 26 + 34 = 61.53 marks
Calculation of Gate score on the scale of 1000
In this equation,
M = Marks obtained by the student in a single session, or normalized marks (from Equation 1) for multiple session
Mq = Qualifying marks for general category student
Mt = Mean marks of top 0.1% of students
Sq = 350
St = 900
Example
Now lets assume Mq = 25 , Mt =60 , M = 45
Marks on scale of 1000 = 350 + 550 x 20/35 = 664 marks
How to calculate Gate rank
Gate ranks are always calculated on basis of normalized marks. Here is an example of rank and normalized marks and marks on a scale of 1000.
Note that Ranks are calculated from normalized marks.
Is there a Qualifying Cutoff marks in GATE and what is it?
To qualify Gate exam, a candidate needs to score above cut off marks. Gate guidelines suggest that minimum passing marks (cut off) in Gate exam for general category student in 25 marks or average marks + standard deviation (whichever is high). We have seen that due to the high value of average marks+Standard deviation, Gate board is using this value.
Here are cut off marks of some of the engineering streams in Gate exam 2017
| S.No. | Paper Name | Paper Code | Qualifying Marks | ||
| General | OBC (NCL) | SC/ ST/ PwD | |||
| 1 | Aerospace Engineering | AE | 34.4 | 30.9 | 22.9 |
| 2 | Agricultural Engineering | AG | 25 | 22.5 | 16.6 |
| 3 | Architecture and Planning | AR | 43.9 | 39.5 | 29.2 |
| 4 | Biotechnology | BT | 27.9 | 25.1 | 18.5 |
| 5 | Civil Engineering | CE | 26.9 | 24.2 | 17.9 |
| 6 | Chemical Engineering | CH | 37.8 | 34 | 25.1 |
| 7 | Computer Science and Information Technology | CS | 25 | 22.5 | 16.6 |
| 8 | Chemistry | CY | 25.4 | 22.8 | 16.9 |
| 9 | Electronics and Communication Engineering | EC | 25 | 22.5 | 16.6 |
| 10 | Electrical Engineering | EE | 29.1 | 26.1 | 19.4 |
| 11 | Ecology and Evolution | EY | 49.3 | 44.3 | 32.8 |
| 12 | Geology and Geophysics | GG | 32.4 | 29.1 | 21.5 |
| 13 | Instrumentation Engineering | IN | 37.1 | 33.3 | 24.7 |
| 14 | Mathematics | MA | 29.4 | 26.4 | 19.5 |
| 15 | Mechanical Engineering | ME | 34.7 | 31.2 | 23.1 |
| 16 | Mining Engineering | MN | 45 | 40.5 | 30 |
| 17 | Metallurgical Engineering | MT | 40.3 | 36.2 | 26.8 |
| 18 | Petroleum Engineering | PE | 39.8 | 35.8 | 26.5 |
| 19 | Physics | PH | 29 | 26.1 | 19.3 |
| 20 | Production and Industrial Engineering | PI | 32 | 28.8 | 21.3 |
| 21 | Textile Engineering and Fibre Science | TF | 32.2 | 28.9 | 21.4 |
| 22 | Engineering Sciences | XE | 31.5 | 28.3 | 21 |
| 23 | Life Sciences | XL | 29.9 | 26.9 | 19.9 |
Conclusion
In the article, we have shared the process of normalization of Gate score and how the ranks are calculated. All the engineering colleges use Gate score (on a scale of 1000) for admission of students in different engineering streams.
If you have any problem in understanding Gate scores and marks, please reply to the comment box below. We will be happy to help you.
All the best.
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