The GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff for General candidates was 28.6 marks in 2024, 35.8 marks in 2025 and 25.2 marks in 2026. For OBC-NCL and EWS it was 25.7, 32.2 and 22.6, and for SC, ST and PwD it was 19, 23.8 and 16.7. Among the large core papers (CS, EC, EE, CE and ME), no other cutoff moved this much: the Mechanical cutoff rose by 7.2 marks in 1 year and then fell by 10.6 marks the next.
All figures are taken from the official cutoff and All India Rank pages of IISc Bangalore (GATE 2024), IIT Roorkee (GATE 2025) and IIT Guwahati (GATE 2026). Official cutoff pages for older years are no longer online, so this GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff guide covers only these 3 exams. Keep the GATE ME syllabus 2027 and the GATE 2027 exam pattern next to it while you set your target.
GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff 2024-2026: Category-Wise Marks
This table lists the official GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff for every category, with the change in the General cutoff from the year before.
| Year (Organising institute) | General | OBC-NCL / EWS | SC / ST / PwD | Change in General |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 (IISc Bangalore) | 28.6 | 25.7 | 19 | – |
| 2025 (IIT Roorkee) | 35.8 | 32.2 | 23.8 | +7.2 |
| 2026 (IIT Guwahati) | 25.2 | 22.6 | 16.7 | -10.6 |
Every GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff here is in marks out of 100 for the Mechanical Engineering (ME) paper. In each year, the OBC-NCL and EWS figure is always 90% of the General cutoff and the SC, ST and PwD figure is 2/3 of it, so all 3 lines rose and fell together.
Would Your Score Have Qualified? GATE ME Score Check
The best way to understand a moving cutoff is to test a score against it. Pick your category and a mock test score close to yours, and see in which years that score would have crossed the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff.
| Category | Your marks | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | 25 | No | No | No |
| General | 26 | No | No | Yes |
| General | 30 | Yes | No | Yes |
| General | 36 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 23 | No | No | Yes |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 27 | Yes | No | Yes |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 33 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SC / ST / PwD | 17 | No | No | Yes |
| SC / ST / PwD | 20 | Yes | No | Yes |
| SC / ST / PwD | 24 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The pattern is clear. A General candidate with 30 marks would have qualified in 2024 and 2026 but failed in 2025. Only a score of 36 or more would have crossed the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff in all 3 years. The same is true at 33 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and at 24 for SC, ST and PwD.
Note that 25 marks would not have been enough even in 2026, the year with the lowest GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff, because the GATE ME cutoff 2026 was 25.2. Missing the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff by 0.2 marks is painful, and with negative marking it takes just 1 careless guess.
The 10.6-Mark Swing: Why the GATE ME Cutoff Jumped and Then Fell
The General qualifying mark is not fixed in advance. As per the official rule, it is the average mark of all candidates in the paper plus 1 standard deviation, with a minimum of 25 and a maximum of 40. So the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff tells you how the whole group of Mechanical candidates scored that year.
The GATE ME cutoff 2025 of 35.8 means ME candidates as a group scored far higher in 2025 than in 2024. The All India Rank 1 that year scored 95.33 marks. A year later, the GATE ME cutoff 2026 fell to 25.2, just 0.2 above the lowest value the rules allow, which means the group scored much lower. Yet the 2026 topper scored 96.67, the best of the 3 years.
The lesson for 2027 is simple. You cannot predict the ME paper of a given year from the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff alone. A tough paper can drag the line down to near 25, and a kinder paper can push it above 35. Plan for both.
GATE ME Candidates Are Falling Every Year
While CS and EC grew fast in these years, Mechanical shrank every year. Registered ME candidates fell from 83,114 in 2024 to 79,830 in 2025 and 76,823 in 2026, a drop of 7.6%. Candidates who actually appeared fell from 65,546 to 62,015 and then 59,612, a drop of 9.1% over 2 years. Yet the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff went up and then down in the same period.
ME also has a high absent rate. About 21.1% of registered candidates skipped the exam in 2024, 22.3% in 2025 and 22.4% in 2026, which is more than 1 in 5 every year. None of this decides the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff directly, since the formula only uses the marks of those who appeared. But it does mean the real competition is smaller than the registration numbers suggest.
Topper Marks vs GATE ME Qualifying Marks
The ME All India Rank 1 scored 84.67 marks in 2024, 95.33 in 2025 and 96.67 in 2026. In 2024 and 2026 the topper got a GATE score of 1000, while in 2025 the official page lists a score of 967 for the AIR 1, the only year in this data where the top ME score was below 1000.
Compared with the GATE ME qualifying marks for General, the topper was 56.07 marks ahead in 2024, 59.53 in 2025 and 71.47 in 2026. A score near the cutoff qualifies you, but admissions and PSU calls are decided much higher up this range, far above the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff.
GATE ME vs XE and PI Cutoff 2024-2026
Many Mechanical students also look at Engineering Sciences (XE) and Production and Industrial Engineering (PI). Here is how their General cutoffs compare with the GATE Mechanical cutoff.
| Paper | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | Appeared in 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mechanical (ME) | 28.6 | 35.8 | 25.2 | 59,612 |
| Engineering Sciences (XE) | 36.2 | 35.4 | 35.2 | 9,099 |
| Production and Industrial (PI) | 30.5 | 35.6 | 36 | 3,673 |
XE has been the steadiest of the 3, staying between 35.2 and 36.2. PI rose every year. ME was the only paper of the 3 to fall sharply in 2026, ending 10 marks below XE. A higher cutoff in XE or PI does not make those papers harder; it only means their smaller groups of candidates scored higher on average. For the ME paper, the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff is the only line that matters.
A Swing-Proof Target for GATE ME 2027
Since the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff has ranged from 25.2 to 35.8, set your mock test pass line above the highest value, not the latest one. That means 36+ for General, 33+ for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 24+ for SC, ST and PwD. If the 2027 paper turns out like 2025, you still qualify, and if it turns out like 2026, you are well clear.
Reaching 36 is realistic with the right order of study. In 1 GATE 2025 ME set, General Aptitude carried 15 marks, Engineering Mathematics 15 and Manufacturing Engineering 19, which is 49 marks from just 3 areas. Strong accuracy in these alone can take you past the highest GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff of the last 3 years.
After that, push towards 50 marks or more for a GATE score that brings M.Tech offers through COAP and CCMT or PSU interview calls. Scoring exactly the General GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff gives a GATE score of only 350 out of 1000. Our guide on the highest scoring subjects for GATE ME 2027 shows where these marks come from, and the GATE ME 2027 4 months preparation plan turns them into monthly targets.
FAQs on GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff
What is the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff for 2024 to 2026?
The General cutoff was 28.6 marks in 2024, 35.8 in 2025 and 25.2 in 2026. OBC-NCL and EWS cutoffs were 25.7, 32.2 and 22.6, and SC, ST and PwD cutoffs were 19, 23.8 and 16.7.
What was the GATE ME cutoff 2026?
The GATE ME cutoff 2026 was 25.2 marks for General, 22.6 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 16.7 for SC, ST and PwD, published by IIT Guwahati. It is the lowest GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff of the 3 years.
What was the GATE ME cutoff 2025?
The GATE ME cutoff 2025 was 35.8 marks for General, 32.2 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 23.8 for SC, ST and PwD, published by IIT Roorkee. It was the highest of the 3 years.
What was the GATE ME cutoff 2024?
The GATE ME cutoff 2024 was 28.6 marks for General, 25.7 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 19 for SC, ST and PwD, published by IISc Bangalore.
Why did the GATE Mechanical cutoff fall so much in 2026?
The cutoff is the average mark of all candidates plus 1 standard deviation. ME candidates as a group scored much lower in 2026 than in 2025, so the General cutoff fell by 10.6 marks to 25.2.
Is 30 marks enough to qualify GATE ME?
For General candidates, 30 marks would have qualified in 2024 and 2026 but not in 2025, when the cutoff was 35.8. To clear every recent GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff, aim for 36 marks or more.
How many candidates appeared for GATE ME 2026?
A total of 59,612 candidates appeared for the ME paper in 2026 out of 76,823 who registered. ME candidate numbers have fallen every year since 2024, while the GATE ME Previous Year Cutoff rose and then fell.