The GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff for the General category was 27.6 marks in 2024, 29.2 marks in 2025 and 30 marks in 2026. For OBC-NCL and EWS candidates it went from 24.8 to 26.2 to 27, and for SC, ST and PwD candidates from 18.4 to 19.4 to 20. That is 3 rises in a row, while the number of CSE candidates who sat the exam grew by 70% in the same period.
Every figure in this post comes from the official cutoff pages of IISc Bangalore (GATE 2024), IIT Roorkee (GATE 2025) and IIT Guwahati (GATE 2026). We use only these 3 years because older official cutoff pages are no longer online, and we do not repeat unverified numbers from other websites. Along with the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff, you will find candidate counts, topper marks and how the qualifying mark is calculated.
If you are preparing for February 2027, read this with the GATE 2027 exam pattern and marking scheme, which explains how marks are won and lost, and the GATE CSE 2027 syllabus, which lists what you will be tested on.
GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff 2024-2026 Overview
Here is the official GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff for all 3 categories, with the number of candidates who registered and appeared in each year.
| Year | Organising institute | General | OBC-NCL / EWS | SC / ST / PwD | Registered | Appeared |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | IIT Guwahati | 30 | 27 | 20 | 2,59,922 | 2,11,020 |
| 2025 | IIT Roorkee | 29.2 | 26.2 | 19.4 | 2,07,851 | 1,70,825 |
| 2024 | IISc Bangalore | 27.6 | 24.8 | 18.4 | 1,52,652 | 1,23,967 |
Every GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff above is in marks out of 100. CSE is the paper with code CS (Computer Science and Information Technology), and it has been the largest GATE paper in each of these 3 years.
GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff 2026: 30 Marks (IIT Guwahati)
The GATE CSE cutoff 2026 was 30 marks for General, 27 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 20 for SC, ST and PwD. It was the highest GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff of the 3 years. A record 2,59,922 candidates registered for the CS paper and 2,11,020 appeared, which means more than 2 lakh students sat a single GATE paper for the first time in this period.
The All India Rank 1 in GATE CSE 2026 scored 92.57 marks. IIT Guwahati marked this as normalised marks, which tells you the CS paper ran in more than 1 session that year and marks were adjusted across sessions. The top GATE score was 1000.
GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff 2025: 29.2 Marks (IIT Roorkee)
The GATE CSE cutoff 2025 was 29.2 marks for General, 26.2 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 19.4 for SC, ST and PwD. Registrations jumped from about 1.53 lakh to 2,07,851, and 1,70,825 candidates appeared, a rise of nearly 38% over 2024. This was the biggest single-year jump in candidates across our GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff data.
GATE CSE 2025 also had a perfect topper: the All India Rank 1 scored 100 out of 100, with a GATE score of 1000. Even with that top score, the qualifying mark rose by only 1.6 marks, which shows the cutoff depends on the average candidate, not on the toppers.
GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff 2024: 27.6 Marks (IISc Bangalore)
The GATE CSE cutoff 2024 was 27.6 marks for General, 24.8 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 18.4 for SC, ST and PwD. That year 1,52,652 candidates registered and 1,23,967 appeared. The All India Rank 1 scored 90 marks.
2024 is the starting point of our GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff series. In just 2 exams after it, the General cutoff rose by 2.4 marks and the number of candidates who appeared grew by 87,053.
Why the GATE CSE Qualifying Marks Are Not a Fixed Pass Mark
Many students think IIT sets a pass mark for CSE, and that the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff is that pass mark. It is not. The GATE CSE qualifying marks come from a formula in the official brochure: the General cutoff is the mean plus the standard deviation of the marks of all candidates in that paper, but never below 25 and never above 40. The other 2 categories are fixed ratios of the General cutoff.
| Category | Rule | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General | Mean + standard deviation (between 25 and 40) | 27.6 | 29.2 | 30 |
| OBC-NCL / EWS | 9/10 of General | 24.84 → 24.8 | 26.28 → 26.2 | 27 → 27 |
| SC / ST / PwD | 2/3 of General | 18.40 → 18.4 | 19.47 → 19.4 | 20 → 20 |
The table shows the ratios match every official GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff exactly, with the decimals cut to 1 place rather than rounded up. It also tells you something useful: in CSE, the mean plus standard deviation of all candidates was only between 27.6 and 30 marks. In simple words, most CSE candidates scored below 30 out of 100, so crossing the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff already puts you ahead of a large share of the field.
4 Trends in the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff
Looking at the 3 years together, the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff shows 4 clear trends.
Trend 1: The Cutoff Has Risen Every Year
The General GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff went 27.6, then 29.2, then 30. The rise is small each year, 1.6 marks and then 0.8 marks, but it has not gone down once in this period. The OBC-NCL and SC, ST, PwD cutoffs follow the same path because they are fixed shares of the General figure.
Trend 2: Competition Grew Much Faster Than the Cutoff
Candidates who appeared grew by 37.8% from 2024 to 2025 and by 23.5% from 2025 to 2026, a total rise of 70.2% in 2 years. Over the same time the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff rose by only 8.7%. More students does not push the cutoff up by the same amount, because the cutoff tracks the average, and the average stays fairly steady.
Trend 3: Almost 1 in 5 Registered Candidates Did Not Appear
The absent rate was 18.8% in 2024, 17.8% in 2025 and 18.8% in 2026. That is 28,685 registered CSE candidates who did not sit the paper in 2024, 37,026 in 2025 and 48,902 in 2026. When you compare any GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff with competition, the real number to use is the appeared count, not the registered number you see in news headlines.
Trend 4: The Gap Between Qualifying and Topping Is Huge
Toppers scored 90, 100 and 92.57, while the qualifying mark stayed between 27.6 and 30. Qualifying is the first step. To get a strong GATE score for M.Tech or PSU calls, you need to score well above the GATE CSE qualifying marks.
GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff vs GATE DA Cutoff 2024-2026
Many CSE students also look at the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DA) paper, and DA is allowed as a second paper with CS in GATE 2027. Its cutoff has moved in the opposite direction to the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff.
| Year | CS General cutoff | DA General cutoff | CS appeared | DA appeared |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 27.6 | 37.1 | 1,23,967 | 39,210 |
| 2025 | 29.2 | 29 | 1,70,825 | 57,054 |
| 2026 | 30 | 26.4 | 2,11,020 | 69,242 |
DA started with a much higher cutoff of 37.1 in 2024, its first year, and fell to 26.4 by 2026 as more candidates took it. CS went the other way. Since 2025, DA has had a lower General cutoff than CS. A lower cutoff does not mean an easier paper, though, since the cutoff only reflects how the whole group scored.
Qualifying Marks vs M.Tech Admission Cutoff
The GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff tells you who qualified, not who got a seat. Under the official rules, a candidate who scores exactly the General qualifying mark gets a GATE score of 350 out of 1000, while the average of the top 0.1% gets 900. IITs, NITs and PSUs then set their own cutoffs on the GATE score, and these are usually far above 350 for CSE.
So treat the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff as the floor, not the target. Admission cutoffs change by institute, programme, round and category, and they are published by each institute and the COAP and CCMT counselling portals, not by the GATE organising institute.
How to Use the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff in Your Preparation
With about 4 months left for GATE 2027, here is how to turn these numbers into a target:
- Treat 30 marks as the line to cross in every full mock test from November, since that is the latest General GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff. OBC-NCL and EWS students should treat 27 as the line, and SC, ST and PwD students 20.
- Note that General Aptitude (15 marks) plus Engineering Mathematics (13 marks) alone is 28 marks, close to the GATE CSE cutoff 2026. Strong scores in these 2 sections nearly get you there.
- Once you clear the cutoff in mocks, push for 50 marks and above, since a good GATE score needs far more than the qualifying mark.
- Avoid careless MCQ guesses. With negative marking, a few wrong answers can pull a 31 down to below 30.
For subject-wise priorities, see our guide on the most scoring subjects for GATE CSE 2027. For a week-by-week routine till February, follow the GATE CSE 2027 4 months study plan.
Final Word on the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff
The GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff moved from 27.6 to 29.2 to 30 between 2024 and 2026, while the number of candidates grew from about 1.24 lakh to 2.11 lakh. The cutoff is set by the average candidate, so it moves slowly, but it has only moved up in this period. Aim well above it, and use the GATE CSE qualifying marks only as your minimum line in mock tests.
FAQs on GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff
What is the GATE CSE Previous Year Cutoff for 2024 to 2026?
The General cutoff was 27.6 marks in 2024, 29.2 in 2025 and 30 in 2026. OBC-NCL and EWS cutoffs were 24.8, 26.2 and 27, and SC, ST and PwD cutoffs were 18.4, 19.4 and 20.
What was the GATE CSE cutoff 2026?
The GATE CSE cutoff 2026 was 30 marks for General, 27 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 20 for SC, ST and PwD, as published by IIT Guwahati.
What was the GATE CSE cutoff 2025?
The GATE CSE cutoff 2025 was 29.2 marks for General, 26.2 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 19.4 for SC, ST and PwD, as published by IIT Roorkee.
What was the GATE CSE cutoff 2024?
The GATE CSE cutoff 2024 was 27.6 marks for General, 24.8 for OBC-NCL and EWS, and 18.4 for SC, ST and PwD, as published by IISc Bangalore.
How is the GATE CSE qualifying mark calculated?
The General qualifying mark is the mean plus standard deviation of all candidate marks in the CS paper, kept between 25 and 40. OBC-NCL and EWS get 9/10 of it, and SC, ST and PwD get 2/3 of it.
How many candidates appeared for GATE CSE 2026?
A total of 2,11,020 candidates appeared for the GATE CSE 2026 paper out of 2,59,922 who registered, making CS the largest GATE paper that year.
Is the GATE CSE cutoff the same as the IIT M.Tech cutoff?
No. The qualifying cutoff only decides who passes GATE. IITs, NITs and PSUs set their own, much higher cutoffs on the GATE score for admission and jobs.
Why are older GATE CSE cutoffs not included here?
The official cutoff pages for GATE 2023 and earlier are no longer online, so we include only the 3 years that can still be checked on official GATE websites.
What GATE score do I get at the qualifying mark?
A candidate who scores exactly the General qualifying mark gets a GATE score of 350 out of 1000, as per the official GATE score formula.