The Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) 2026 committee has announced that it will take steps to prevent a scheduling conflict with the Union Public Service Commission’s (UPSC) Engineering Services Examination (ESE) 2026. According to the annual calendar released by UPSC, the ESE 2026 preliminary exam is scheduled for February 8, 2026. Recognising the overlap, the GATE 2026 organising committee at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati) has assured aspirants that core engineering papers including civil engineering (CE), electronics engineering (EC), electrical engineering (EE), geology and geophysics (GG), instrumentation (IN), mechanical engineering (ME), production and industrial (PI), and geomatics engineering (GE) will not be scheduled on that date. The move comes as a relief for thousands of candidates who typically appear for both exams. With this adjustment, students can now prepare and plan their attempts without the stress of a direct clash. The official GATE 2026 website is gate2026.iitg.ac.in. In 2026, GATE will be held on February 7, 8, 14, and 15. The application process for the GATE 2026 exam started on August 25. The last date to apply for the exam is September 28 (without late fees) and October 9 (with late fees). GATE 2026 will be held for a total of 30 test papers. Candidates can appear for one or up to two test papers only. The two test paper combinations will have to be chosen from the list of combinations. Only one application form will have to be filled even if candidates appear for two test papers. GATE 2026 test papers will be in English and entirely of objective type.
