GATE vs IES: Paper Pattern

GATE and IES/ESE are the two most sought-after career opportunities for all engineering graduates. Aspirants who decided to make a career in their technical lines have a hard time deciding between these two examinations. Opportunities and avenues through these two exams are different. In addition, preparation strategy and approach in these exams are a little different. In this blog, we try to pinch down all the differences in the paper pattern and various other aspects between GATE Exam Pattern and IES pattern. This blog on GATE vs IES aims to help aspirants to make an informed decision about whether they must prepare for GATE or IES.

Eligibility and Syllabus:

GATE exam is held for various engineering disciplines whereas ESE is conducted for only four core engineering branches namely Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering. It is one of the major differentiating points discussed in terms of GATE vs IES. Allied branches to these four core branches, like Production and Industrial Engineering can apply for posts available for Mechanical engineers and Instrumentation engineers and Computer Science graduates can apply for posts in Electronics and Telecommunication engineering. ESE and GATE do not demand candidates to have a bachelor’s degree in the same discipline in which they have applied for the examination. Subjects asked in GATE and IES for some branches are the same whereas the ESE syllabus and pattern for some branches are wider in scope. Apart from the technical subjects of the respective branches, Paper-1 of ESE contains 10 subjects to check the General knowledge that an engineering graduate must possess whereas GATE checks Aptitude, Reasoning, English, and Engineering Mathematics other than subjects of respective technical discipline.

Which is the toughest branch in engineering?

Most students have several questions popping up in their mind while choosing an engineering branch right after the announcement of entrance results. If you have already decided to prepare for GATE or ESE exam during your engineering academic years, you must analyze GATE vs IES aspects related to the respective stream of engineering. In this way, you can create a layout plan to prepare for your college exams with GATE and/or IES exam preparation. Now, talking about the toughest branch in engineering, most experts in the field of engineering and engineering students in their later academic years specify certain engineering streams as difficult compared to others.

Electrical engineering is one of the toughest engineering streams in the present times. This is due to the presence of complex mathematics-related topics such as trigonometry, calculus, and complex maths calculations. Both GATE and ESE exams require students in this field of engineering to know the entrance exam-oriented syllabus and concepts thoroughly. The next engineering streams in this list include mechanical engineering, aerospace engineering, computer science engineering, and electronics and communications engineering. Some of the latest engineering streams that require specialized skills such as AI and ML engineering, and IT engineering have a high demand in the private employment sector. This makes it important for students and young professionals to keep themselves updated with the latest advancements in their respective engineering stream. Thus, these engineering streams are comparatively tougher than certain streams such as environmental engineering, industrial engineering, and architectural engineering. In addition, it will be a bonus point if you understand the other aspects associated with GATE vs IES as mentioned below.

Distribution of marks:

Paper-1 of ESE tests the candidate’s General Knowledge has a weightage of 200 marks whereas the objective paper of the technical stream in stage-1 is of 300 marks. The two conventional papers in the second stage of Mains, that check the technical knowledge of a candidate, are both 300 marks each. The interview, which is the last stage, has a weightage of 200 marks. IES total marks round up to 1300 marks. GATE, on the other hand, is a 100 marks paper in total. Aptitude and Engineering Mathematics both have a combined weightage of almost 30 marks, where number of questions asked from Engineering Mathematics varies from 8 to 10 each year. The rest of the paper is to test the technical aptitude of a candidate. Another key point one must note while discussing GATE vs IES are the type of questions asked and the weightage of each section in the respective exams.

Types of questions:

Questions asked in GATE are either MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) , MSQ’s or  NAT (Numerical answer type). MCQs will have four options for every question and the candidate is expected to choose the most appropriate answer from them. In case of a wrong answer, the checker penalizes the exam taker with negative marks. NAT is generally a numerical problem. The answer to such as type of question is a real number. Similarly the MSQ’s can have multiple correct answers. GATE exam takers need to use a mouse and virtual keypad displayed on the monitor to add the number. There is no negative marking for these questions. There are 35 questions of 2 marks each and 30 questions of 1 mark. Therefore, 65 questions are present in this exam. The question paper of the IES Preliminary exam, on the other hand, has only MCQ-type questions of equal weightage. There are 100 and 150 questions, each of 2 marks, in paper 1 and paper 2 of ESE prelims respectively. It is one of the major points associated with the analysis of GATE vs IES. In both GATE and IES, a deduction of one-third of the total marks of the question occurs in case of a wrong answer. The other stages of IES do not have negative markings. This is because the questions in this exam are subjective. On the other hand, GATE aspirants must take care of the GATE negative marking. In the Mains stage of ESE, questions are subjective in nature and each question has several sub parts. The main deciding factor of GATE vs IES lies only in the ESE Mains stage. Here writing skills, presentation skills, AND planning for answers before writing them in a time bound manner also come into the picture. Preparation and approach for GATE and ESE both remain almost the same until ESE Prelims. After Prelims, however, the approach for ESE Mains is completely different from that of the GATE exam. This becomes the deciding factor for candidates to choose between the two exams. Aspirants need to work on writing answers, draw diagrams, including codes, flowcharts, etc. in a bounded space present in the introduction of QCAB (Question-cum-answer-booklet).

Mode and conduct of examination:

All the stages of IES are conducted offline whereas GATE is completely an online examination. Aspirants are required to solve 65 questions in three hours in GATE exam, with the help of an on-screen virtual calculator. In ESE, however, exam takers must solve 100 and 150 questions in 2 and 3 hours respectively in Prelims without using calculators. This implies that the level of questions asked in IES Prelims is comparatively lower than in the GATE exam. However, most of the aspirants think that Mains level questions of ESE than of GATE. While talking about IES vs GATE, questions in the ESE exam involve memory testing with minimum calculation, which is not the case in the GATE exam. Exam takers can use scientific calculators in the Mains stage of ESE, scientific calculators. These papers are subjective in nature and students need to write the answers to these questions in QCAB. It’s a consolidated booklet with questions printed on them and a fixed allotted space to write answers for respective questions. The third tier of ESE is the personal interview.

The approach in the exam:

Since the mode of exam conduction is different for the two exams, students must prepare and approach the two examinations differently. One must practice questions for ESE prelims without using a calculator from the start itself and with the help of OMR sheets, if possible. Joining an offline test series for each stage of exam adds to the practice and prepares an aspirant best for the exam day. Giving tests in an exam like environment helps to train the mind to work with maximum efficiency in the exam environment. Practicing to fill OMR and writing in QCAB, both can come from test series and are, both unavoidable. For GATE, since students can use a virtual calculator in the exam and authorities conduct exam via online mode, it is highly recommended that one enroll in a good online test series like MADE EASY to practice well for the exam. Other than test series also, one must practice working on the virtual calculator from the start itself, on a laptop or computer screen to avoid any blunders on the exam day. Therefore, if you are preparing for both GATE and ESE, then you must analyze GATE vs IES in terms of the right approach to prepare for these examinations.

Examination tiers:

The ESE is conducted in various stages whereas GATE is a single-stage examination. Time is a critical factor that determines the GATE vs IES. Therefore, you must consider the time constraints before starting with your GATE or IES Exam Preparation. The concerned authorities conduct the Preliminary stage of ESE around the first week of January in two slots of 2 hours and 3 hours for Paper-1 of GS and technical paper associated with the chosen engineering stream respectively. After prelims, qualified candidates have to appear for Mains around May. The Mains exam comprises two conventional papers to test the technical knowledge of a candidate in two sittings of three hours each. After clearing the cutoff of the two stages together, the qualified candidates sit for the interview round. This round takes place around the month of October. The results are declared around November. Joining of the selected candidates starts in June of the upcoming year. This makes the total duration of ESE exam over a year. The benefit of the GATE exam here is that it is not so demanding in terms of time. The authorities conduct the exam around February and the results are out within a month or so. After which candidates can prepare for interviews (group discussions also in some cases) and apply for their target PSUs or M. Tech colleges.

Cutoff and topper’s marks:

Qualifying marks in GATE are not more than around one-third, varying branch to branch in any year. Although, GATE marks do not provide an accurate idea of one’s performance as the GATE score does. Since GATE exam is conducted in multiple sessions for some branches, a candidate may score fewer marks due to the toughness of that set. After normalization, the GATE score can help to compare the performance of two different candidates in different sessions. In addition, merely qualifying for GATE does not guarantee any placement or allotment to any college for higher studies. In IES, though, the qualification of a candidate implies allotment of services in a government department, based on the candidate’s preference and ranks. The number of qualified candidates in ESE is fixed and pre-decided, based on the number of available vacancies in various government departments in that particular year. It keeps on changing every year. Qualifying marks in ESE, for general candidates, fall a little more than around 50% of the total marks, which is in the range of 700 marks or so. We can understand this difference related to GATE vs IES better with the help of an example.

Post Exam:

Before one decides to opt for one of these exams, it is important to know the opportunities available after clearing these examinations. After the results of the GATE exam are declared, the GATE scorecard is valid for three years. It means that a candidate can apply for admissions in M. Tech, PGDIE/PGDM, etc. until three years after clearing the GATE exam. However, PSUs only accept the GATE score of the respective year of application. This is not the case with IES. If a selected candidate refuses to join in that particular year in which he qualified, he has to re-write the exam again to receive a job offer via the IES exam. In addition, government departments like railways, PWD, Store services, Indian ordinance factory services, Indian naval armament services, etc. are the various departments allocated to IES qualified candidates. Whereas aspirants who score a decent rank in GATE have multiple opportunities in several PSUs or pursue higher education like M. Tech, Junior research fellow, etc. from top colleges in India and abroad.

Apart from all the factors listed above, GATE and IES exams are similar in the factors such as the same amount of effort, hard work, and determination to crack these exams. Few differences lie in the approach and preparation strategies for the two exams. During detailed GATE vs IES exam analysis, GATE is the subset of ESE. There have been multiple success stories in the past where students have cracked both exams in the same year with amazing results. So, plan diligently and choose the one that will guide you towards achieving your goal. Stay motivated enough to put in whatever it takes to achieve your aim after that.

Hope this blog helps all the aspirants to analyze and understand the key differences in paper patterns of GATE vs ESE/IES, thus helping aspirants take an informed decision regarding their exam attempt and preparation.

All the very best!

Dear Aspirants,

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