GATE 2027 Form Closes Tomorrow: October 12 Is the Final Date, No Extension Expected

If you want to appear for GATE 2027 and have not filled the form yet, Monday is your last chance. IIT Madras, the organising institute this year, has confirmed that the registration window with a late fee closes on October 12, 2026. After that, there will be no way to apply.

October 12 is final: no more extensions are coming

The regular registration without a late fee had already closed on October 5. That deadline itself was an extension from September 27. Now the extended window, which runs with an extra fee, closes tomorrow. IIT Madras has made it clear that this is the final date and candidates should not wait for another extension.

This matters because GATE is the main route into postgraduate engineering seats across India. A GATE 2027 score opens doors to MTech, ME, and MS programmes at IITs, NITs, IIITs, and other centrally funded technical institutes, direct PhD admission with a monthly scholarship from the Ministry of Education, and recruitment in public sector companies such as IOCL, ONGC, NTPC, BHEL, GAIL, HPCL, and BPCL. Some foreign universities in Singapore and Germany also accept GATE scores.

“The extended registration closes on October 12, 2026. Candidates who miss this deadline will not be able to appear in GATE 2027 under any circumstances.”

Late fees: how much you will pay now

Applying during the late-fee window costs more than the regular fee. For one test paper, female, SC, ST, and PwD candidates pay Rs 1,500, while all other candidates, including foreign nationals, pay Rs 2,500. For two test papers, the amounts go up to Rs 2,500 and Rs 4,500 respectively. The fee is non-refundable, so check your details before paying.

The new GATE 2027 registration process has one step that is catching students out: a DigiLocker account is mandatory for all Indian nationals. You must create or update a verified DigiLocker account before applying, and the form also includes facial verification. Your date of birth is pulled from DigiLocker and cannot be changed later, so make sure that account is updated first. The live photo you take during registration and the photo you upload are the ones used; the photo on your Aadhaar is not evaluated.

What to do before the window shuts

Follow these steps on the official GATE 2027 website through the GOAPS portal:

• Open the GOAPS portal link on gate2027.iitm.ac.in and register using your DigiLocker account.
• Complete the facial verification step and fill in your personal details.
• Choose your GATE paper. This year there are 30 test papers, including a new Robotics and Automation paper. Check the updated syllabus before choosing.
• Upload your photo and signature exactly as per the specifications. Blurred photos, cropped faces, or glare can get your form flagged during scrutiny.
• Pay the fee and submit. Download the final application PDF and keep it safe.

Do not apply on the last evening if you can avoid it. Server traffic spikes on closing day, and payment failures can leave your form incomplete.

After October 12: correction window and exam dates

If the form goes through, the next important date is the correction window. Between October 14 and October 21, 2026, you can change details like the exam paper, exam city, and category by paying an extra fee. If your photo or signature is found defective during scrutiny, you will be asked to re-upload within a fixed time. Forms that are not fixed can be marked provisional or rejected.

The exam itself is spread across six days in February 2027: the 6th, 7th, 13th, 14th, 20th, and 21st, with two sessions each day, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm. The city allotment slip is expected on January 4, 2027, and the results are scheduled for March 19, 2027. GATE 2027 scores stay valid for three years from the date the results are announced.

Who should not wait any longer

Final-year engineering students planning MTech, working engineers eyeing PSU jobs, and graduates preparing for research careers should treat tomorrow as the hard stop. Like CAT 2026, which has already crossed 2.84 lakh registrations this year, GATE is a once-a-year window. This month, UGC NET December 2026 registrations are also running, with the deadline on October 28. If you miss it, the next chance is GATE 2028.

Start the application on the official GOAPS portal today, and keep your DigiLocker login and documents ready before you begin.