GATE Counselling 2026: Seat Matrix, COAP Seat Allotment, CCMT Seat Offers

GATE Counselling 2026 will be conducted for candidates who will qualify the GATE 2026 exam. The GATE 2026 counselling for admission to M.Tech programs is conducted by two bodies: Common Offer Acceptance Portal (COAP) and Centralised Counselling for MTech (CCMT). The GATE COAP counselling is conducted for admission to M.Tech programs in IITs, while GATE CCMT counselling is conducted for admission to M.Tech programs in NITs, IIITs, GFTIs & CFTIs. 

IIT Guwahati will start the COAP registration from March 2026 after the announcement of the result. Candidates who will clear the GATE Cutoff 2026 can register for the COAP Counselling

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The COAP counselling is conducted for admission to IISc Bangalore along with all IITs. The IIT GATE Counselling is conducted by one of the participating colleges which include: IISc Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Bhilai, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT BHU, IIT Dharwad, IIT Goa, IIT Guwahati, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, IIT Mandi, IIT Palakkad, IIT Patna, IIT Roorkee, IIT Ropar, IIT Tirupati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Indore, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, IIT Jammu, and IIT Jodhpur.  COAP 2026 counselling will be conducted by IIT Guwahati. The registration for IIT GATE Counselling 2026 is expected to start in March 2026. The complete COAP counselling schedule will be released on the official website.

Following the announcement of the GATE result 2026, the IITs will initiate the M.Tech admission application process on their respective official websites. Prospective candidates are mandated to submit their applications through the official website of the specific IIT they are interested in. Prior to applying to a particular IIT, applicants will be required to complete registration on the COAP website. Upon successful registration, they will receive a unique registration number, which they must utilize when applying to the chosen institute. Subsequently, the institute will publish the offers extended to students on the COAP website

Also Read: GATE 2026 Exam

Similarly, the CCMT counselling is conducted by one of the participating NITs for admission to NITs, GFTIs & CFTIs. Candidates will be called for the counselling round based on their GATE scores.

GATE Counselling 2025 COAP 

Currently, IISc Bangalore is conducting GATE Counselling though COAP. The counselling dates are as follows: 

GATE Counselling 2026 Dates

GATE COAP counselling 2026 dates will be announced soon on the official website. Meanwhile, interested candidates can check the other important dates for the GATE 2026 exam in the table below:

GATE Counselling Process

GATE Counselling process is majorly of two types - COAP (Common Offer Acceptance Portal) and CCMT (Centralised Counselling for M. Tech/ M. Des). The counselling process for GATE 2026 will include the registration process, choice filling process, seat allotment, and reporting to the college. 

After each round, the GATE counselling opening and closing rank will be released. The opening and closing rank is the basis on which candidates are offered admission to IITs, NITs, GFTIs, and IIITs.

GATE Counselling for IIT

IIT GATE counselling is conducted through the Common Offer Acceptance Portal. COAP is the common platform for registered candidates who want to take admission to the M.Tech program in participating institutes. Initially, eight institutes - IIT Bombay, IIT Bhubaneswar, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Indore, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Madras, IIT Roorkee were used to offer admission through COAP Counselling. Over the years, more than 22 institutes and a PSU (NPCIL) have started participating in COAP for M.Tech admission and filling Job seats, respectively. Every year, the GATE organizing institute of the preceding year acts as the coordinating institute for COAP. Last year, IIT Kanpur conducted the GATE exam, but this year IIT Guwahati is conducting it, hence the institute will be in charge of GATE COAP Counselling 2026.

• COAP does not serve as an Application Portal for M.Tech. Admission in any participating institutes.
• Candidates must apply separately to the respective Institutes for M.Tech. admission.
• Each participating Institute will adhere to its own selection procedure in accordance with its norms and guidelines.
• Participating Institutes will upload their offers on COAP within a specified time window.
• In order to review and select the most preferred choice from the offers (if any) made by participating Institute(s), each candidate must register on COAP.

GATE COAP Counselling 2026 Schedule

Interested candidates can check the expected GATE counselling dates based on the previous year in the table below:

GATE CCMT Counselling 2026

IIT Guwahati will soon release the GATE CCMT Counselling schedule on the official website. Meanwhile, candidates who wish to participate in the GATE Counselling through CCMT can check the expected dates (based on previous year) in the table below:

GATE Counselling 2026: CCMT Special Rounds

The additional rounds of CCMT will be conducted if seats remain vacant in institutes. Once announced, CCMT Counselling schedule will be updated in the table below:

GATE Counselling 2026: Eligibility Criteria

The eligibility criteria to participate in both types of GATE counselling round is different. Interested aspirants can check the eligibility requirements for the same below:

COAP Counselling

• Candidates must have a valid GATE score of the previous three years to participate in the counselling round for 2026 (2024/2025/2026).
• Candidates must have minimum marks in graduation which can vary as per the institution they are applying for.

CCMT Counselling

• Candidates must have a valid GATE score of the previous three years to participate in the counselling round for 2025 (2024/2025/2026).
• Candidates must have 6.5 CGPA or 60% in their graduation. Candidates belonging to SC/ST/PwD categories must have a minimum 6 CGPA or 55% in their graduation.

GATE COAP Counselling 2026: Number of Round

GATE COAP 2026: Additional Round

Note: 

• There may be a few more further rounds from the participating institutes, depending on the number of vacant seats and the date of the admission.
• Additional rounds offer candidates the choice of either accepting & freezing or rejecting the seat allotment. The seat cannot be retained and upgraded later in additional counselling rounds.

GATE COAP Counselling Process

The GATE COAP counselling process includes the below-listed steps:

• Visit the GATE COAP portal
• Candidates first must register themselves using the required credentials.
• Once registered, candidates are required to fill in their choices online and lock it. It must be noted that locking the filled-up choices is a must. 
• Once the choices are filled in and locked, candidates’ documents will undergo a verification process.
• After the document verification process, the seat allotment result will be announced.
• After the declaration of the seat allotment result, selected candidates are required to report to the allotted college.

GATE CCMT Counselling Process

• Register for an account on the CCMT official portal. Candidates are required to pay the registration fee for the counselling round.  For OC/OB applicants, the registration cost for CCMT is INR 2200; for SC/ST/PwD candidates, it is INR 1700.
• As requested, enter the accurate information.
• The seats will be allocated in accordance with the GATE 2024 rankings attained.
• Those who have been given seats must pay a seat acceptance fee of INR 20,000.
• Carry all supporting documentation to the reporting centre.

GATE Counselling 2026: Documents Required

While reporting to the allotted institute, students will need to submit the below-mentioned documents for the document verification process:

• Class X Marksheet
• Class XII Marksheet
• Graduation Marksheet (All Semesters)
• Degree/Provisional Certificate
• Provisional Seat Allotment Letter
• GATE Scorecard
• Three passport size photographs
• Category Certificate (if applicable)
• Proof of submission of seat acceptance fee
• Printout of the registration form & locked choices
• Migration Certificate
• Photocopies of all original documents