The Common Offer Acceptance Portal (COAP) is the GATE counselling process portal for IIT admissions. The candidates can access the admission/job offers by registering at COAP from all the participating IITS / PSUS where they have applied for MTech admissions/jobs with GATE scores. COAP has seen a growing number of participating institutes over the years, with 8 institutes in 2017, increasing to 21 in 2020, and more in subsequent years. As of 2026, there are 24 institutes participating in COAP.
- Please note that GATE COAP is not an application portal for MTech admission to any participating institute.
- You should apply separately to the respective IITs for MTech admission and to the PSU for the job.
- COAP is just the portal where the IITs / PSUs upload their offers based on their selection criteria.
IIT Guwahati will announce the GATE 2026 COAP registration dates on the official website. The GATE COAP 2026 registration will begin in March 2026. Candidates who have qualified for the GATE exam in 2026, 2025, or 2024 and seek MTech admission to IITs must register for COAP 2026 counselling. The authority will conduct the GATE 2026 exam on February 7, 8, 14, and 15, 2026.
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What is GATE COAP?
COAP full form is the Common Offer Acceptance Portal, initiated in 2017. Candidates with valid GATE scores are required to register at COAP to access the offers by IITs for MTech admission or job offers from the PSUs. COAP provides the platform for the candidates to practice the choices of offers by the IITs/PSUs and allows the candidates to make informed choices.
| Particulars | Details |
|---|---|
| Name of the Process | COAP (Common Offer Acceptance Portal) |
| Admission to the Batch | 2026-27 |
| Exam Scores Accepted | GATE 2026/ 2025/ 2024 |
| Mode of Conduct | Online |
| Official Website | https://gate.iisc.ac.in/coap2025/ |
| Number of Participating Institutes | 24 |
| COAP 2026 Registration Date | March 2026 |
| COAP 2026 Registration Fee | No application fee |
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Ques: Who is going to conduct GATE 2026?
Ans: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati is conducting the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) in 2026. The exam will be held on February 7, 8, 14, and 15, 2026, as a Computer-Based Test (CBT).
Ques: When to apply for the GATE 2026 exam?
Ans: You can now apply for GATE 2026 since the registration is ongoing. The IIT Guwahati has officially released the GATE Application form for 2026 on 28th August 2025, on the official website gate2026.iitg.ac.in.
- The GATE application form will be active till 28th September, 2025
- The last date with a late fee will end on 9th October, 2025.
COAP 2026 Important Dates
Last year, the COAP 2025 round 1 started on May 17, 2025. Students were allotted seats in COAP and had to either ‘Accept and Freeze’, ‘Retain and Wait’, or ‘Reject and Wait’ for the seat allotted as per the schedule.
This year also, the COAP Seat Allotment is expected to start in May. The COAP tentative dates are given below:
| Tentative Time to view offers and take decision | Round No | Accept & Freeze | Retain & Wait | Reject & Wait |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17 (10:00 AM) to May 20 (09:00 AM) | Round 1 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| May 23 (10:00 AM) to May 25 (09:00 AM) | Round 2 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| May 29 (10:00 AM) to June 01 (09:00 AM) | Round 3 | Yes | Yes/No | Yes |
| June 05 (10:00 AM) to June 07 (09:00 AM) | Round 4 | Yes | Yes/No | Yes |
| June 11 (10:00 AM) to June 13 (09:00 AM) | Round 5 | Yes | No | Yes |
| June 17 (10:00 AM) to June 19 (09:00 AM) - additional | Round 6 | Yes | No | Yes |
| June 23 (10:00 AM) to June 25 (09:00 AM)- additional | Round 7 | Yes | No | Yes |
| June 29 (10:00 AM) to June 30 (09:00 AM) - additional | Round 8 | Yes | No | Yes |
| July 04 (10:00 AM) to July 05 (09:00 AM)-additional | Round 9 | Yes | No | Yes |
| July 09 (10:00 AM) to July 10 (06:00 PM)- additional | Round 10 | Yes | No | Yes |
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Ques: Can I apply for GATE 2026 now?
Ans: Yes, GATE 2026 registration is open and began on August 28, 2025, on the official portal gate2026.iitg.ac.in.
- You can apply without a late fee until September 28, 2025, with an extended window for late fee applications until October 9, 2025.
- You must register on the GATE Online Application Processing System (GOAPS) to access the application form and complete the process.
Ques: Can I use my GATE score twice?
Ans: Yes, you can use your GATE score twice (or more) because each GATE scorecard is valid for three years from the date of result announcement.
- You can appear for the GATE exam multiple times to improve your score
- For admission, you can use any of your valid scorecards to apply to the desired institution.
Ques: How many rounds of coap?
Ans: COAP has 10 rounds. In each round you might receive an offer, and you will be given options to accept or reject them. Out of these 10 rounds the first 5 rounds are called main rounds and the last 5 are called additional/decisive rounds.
GATE COAP Registration
To register for GATE COAP, you must vist the official website: gate.iisc.ac.in/coap2025. GATE COAP Registration is entirely free and is done online.
Source: GATE COAP official Website: gate.iisc.ac.in/coap2025
GATE COAP 2026 Eligibility Criteria
You must be aware of the COAP eligibility criteria. If you do not meet the eligibility conditions, you will be rejected. The eligibility requirements of COAP 2026 are:
- The candidate must be an Indian National
- Must have a valid GATE score i.e. qualified in 2026/2025/2024.
- In the case of more than one valid scorecard, you must provide the scorecard with a better score or rank.
- Must check the eligibility criteria of the respective institute before applying for it
COAP Registration Fee
You do not need to pay any registration or application fee for COAP 2026.
- GATE COAP 2026 is an online process with a zero application fee.
- Since each IIT has a unique counseling process, candidates must submit individual applications to each IIT of their choice.
- The qualification requirements for Counseling vary among institutions.
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COAP 2026 Options for Offers
There are multiple options once you have offers in the COAP dashboard. These options are:
Option 1 - 'Accept and Freeze'
This option should be selected if you are willing to accept one of the available offers and does not want to be considered for any other offers from other Institutes, if any. Selecting this option WILL NOT be considered in the subsequent round(s) of admission in any of the participating academic Institutes and PSUs.
Option 2 - 'Retain and Wait'
This option should be selected if you want to indicate your partial acceptance to any one of the available offers and also would like to be considered for any other offers in other institutes.
- Candidates selecting this option WILL NOT be considered for the other rejected offers in the current round.
- If any higher preferred offer is made in the next round, then the existing 'Retain and Wait' offer will be released.
- A candidate can choose “Retain and Wait” on the same offer (same institute and same program) only twice.
Option 3 - 'Reject All and Wait':
This option should be selected if the candidate is not willing to accept any of the offer(s) of admission/job in the current round.
Freeze Decision (After Selecting Option 1, 2, or 3):
Candidates can select the choices from the multiple offers and press OK to confirm. After making the final choice, candidates have to click the Freeze button to complete the decision-making.
Ques: What to do after accepting a coap offer?
Ans: Accepting a COAP offer means you have accepted the offer and do not intent to wait for any other offers.
After selecting "Accept and Freeze" for an admission offer, visit the respective organization's website or the institute's M. Tech. admission portal and complete the required admission formalities within the specified deadline.
Ques: What is the difference between Ccmt and Coap?
Ans: The key difference between COAP and CCMT is that COAP offers admission to M. Tech programs at IITs, while CCMT is for admission to NITs, IITs, etc. via GATE.
COAP 2026 Participating Colleges
The list of all 24 participating institutes for COAP is as follows:
| Name of Institute | NIRF Ranking 2024 | NIRF Ranking 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| IIT Madras | 1 | 1 |
| IIT Delhi | 2 | 2 |
| IIT Bombay | 3 | 3 |
| IIT Kanpur | 4 | 4 |
| IIT Roorkee | 6 | 5 |
| IIT Kharagpur | 5 | 6 |
| IIT Guwahati | 7 | 7 |
| IIT Hyderabad | 8 | 8 |
| IIT BHU | 10 | 15 |
| IIT ISM Dhanbad | 15 | 17 |
| IIT Indore | 16 | 14 |
| IIT Ropar | 22 | 22 |
| IIT Mandi | 31 | 33 |
| IIT Gandhinagar | 18 | 18 |
| IIT Jodhpur | 28 | 30 |
| IIT Patna | 34 | 41 |
| IIT Bhubaneswar | 54 | 27 |
| IIT Tirupati | 61 | 59 |
| IIT Palakkad | 64 | 69 |
| IIT Jammu | 62 | 67 |
| IIT Dharwad | Not in top 100 | 93 |
| IIT Bhilai | 73 | 81 |
| IIT Goa | NA | NA |
GATE COAP: Opening and Closing Ranks
We have provided the GATE COAP opening and closing ranks of 2025 here. You can estimate that the cut off will be on a similar level.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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