NID Ahmedabad: Courses, Fees, Admission 2025, Placements, Ranking

NID Ahmedabad does not offer scholarships of its own. However, students of NID Ahmedabad can avail of various scholarships provided by the state and central government. Some of the popular scholarships are the Central Sector Scheme of Scholarship for College and University Students, the Saksham Scholarship Scheme for Specially-Abled Students (Degree), Post Graduate Scholarship for Single Girl Child, the Ishan Uday Special Scholarship Scheme for North Eastern Region, and many more.

 The institute offers monetary aid to deserving students, which is a great opportunity for those who may not have the financial resources to pay for their education. The scholarships offered by the institute, the Government of India, and the Ford Foundation provide financial assistance to students who are in need, allowing them to pursue their studies without the burden of financial stress. The range of scholarships offered by the institute, Government of India and Ford Foundation is designed to help students who are pursuing a Bachelor of Design (BDes) course. These scholarships are intended to support and encourage underprivileged and deserving students to complete their education and achieve their career goals.

The overall highest package for the 2023 passing out batch stood at INR 30 LPA. However, in 2022 the highest package was comparatively higher. Check the below table to know the NID Ahmedabad the highest package trends:

The total tuition fee for MDes at NID Ahmedabad is INR 10.67 lakh. MDes is a two and half-year course divided into five semesters and the fee for each semester is INR 2.13 lakh. While there are components that will be added to the total tuition fee, such as the student activity fund and film club, the final fee including these components and the total tuition fee might change a little.

 To apply for a Master's programme at NID Ahmedabad, candidates need to meet the following requirements:

1. A Bachelor's degree in Design or equivalent from a recognised university
2. A valid score in the National Entrance Test (NET) or Design Aptitude Test (DAT) conducted by NID.
3. A portfolio of your design work, as required by the programme candidates are applying to
4. Additional requirements, such as recommendations and essays, may also be required depending on the programme.

No, the date of birth cannot be changed in the NID application correction window. The candidate will also not be able to edit their name, the programme applied for admission, registered email id, and phone number, in the application form. Note that these details are entered by the candidate at the time of registering for the NID DAT exam. Among the particulars that the candidate is allowed to edit in the NID DAT application form include the exam centre, address of communication, uploaded documents, category under which admission is sought, and any other details not covered in the paragraph above. The candidate needs to go through the list of items that can be edited and that can not be edited before filling out the NID DAT application form to avoid trouble afterwards. The application edit window for NID DAT will open within a few weeks of the closure of the application form.

Indian nationals who belong to the General and General EWS categories need to be born on or after 1 July 2003 to apply for NID that 2024. In the case of candidates belonging to the OBC-NCL, SC, and ST categories, candidates born on or after 1 July 2000 may apply. Meanwhile, PwD candidates who are born on or after 1 July 1998 may apply for admission. The candidate needs to ensure that meets the age criteria before filling out the application form. It is because every detail entered by the candidate will be cross checked at the time of counselling, during the document verification process. Any candidate found to be faking their eligibility stands to be disqualified.

NID Ahmedabad offers BDes courses to students in 8 specialisations. The specialisations are Animation Film Design, Film & Video Communication, Product Design, Exhibition Design, Ceramic & Glass Design, Furniture & Interior Design, Textile Design, and Graphic Design. Candidates can take admission to the BDes course offered by NID Ahmedabad by qualifying for NID Design Aptitude Test and also fulfilling the required eligibility criteria. NID Ahmedabad eligibility and selection criteria for BDes course:

Selection criteria: DAT Prelims (40% weightage) + DAT Mains (60% weightage)

Eligibility: A pass in Class 12 in any stream is required to apply for the BDes course. Additionally, candidates must be born on or after July 1, 2003 (July 1, 2000 for SC/ ST).

The Bachelor of Design programme, which is four years in duration, is exclusively offered at NID Ahmedabad and encompasses four areas of specialisation: Industrial Design, Communication Design, Textile, Apparel, Lifestyle & Accessory Design and Ceramic & Glass Design.

No, candidates cannot directly join NID Ahmedabad for any program, including undergraduate (BDes) or postgraduate (MDes) courses. There is no such provision for direct admission at NID Bangalore. Admission to all programs at NID Ahmedabad, and across all NID campuses, is solely based on a rigorous entrance exam process involving the National Institute of Design Aptitude Test (NID DAT). The NID DAT is a two-stage exam comprising:

1. Prelims: This objective-type computer-based test assesses design aptitude, general knowledge, and observation skills. 

2. Mains: Shortlisted candidates from the Prelims undergo studio tests and a personal interview to evaluate their design thinking, creativity, and problem-solving abilities.

NID Ahmedabad has not released any official placement report 2023. As per the annual placement 2020 report, NID Ahmedabad average package stood at INR 14 LPA. The top recruiters who participated during recent NID Ahmedabad placements included Samsung, Adobe, TCS, HCL, Ebay, Deloitte, etc. These stats may vary further once the latest placement Statistics are out.

BDes course is offered through various specialisations at NIDs. Candidates who have scored within 200 are eligible for top NIDs, including NID Ahmedabad and NID Andhra Pradesh. Admission to NID DAT exam is conducted for BDes admissions to NIDs. The table below shows a comparative analysis of the rank and scores of the last candidate admitted on the basis of NID DAT cutoffs for Open category for the last year for top NIDs, including the NID Ahmedabad, Andhra Pradesh, NID Assam, NID Madhya Pradesh and NID Haryana:

The application fee of NID DAT 2025 for the B. Des for General, General-EWS, OBC-NCL candidates is INR 3,000. SC, ST, PwD candidates only ned to pay INR 1,500. However note that the application fees for overseas candidates seeking admission to supernumerary seats is INR 5000. In case of the M.Des programme, the application fees for General, General-EWS, OBC-NCL candidates applying for one discipline is INR 3,000. If two disciplines are chosen, the application fee is INR 6000. Meanwhile, SC, ST, PwD candidate need to pay INR 1,500 for one discipline, and INR 3000 for two disciplines.

The NID DAT 2025 application form is now open.

There are 128  seats available for BDes at NID Ahmedabad. The seats are reserved discipline-wise as follows:

To be considered for admission to the BDes programme, the candidate needs to have or appear in the Class 12 exam. Candidates from any stream can apply, including Science, Arts, Commerce, Humanities etc. For the General and General EWS categories, only those candidates born on or after 1 July 2003 are eligible to apply for admission. Note that for candidates belonging to SC, ST, and OBC-NCL categories, there is a relaxation of 3 years. Meanwhile, PwD candidates are eligible for a relaxation of 5 years in the upper age limit.

Yes, pursuing an BDes course from NID Ahmedabad is a good choice. NID Ahmedabad has a strong record of placements. The final placement report 2023 is yet to be released on the official websites. However, the placement details of 2019 batch is available on the annual report 2020. As per the NID Ahmedabad annual report 2020, the participating recruiters presented 403 job offers to the BDes and MDes batches 2019. The key highlights NID Ahmedabad placements for the Class of 2019 are presented below:

 The two-and-a-half-year Master of Design (MDes) programme at NID Ahmedabad is offered in five specialisations, i.e., Communication Design, Industrial Design, Interdisciplinary Design, IT Integrated and Textile, Apparel, Lifestyle & Accessory Design.

Industrial Design is offered in six disciplines: Ceramic & Glass Design, Furniture And Interior Design, Product Design, Toy & Game Design, Transportation & Automobile Design and Universal Design.

Communication Design is offered under four discipline: Film & Video Communication, Graphic Design, Animation Film Design, and Photography Design.

Interdisciplinary Design is offered under two discipline: Design for Retail Experience and Strategic Design Management.

IT Integrated Design is offered under four discipline: Digital Game Design, Interaction Design, Information Design, and New Media Design.

Apparel, Lifestyle & Accessory Design offers three discipline: Apparel, Lifestyle, and Textile Design.

The total number of offers made during the 2023 placements was 620. Looking at the past three years' statistics (2021 to 2023), a fluctuating trend was recorded in the number of offers made. The following table showcases the number of offers made in the past three years of NID Ahmedabad placements:

The NIFT and NID DAT are different entrance exams. Also, while the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) released an official syllabus for the NIFT entrance exam, the National Institute of Design (NID) doesn’t release any official syllabus.

So, the only option for the NID aspirant is to consult previous years’ papers and sample test papers to get an idea regarding the types of questions that may be asked in the NID DAT 2024 exam.

And no, the NIFT 2024 syllabus cannot be relied on to prepare for the NID DAT exam. The candidate may refer to the NIFT syllabus only to further their knowledge.

The National Institute of Design will announc the results of DAT Prelims for the B.Des program on April 1, 2025. 

The result will be declared online at admissions.nid.edu.

To check DAT Prelims results 2025 (B.Des), follow these steps:

1. Go to the result portal

2. Click on the result link

3. A log-in window will open

4. Enter your email ID and date of birth.

5. On log-in, you can download DAT Prelims results.