Master of Design (M.Des.) 

at NIFT Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar

NIFT entrance examination is Institutional based examination which will only help you to get into NIFT whereas UCEED is a common Entrance Examination which is accepted by many design colleges and universities. So if you plan to get into only NIFT then you do have to give NIFT Entrance Exam but if you plan to apply in many universities then UCEED is a better option as you'll have many university choices and you can get admission on the basis of UCEED score.

For admission to the MDes course at NIFT Gandhinagar, students need to fulfil the minimum eligibility criteria in the first place. The selection criteria for this course are entrance-based (NIFT + PI + Counselling) and candidates must pass graduation from any recognised state/national board. Candidates who have not completed graduation are not eligible for admission.

NIFT is a national-level design entrance exam conducted by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).The exam is conducted once every year and has TWO parts:

• Written Exams - It comprise the GAT and CAT. The GAT paper is mandatory for all programs, while only B.Des and M.Des candidates need to take the CAT. 
• Situation Test/ Personal Interview - B.Des candidates who get shortlisted have to appear in the Situation Test, whereas PG candidates need to appear in a Personal Interview. The only exception is B.F.Tech program, where the admission merit list will be prepared solely based on GAT scores.    

The FINAL score of NIFT 2025 for the other programs will be prepared by giving weightage to the written exams and Situation Test/ Personal Interview.

 NIFT Gandhinagar offers UDAAN - Means cum Merit scheme for foreign students. The scholarship is offered to economically weaker students. The scholarship will be given to Undergraduate and Postgraduate students of the regular programme of NIFT excluding those admitted under NRI/ NRI sponsored category. Students can apply for the scholarship via online application and submitting a fee of INR 2,000.

The National Institute of Fashion Technology offers BDes and BFTech courses at the undergraduate level. It offers M.De:s, MFTech and MFM courses at the postgraduate level. Students can check the table below to know course-wise selection criteria:

Course Name	Selection Criteria
BDes	NIFT + PI + Counselling
MDes	NIFT + PI + Counselling
BFTech	NIFT + PI + Counselling
MFTech	NIFT + PI + Counselling
MFM	NIFT + PI + Counselling

As per the current system, there is no scope to pay the NIFT application fee using demand draft. 

The candidate has to pay the NIFT application fee online using online payment gateway, including credit card, debit card, or net banking. 

Note that unless the application fee has been paid successfully, the NIFT 2026 application form filling process will not be considered complete. The NIFT application fee for general category is INR 3,000. Meanwhile, SC, ST, and PwD candidates only need to pay INR 1,500. It is recommended that candidates pay the fee specific to their category, or else the candidate may not be considered for admission.

Continuing Education (CE) programme is a short-term programme which is specially designed for working professionals so that they can hone and upgrade their skills as per their own schedule.