How Many Students Appeared for NIFT Entrance Exam 2026?

Slot booking process for the NIFT Situation Test 2026 will be held a few weeks before the Situation Test. Slot booking process will be held online and will be open for candidates who have qualified in NIFT written exams. As part of the slot booking process, candidate needs to book their date and time slots for Situation Test. Note that slots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The details of the slot allocated to the candidate, exam centre, and other key details will be mentioned on the admit card.

Candidates will be provided with the items for making the model during the NIFT Situation Test. Materials that students may be provided with are Glaze Papers, Plasticine Clay, Copper Wire, Ivory Sheets, Cardboard, Thermocol (thick And Thin), Kite Papers, Handmade Sheet, Coloured Clay, Cellophane, Fabric, Thread, Ribbon, Straw, Aluminum Foil, etc. The candidate can not use any other items except the ones provided in the exam hall. 

We at Shiksha.com will bring you student reactions for the NIFT exam. Our representatives will be present at the NIFT 2024 exam centre to do live coverage and provide insights into various aspects of the exam. We will get in touch with students appearing in the NIFT 2026 exam after they have appeared in the entrance exam. The student reactions will cover aspects like difficulty level of the exam, types of questions asked, expected cut-off, etc. Note that the student reactions will be available for all the design courses - M.Des B. Des, B.FTech M.FTech and MFM.

On the day of the NIFT exam, candidates must bring the following items with them NIFT 2026 admit card, a valid photo id proof, HB Pencil, eraser, sharpener, and dry colours.

Items that are not allowed inside the exam venue are water bottle, papers, notes, Books, calculator, electronic gadgets, mobile phone, bag, handbagand correction marker/ white fluid.

NIFT Situation Test will be conducted in an offline mode at the various NIFT campuses. Considering there are 19 NIFTs, the candidate will be able to select any of these institutes to appear in the Situation Test. The window to select test centres for the Situation Test will be announced soon after the declaration of NIFT results for the written exam. Test centres for the Situation Test will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. So, candidates need to book their slots as soon as possible. Note that if seats in a particular centre (or institute) fill out, the candidate will not be able to be offered slots for that institute.

NIFT situation test will test candidate on Colour scheme, Space visualization, Construction skill, Finesse of the model, Composition of elements, Overall presentation, Innovative and creative use of given material, etc. Situation Test will be evaluated on the spot.

Model made by candidate will not be kept for future reference. Candidate must make sure that their model is unique and stands out from the crowd. After making model, candidate must write about the model- write-up explaining the model.

PG candidates will be evaluated on the various parameters as listed below by a panel, in the Personal Interview:

1. Career orientation 

2. Aptness for the course 

3. Overall personal achievements in academics and co-curricular activities 

4. Communication 

5. General awareness, aptitude, creative and lateral thinking 

Candidates will be shortlisted for the PI based on their performance in the written exam - GAT (and CAT in case of M.Des program).

Please note that NIFT reserves the right to modify the entrance examination scheme. This includes non-conduct of any stage (s) due to unforeseen circumstances.

The allotment of seats will be based on: 

1. Choice opted at the time of counseling registration (academic programs + campuses)
2. The category of the candidate
3. Seat intake in the college opted for admission
4. NIFT merit rank of the candidate. 

The information provided by the candidate when filling out the NIFT 2026 application form will be verified by NIFT officials before any candidate is considered for admission.

The verification of original documents will be conducted at the campus when the candidate reports for the alloted regular programme. When reporting for verification, along with the original documents, the candidate must also bring with them self-attested photocopies. 

Also, if the certificates are in any other language than Hindi/ English, then a certified translation in Hindi/ English produced duly verified by the issuing institution/ gazetted officer. If the candidate fails to produce the translation, the candidate may be denied admission. 

The NIFT exam is among the competitive and is also considered among the toughest. So, it is recommended that the candidate starts their exam preparation early. NIFT exam has various components like written exam and Situation Test /Personal Interview. Candidates seeking admission to the B. Des and M.Des courses need to prepare for both the CAT and GAT. The CAT is a drawing-based exam. Now unless the candidate is already well-versed, the exam will be very difficult. So, start early. The same goes for the GAT.

The GAT paper for all the B.Des and M.Des courses was conducted from 9 am - 11 am. Meanwhile, the GAT written exam for B.F.Tech, M.F.Tech, and M.F.M. courses were conducted from 9 am - 12 noon.

During the Situation Test, the candidate will be provided with a set of materials. Using these materials, the candidate will be required to make specific models. In this test, candidates are required to create a 3D model based on the question asked for, which they are given 2 hours, within which they need to conceptualize and complete the model.

After completing the mode, the candidate will also have to draft a write-up, which is evaluated by the jury later. Note that besides material exploration & management skills, NIFT also lays great emphasis on time management skills and students are closely monitored on the fact that whether they have managed to complete the task at hand in two hours or not.