How to prepare for NIFT Entrance Exam 2026 at Home: GAT & CAT Pattern, Tips and Strategies

1. Know the NIFT 2026 Exam Pattern

Students preparing at home must go through the complete NIFT exam pattern. This will help them to understand the concept of the exam and prepare well in advance.

The NIFT 2026 Entrance Exam will be conducted in two stages:

1. Stage 1 - Written tests (GAT and CAT)
2. Stage 2 - Situation Test/ PI

The test pattern of GAT for the B.Des and M.Des programs is given in the table below.

Program	B.Des	M.Des
Paper	GAT	GAT
Mode of exam	Computer-based exam	Computer-based exam
Language	English/ Hindi	English/ Hindi
Test Duration	120 minutes	120 minutes
Sections	Number of Questions	Number of Questions
NIFT Communication Ability	40	30
NIFT English Comprehension		30
NIFT Quantitative Ability	20	20
NIFT Analytical Ability	15	25
NIFT General Knowledge and Current Affairs	25	15
TOTAL	100	120

NIFT GAT 2026 Exam Pattern (Revised) - B.F.Tech

The NIFT GAT 2026 is expected to have the following pattern:

Program	B.F.Tech
Paper Name	GAT - Section A (CBT)	GAT - Section B (CBT)
Language of written test	English/Hindi	English/Hindi
Test Duration	180 minutes
Sections	Number of questions	Number of questions
Communication Ability and English Comprehension	40	NIL
Quantitative Ability	20	15
Analytical & Logical Ability	15	15
General Knowledge and Current Affairs	25	NIL
Case Study	NIL	20
Total	100	50

NIFT GAT 2026 Exam Pattern - M.F.M & M.F.Tech

The NIFT GAT for MFM and M.F Tech is expected to have the following pattern:

Program	M.F.Tech	MFM
Paper	GAT	GAT
Language of written test	English/Hindi	English/Hindi
Duration	180 minutes	180 minutes
Sections	Number of questions	Number of questions
Communication Ability & English Comprehension	45	50
Case Study	25	40
Quantitative Ability	30	10
Analytical & Logical Ability	25	25
General Knowledge And Current Affairs	25	25
TOTAL	150	150

The test pattern for the NIFT CAT 2026 (Creative Ability Test) is given below.

• Test type: The CAT is a pencil-and-paper-based exam.
• Duration: 3 hours
• Skills evaluated: Intuition skill, power of observation, innovation in the development of a concept, as well as the design ability of the candidate. It will also test the creative as well as innovative use of color and illustration skills of aspirants.

The test pattern for the NIFT Situation Test 2026  is given below.

• Aspirants who have been shortlisted for NIFT B.Des 2026 admissions based on their written test need to appear in the NIFT Situation Test 2026, wherein their “material handling and innovative ability” of the candidate will be tested.
• Here, candidates will be evaluated on “Space Visualization, Innovative and creative use of given material, the composition of elements, color scheme, construction skill, the finesse of the model, and overall presentation.
• These parameters will be checked with the NIFT write-up explaining the concept/idea behind the model constructed.

2. Make a proper timetable:

It is very important to prepare a daily timetable for NIFT 2026 aspirants to cover all relevant topics of the exam. They need to take out at least 3 hours for NIFT preparations at home, along with their regular studies. On weekends, NIFT aspirants can give some extra hours to exam studies.

3. Be conversant with the 2026 NIFT Syllabus:

Before starting the NIFT exam preparation at home, aspirants must know the complete NIFT 2026 syllabus. One must know what topics will come in the question paper. Check out some category-wise important NIFT 2026 topics that will add to your home NIFT studies:

Topics for NIFT General Ability Test (GAT)
Quantitative Ability
Communication Ability and English Comprehension
Analytical Ability and Logical Ability
General Knowledge and Current Affairs

Topics for NIFT Creative Ability Test (CAT) are:

	Topics for NIFT Creative Ability Test (CAT)
Design Theory	Colour Terminology	Inspiration & Design Development
Colour Psychology & Optical Illusions	Elements & Principles Of Design	Mood, Theme & Colour Inter-relationship
Natural & Geometrical Form	Innovation in Design	Principles of Composition
Creative thinking & writing	Optical Illusion	Understanding Light & Shade
Visual Logic	Form & Function	Colour, Pattern & Texture
Theme Development	Drawing Fundamentals	Picture Analysis
Memory Drawing	Inspiration & Creativity	Ornaments & motifs
Use of Measurements, Scale & proportions	Optical Illusion	Foreshortening & Perspective
Developing Themes & Colour Associations	Usage of Colour in Compositions	Imagination & Doodling
3D Visualisation	Presentation Techniques	Expression & Emotion
Exercises on imagination	Lateral Thinking	Story Pictures
Graphics & Pictograms	Innovation & Creation	Design Awareness

NIFT 2025 Situation Test topics for B.Des candidates:

B.Des candidates will be shortlisted for a Situation Test and NIFT Studio Test based on performance in the written tests (CAT and GAT). Here are the key points about the NIFT 2026 Situation Test.

• The situation test is a hands-on test that will evaluate the candidate’s skills for material handling and innovative ability in a given situation with a given set of materials.
• The candidate will have to make a model/design using the given material.
• Using any other material except that provided inside the exam venue is prohibited.
• The model will be evaluated on space visualization, innovative and creative use of given material, the composition of elements, color scheme, construction skill, the finesse of the model and overall presentation, etc. These parameters will be checked with the write-up explaining the concept behind the model constructed. 
• The write-up should be in English. No marks will be given for write-ups in any other language. 
• The candidate shouldn’t disclose their identity in any way; trying to do so could lead to disqualification.
• The situation test will be evaluated on the SPOT. Also, note that the model will not be preserved for future reference.

NIFT 2025 Personal Interview (PI) topics for Master's Candidates:

The NIFT Personal Interview PI will evaluate the following skills of the candidate.

• Career orientation 
• Aptness for the course 
• Overall personal achievements in academics and co-curricular activities 
• Communication 
• General awareness and aptitude, creative and lateral thinking 

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4. Take Enough Breaks:

BREAKS are very important for NIFT students preparing at home. It may get exhausted at some point in time for NIFT students while doing the exam preparations. Students are advised to take short breaks during their studies. They can go for a walk, watch some good movies, listen to music, or practice music sketching.

5. Read NIFT Reference Guides and Books:

Choosing the right NIFT books or reference guides is very important for students. These books will suggest all relevant NIFT topics and will contain sample papers as well. Solving and reading the correct NIFT books will open up your mind and improve your home preparations. Students can easily find them at shops or may order them online. Shiksha has collected a list of important NIFT 2026 books that one can focus on:

Book/Guide Name	Author/Publication
Arihant NIFT Entrance Exam Self Guide	By Arihant Experts
NIFT Entrance Exam	By Dharmendra Mittal
NIFT Entrance Exam	By R.P Verma & A Kant
NIFT Exam Full Package	By LearnX
R. Gupta for NIFT Entrance Exam	By Surendra Kavimandan & Shabina Kavimandan
NIFT Previous Years' Papers Solved	By Ramesh Publishing House Editorial Board

6. Solve NIFT previous years' papers:

NIFT 2025 aspirants must, must, must practice the maximum number of NIFT previous years' question papers. Sometimes, there are similar kinds of questions that appear in the test. Practicing previous years' papers boosts one's confidence, helps to manage paper-solving time, and opens up the mind.

NIFT Sample Papers for NIFT 2026 Preparations

Some of the sample papers are:

Program	Sample Paper
B. Des CAT	Download Here
B.Des	Download Here
B.F.T	Download Here
M.Des.CAT	Download Here
M.Des	Download Here
M.F.M	Download Here
M.F.T	Download Here

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7. Practice all kinds of Drawings:

NIFT students preparing at home should develop a habit of practicing all forms of drawing. Drawing is very important to solve the CAT part of the NIFT exam. They must include sketching, shading, 2D-3D shapes, geometric designs, still drawings, live portraits, colour drawings, line drawings, and other variety of other drawings in their practice routine.

Also Read:

Prep Tips for NIFT Entrance Exam	Understanding NIFT Exam Pattern
How to Crack CAT Paper in NIFT Written Entrance?	Tips for NIFT General Ability Test

8. Consider NIFT Topper's Tips:

One must read and watch NIFT topper interviews to understand the exam day thoughts, time management, and additional tips to crack the NIFT 2026 exam. It is the best way to make a clear-cut preparation strategy at home.

NIFT Topper Tips
NIFT Topper Interview 2020: AIR 2, Vartika Bhardwaj says time management is key to success	NIFT 2018 Topper Interview: AIR 2, Sirigowri loves sketching & painting
NIFT BDes 2018 Topper shares tips to perform well in NIFT Situation Test	NIFT Topper Interview 2018: MFTech AIR 8, Ruchi Harish Gandhi shares GD/PI Tips
NIFT Topper 2018 shares Situation Test Experience	NIFT MDes Topper Interview 2018: AIR 10, Kanupriya Jaiswal likes travelling & sketching
NIFT Topper Interview 2018: Anmol loves reading, painting & cooking	NIFT Topper Interview 2018: Nikita Bharti shares how she secured AIR 5 in MFM Course
NIFT Topper for 2016 Neha Mishra Shares her Prep Strategy	-