NID DAT 2027 Reservation Criteria: Category-wise Reservation and Program-wise Seat Intake

The National Institute of Design (NID) will conduct the DAT Prelims exam on December 20, 2026. B.Des exam will be held around 10 am - 1 pm. 

NID application form 2027 opened on September 10, 2026. The application form opens online on the NID admission portal. Candidates who meet the program-specific eligibility criteria may apply before the last date.

The NID application form is for admission to the B. Des and M.Des courses offered by participating colleges. 

The application fee of NID DAT 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. 

NID DAT, along with NIFT and UCEED are among the most competitive national-level entrance exams in the country. The fact that there are only 425 seats for the B. Des and 347 seats for the M.Des programme makes it very competitive. But that being said, if the candidate prepares well and with the correct strategy, then the NID DAT exam can be cracked. Among the first things the candidate needs to do is prepare a efficient study timetable get familiar with the syllabus and pattern, and use good books as reference material. 

It is not mandatory to take coaching to get a good rank in NID DAT. It is because the entrance exam will test the creative, drawing, and innovative skills of the candidate. Now, a coaching institute cannot exactly teach you to be creative or become innovative. Instead, with a little effort these skills can learn these skills yourself. Also, a major thrust of the design aptitude test is to evaluate the drawing skills of the candidate. So, make it a point to work on your design skills, including learning how to draw lines, shadow, figure, gesture, cartoon drawing, etc. When practicing drawing, also keep a tab on the drawing speed, as it will help you complete the paper in the allotted time.

The NIDs have a combined intake of 425 seats for the B. Des programme. Of these, 45 seats are earmarked for the Industrial Design programme. The candidate can select from specializations like Ceramic and Glass Design, Furniture & Interior Design, and Product Design. The candidate will be able to select the programme of specialisation at the time of counselling. 

Total seats offered in B. Des courses at all the NID campuses is 425 seats. For M.Des course, NID seats on offer for admission are 347. The B. Des programme is offered at five institutes - NID Ahmedabad, NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Haryana, NID Madhya Pradesh, and NID Assam. The various faculty members under which the programme is available include Faculty of Communication Design, Faculty of Industrial Design, and Faculty of Textile, Apparel, Lifestyle, and Accessory Design. Meanwhile, the M.Des course is available at NID Ahmedabad, NID Bengaluru, and NID Gandhinagar. Admission to both the B. Des and M.Des courses will be through the NID DAT entrance exam.

NID cutoffs vary from course to course as well as the reservation category to which candidates belong. 

 The cut-off depends on a multitude of factors, including the category of the candidate, the seat intake, total applicants, the candidate's performance in the NID DAT exam, etc. If any of these parameters change, the cut-off would also change.

A. The M.Des specialisations in which candidates can secure admission basis their performance in NID that are listed below: Animation Film Design Ceramic and Glass Design Furniture & Interior Design Film & Video Communication Graphic Design Product Design Textile Design Apparel Design Lifestyle Accessory Design Strategic Design Management New Media Design Photography Design Toy & Game Design Transportation & Automobile Design for Retail Experience Digital Game Design Information Design Interaction Design Universal Design There are a total of 347 seats available for the M.Des programme. The programme is offered at NID Ahmedabad, NID Bengaluru, and NID Gandhinagar campuses. Admission to the programme will be based on NID that 2023 merit rank.

The NIDs offer a full-time B.Des programme of 4-year duration, and a full-time M.Des programme of two-and-half years duration. 

The institute, in addition, also offers a PhD program. The programme can be pursued full-time or part-time. 

Admission to the design courses at the NID is conducted through a Design Aptitude Test (DAT). The exam comprises DAT Prelims and DAT Mains.

The Interior Design programme is offered both for the BDes and MDes courses. At the BDes level, the Interior Design programme is offered under the faculty of Industrial Design, with a specialisation in Furniture and Interior Design. There are currently 13 seats for the programme. At the master's level, MDes in Furniture & Interior Design course is offered at the NID Ahmedabad campus. The intake capacity for the MDes programme is currently 19 seats. Admission to the Interior Design programme (both Bachelor's and master's) at the NIDs will be through the NID DAT exam.

No, NID Entrance Exam cutoff is released separately for the various categories. For instance, the cut-off is available for categories like Open, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, and PH categories. Note that open category candidates will not be considered for admission under reserved category seats. However, candidates belonging to reserved category will be considered for admission under both open and the reserved category they belong to. To be considered for admission under reserved category, the candidate must furnish the required category certificates. However, any candidate who is found using counterfeit documents can be disqualified at any stage of the admission process.

NID cutoff is the minimum score that candidates need to obtain in order to be considered for admissions to a design course. The participating institutes of NIDs offer B. Des and M.Des courses. The cut-off would be released category-wise for each of these programs. Also, the cut-off would be released separately for all the coaching institutes. Only such candidates who meet the cut-off criteria would be considered for admission.

The NIDs offer a full-time B.Des programme of 4-year duration, and a full-time M.Des programme of two-and-half years duration. 

The institute, in addition, also offers a PhD program. The programme can be pursed full-time or part-time. 

Admission to the design courses at the NID is conducted through a Design Aptitude Test (DAT). The exam comprise DAT Prelims and DAT Mains.

The final result or merit list is prepared by giving weightage to DAT Prelims and DAT Mains.

Yes, all B.Des candidates who were shortlisted for NID DAT counselling have to submit their campus preferences within the allotted time. The preferences have to be entered in the order of priority. 

The allotment of seats to the B.Des programme will be based on the campus option selected and merit rank of the candidate in NID DAT. So, one must exercise caution when entering their preferences.

The admission to the NIDs is conducted through a Design Aptitude Test (DAT). The DAT is a two-stage exam.

The candidate has to first appear in DAT Prelims and then, if shortlisted, have to appear in DAT Mains. The final merit list for admission will be prepared by giving weightage to both DAT Prelims and DAT Mains. If a candidate appear in DAT Prelims, but doesn’t appear in DAT Mains, he or she will not be considered for admission.