NIFT Cutoff 2026 for OBC Category: Cutoff for Various Programmes, Factors and Expected Cutoff

Candidates will be able to check the cutoff for NIFT Delhi on the website of NIFT: nift.admissions.nic.in. The opening and closing rank of all the programmes is given on this page. This year, NIFT 2026 cutoff is expected to be on the lower side.

NIFT cutoff for a participating NIFT is the last rank for which admission is offered in for a particular programme and category. This means, if a candidate fails to score a rank equal to or higher than the cutoff rank, they don't get admission. Typically, a higher ranked institute will invite: More applications Higher ranked candidates This in turn pushes up the cutoff in higher ranked (or popular) institutes. Likewise, a lower-ranked institute will receive comparatively fewer number of applications, and mostly from lower-ranked candidates. This means, cut-off in these institutes are lower making it much easier to get admission.

The expected cutoff for NIFT M.Des is given below:

Category	Expected Cutoff M.Des
Open	26-70
EWS	22
OBC	22
SC	16
ST	16-18

The expected cutoff for NIFT 2026 for B.Des is:

Category	Expected Cutoff for B.Des
Open	30-80
EWS	26-29
OBC	26-29
SC	22
ST	19

NIFT 2026 cut off list will include opening and closing ranks of candidates for each participating institute and category. Among the various categories for which the cut-off would be released are General, SC, ST, OBC-NCl, Domicile, and PwD categories. The candidate needs to consult the cut-off for their respective categories for the programme they are seeking admission to.

Opening rank is the highest rank for which the seat has been allocated. Closing rank is the minimum rank for which admission is allocated. Only such candidates who secure a rank equal to or higher than the closing rank will get admission.

The cut-off of NIFT for the various academic courses is not fixed. This is because the cut-off depends on variables like seat intake, the performance of applicants in the NIFT exam, total number of applications received for admission, etc. Now these variables may change from year to year. For instance, the number of candidates appearing in NIFT and qualifying the exam may be different across the years. And when that happens, the cut-off also changes. Typically, if the seat intake increases, the cut-off goes down and vice versa. Likewise, if the number of applicants increases, expect a higher cut-off.

There are 18 participating institutes of NIFT that offer the B. Des programme. Currently, the B. Des programme offers specializations in the following programs: Fashion Design (FD) Leather Design (LD) Accessory Design (AD) Textile Design (TD) Knitwear Design (KD) Fashion Communication (FC) Note that the National Institute of Fashion Technology will release the NIFT 2023 cut-off for each of these programs. To get admission, it is mandatory for candidates to meet the cut-off criteria in their respective categories.

NIFT cutoff for a participating NIFT is the last rank for which admission is offered in for a particular programme and category. This means, if a candidate fails to score a rank equal to or higher than the cutoff rank, they don't get admission. Typically, a higher ranked institute will invite: More applications Higher-ranked candidates This in turn pushes up the cutoff in higher ranked (or popular) institutes. Likewise, a lower-ranked institute will receive comparatively fewer number of applications, and mostly from lower-ranked candidates. This means, cut-off in these institutes are lower making it much easier to get admission.

The NIFTs currently offers the following specializations at the B.Des level - Fashion Design,  

Leather Design, Accessory Design, Textile Design, Knitwear Design, and Fashion Communication.

Admission to the above courses will be on the basis of NIFT 2025 scores. Currently, there are 18 participating institutes that offer a combined intake of 5,289 seats (including domestic and NRI/Foreign national seats). Note that NRI/Foreign national don’t need to appear in the NIFT entrance exam.

The program-wise total seat intake for the B.Des programme is given below:

Cut-off for NID 2026 Entrance exam will be prepared based on factors like total number of applications, seat intake for the applied programme, category under which admission is sought, and merit rank of the applicant in NID DAT 2026. Each of these factors are variables. For example, number of applications may vary from one category to another. Cut-off would also vary. The cut-off represents the minimum marks a candidate needs to secure in his or her category to get admission to the B. Des or M.Des programme.

The Cut off for NIFT Mumbai 2025 for B.Des in Textile Design will be out soon. In the meanwhile, we can have a look at the Cutoff 2024 to get a rough idea.

The following table presents the Cutoff for Round 1 under All India Quota for NIFT Mumbai 2024:

Category	Opening Rank	Closing Rank
OBC	722	2044
Gen-EWS	581	2653
Open	301	570
Open (PwD)	5654	5654
SC	3522	4385
ST	5076	5499

The Cut off for NIFT Gandhinagar 2025 will be out soon on the official website. The Cut off for NIFT Gandhinagar 2024 can give a fair idea for this year.

The following table shows the NIFT Gandhinagar 2024 Round 1 Cutoff for Fashion Design:

Category	Opening Rank	Closing Rank
OBC	725	1485
Gen-EWS	1105	2770
Open	208	466
Open (PwD)	8824	8824
SC	876	2586
ST	3004	3306

The Cutoff for NIFT Mumbai for B.Des in Fashion Design 2025 will be out soon once the Stage 2 Exams are over and the final results are declared. However, we can get a fair idea by looking at the Cut offs for NIFT Mumbai Fashion Design 2024.

The following table presents the Cutoff for Round 1 under All India Quota:

Category	Opening Rank	Closing Rank
OBC	517	870
OBC (PwD)	5828	5828
Gen-EWS	937	1498
Open	3	170
Open (PwD)	3193	3193
SC	816	1275
SC (PwD)	4848	4848
ST	1736	2094

There are 19 NIFTs that will accept NIFT 2026 Scores for admission purposes. These institutes are known as participating colleges.

However, in addition to the participating colleges, there are other private colleges that will also consider NIFT 2026 scores for admission to their UG and PG design courses. The candidates are urged to go through the list of result-sharing institutes.

The category-wise cut-off for the Accessory Design programme for NIFT Bangalore campus is given below:

Note that reserved category candidates will be considered for admission to both their reserved and open categories.

NIFT Delhi is frequently ranked among the top design colleges in the country. So, the admission cut-off for the institute is pretty high, especially when compared to the lower ranked colleges. This is because being a higher ranked college, NIFT Delhi receives a higher number of applicants. Another factor is more number of higher ranked candidates want to get admission in the institute, which also pushes up the cut-off. On the other hand, lower ranked colleges are not a priority for the top ranked candidates; meaning a higher number of lower ranked candidates applies to these institutes. This keeps the cut-off low in these institutes.