NID Counselling 2026 (B.Des & M.Des): Date, Seat Allotment, Seat Confirmation & Admission Process

Registration - 11 Sep '25 - 1 Dec '25

This exam is conducted for courses given below:

Updated on Oct 13, 2025 14:10 IST

By Sayeba Naushad, Assistant Manager

NID Counselling 2026 - National Institute of Design is scheduled to commence the NID B.Des Seat Allotment Rounds from the last week of May 2026 for B.Des Programme and from the first week of May 2026 for M.Des. The NID Counselling is conducted in Rounds. There can be two or three rounds of Seat Allotment. The NID Counselling 2026 will commence after the declaration of the NID DAT Mains 2026 Result of B.Des and M.Des.

Candidates who are allotted a seat must confirm it by:

Paying the NON-REFUNDABLE token fees and
Uploading the required documents.

NID B.Des and M.Des Non-refundable Token Fee

The Non-refundable token fee (expected) for the National Institute of Design B.Des and M.Des programme:

	Token Fee (INR)	Additional Charges	Total Payment Mode
GEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD	₹30,000	Convenience Charges (as applicable)	Online Payment
Overseas Candidates	₹75,000	Convenience Charges (as applicable)	Online Payment

Table of content

NID 2026 Counselling Procedure
NID Entrance Exam 2026 Exam Dates & Schedule
NID DAT 2026 - Seat Allotment
Campus Preference for B.Des Admission
Declaration of NID DAT 2026 Results
NID DAT 2026 Counselling - FAQs

NID 2026 Counselling Procedure

DeskCalendar Counselling: May ' 26

The following steps explain the Counselling Procedure in detail:

Step 1: Check your Qualifying Status

You must clear the NID DAT exam to attend the NID DAT Counselling. The qualifying status can be checked after logging into the NID DAT result portal.

Step 2: Submission of Campus Preference (only for B.Des applicants)

B.Des candidates need to submit their choice of campuses. The entries must be in the order of priority. Note that if no options are selected, the candidate may be disqualified. The candidate will be asked to make a campus selection based on:

The availability of seats
NID DAT merit rank.

Note: M.Des candidates are not required to submit campus preferences.

Step 3: Seat Allocation

The allotment of seats will be done keeping the factors like seat intake, merit rank of applicants, campus preferences opted for, and category. Once a seat has been allocated, the candidate has to confirm their seat by:

Paying the relevant non-refundable seat-acceptance fee.
Uploading essential documents

a) Payment of non-refundable seat-confirmation fees

INR 30,000 (online payment) + convenience fees (as applicable) for General, Gen EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, and PwD candidates
INR 75,000 (online payment) + convenience fees (as applicable) for Overseas candidates

b) Uploading of documents

The following documents are required to be uploaded as a single PDF file with a maximum file size of 10 MB:

A valid photo ID (Aadhaar Card, Election ID, PAN Card, Driving License, or Passport)
Birth Certificate OR School Leaving Certificate
Gen-EWS/ OBC-NCL/ ST/ ST Certificate (if applicable)
PwD Certificate (if applicable)
Passport (if applied under the Supernumerary category)
Class 10 Marksheet
Class 12 Marksheet

Important Notes:

If the Class 12 marks sheet has not been issued, a digital copy of the same, duly attested by the school principal, must be uploaded. Candidates whose results are pending must provide a genuine certificate issued by the school principal, explicitly stating the Roll No. and the projected date of the announcement of results.
For those candidates who finished their Class 12 (or equivalent) final examinations outside of India or from a Board not listed in the Admission Handbook, they must submit an equivalent certificate.
Candidates who do not pay the non-refundable token fees within the period specified above will have their provisional seat allocations canceled. In order of merit, that seat will be given to the next qualified candidate.
Candidates who fail to provide the required documents within the designated period, even after paying, will have their provisional seat allocation canceled. The seat will subsequently be assigned in order of merit to the next qualifying candidate.
Even after the seat confirmation, the candidate will stand a chance to participate in other rounds of counseling for which he/she will have to submit their willingness to do so.

Step 4: Document Verification

All the documents uploaded by the candidates will be cross-checked against the information provided at the time of online registration. If any discrepancy is found, the candidate will be disqualified.

Step 5: Issue of Provisional Offer Letter for Admission

Upon verification of documents, the candidate will be issued Provisional Offer Letters of Admission. The candidate has to next pay the NIDs directly; payment-related information will be communicated to the candidate. The provisional offer letter for B.Des will be issued in the second week of June 2026, while the provisional offer letter for M.Des will be released in the third week of May 2026.

Payment of fees and uploading of documents: Candidates who are allotted seats have to pay the tuition fee for Semester I and upload the required documents before the last date.
What happens if the candidate gets shortlisted for two disciplines (M.Des): If the candidate has applied in two disciplines and gets shortlisted in both disciplines, in that case, the candidate is allotted a seat in the discipline marked as first preference.
Applied for two disciplines but shortlisted for discipline marked as preference 02: In case the candidate has applied for TWO disciplines but is shortlisted only for the discipline marked as preference 02, the candidate will be allotted a seat in the discipline marked as preference 02.
Applied for two disciplines, and eligible for both disciplines: In case the candidate has applied for TWO disciplines and is eligible for both but gets shortlisted for only the discipline marked as preference 02, then the candidate will be allocated a seat in the discipline marked as preference 02.

However, if there is a vacancy in the discipline marked as Preference 01, then by default, the candidate will be upgraded to the discipline marked as Preference 01. Also, the previous allotment is canceled (Preference 02), and the vacant seat is allocated to the candidate next in the order of merit.

Also Read:

How to make a Design Portfolio: Structure, Layout, Sample and Steps

Sketching and Coloring Questions for Design Entrance Exams

Commonly asked questions

Q: I forgot to pay the online counselling fees for NID within the given period. Am I still eligible to pay and participate in NID counselling?

If the fee payment window is closed by the institute, you will not able to pay the seat-acceptance fee. Your seat will then be allocated to the next candidate in the order of merit. The token fees have to be paid within the given deadline.

The provisional seat allotment letters for candidates who have paid the fees will be available around May 2025 (M.Des) and June 2025 (B.Des).

Q: Do I need to select campuses as part of NID DAT counseling 2026 for B.Des program?

Yes, all B.Des candidates who were shortlisted for NID DAT 2026 counselling had 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 2026 So, one must bear caution when entering their preferences.

NID Entrance Exam 2026 Exam Dates & Schedule

Take a look at the table below for the complete schedule of NID Entrance Exam 2026 exam

Dates	Upcoming Exam Dates
17 Feb ' 26	NID DAT 2026 (Prelims) - Results for M.Des
17 Feb ' 26 - 18 Feb ' 26	NID DAT 2026 (Prelims) - Results Recheck for M.Des
Mar ' 26	NID DAT 2026 (Mains) Studio Test and Interview TENTATIVE
07 Apr ' 26	NID DAT 2026 (Prelims) - Results for B.Des
07 Apr ' 26 - 08 Apr ' 26	NID DAT 2026 (Prelims) - Results Recheck for B.Des
May ' 26	NID DAT 2026 (Mains) Exam Result for M.Des TENTATIVE
May ' 26	Round 1 M.Des: Deadline for Fee Payment & Document Upload TENTATIVE
View more Future Events (14)

NID DAT 2026 - Seat Allotment

The National Institute of Design declares seat allotment based on the following parameters:

NID DAT 2026 merit rank
Seat intake for the applied program.
Preference of discipline selected by the candidate at the time of filling out the NID DAT 2026 counselling form.
Category of the candidate

NID DAT 2026 - Institute-wise Reservation of seats for B.Des (Expected)

The following table shows seat intakes in different disciplines:

Institute	Total seats (Expected)	GEN-EWS (10%	OBC-NCL (27%)	Scheduled Caste (15%)	Scheduled Tribe (7.5%)
NID Ahmedabad	125	13	34	19	9
NID Andhra Pradesh	75	8	20	11	6
NID Haryana	75	8	20	11	6
NID Madhya Pradesh	75	8	20	11	6
NID Assam	75	8	20	11	6
Total	425	45	114	63	33

NID DAT 2026 - Institute-wise seat intake for M.Des (Expected)

The following table shows seat intakes in different disciplines:

S.No	NID Campus	Seat Intake (Expected)
1	NID Ahmedabad	126
2	NID Gandhinagar	126
3	NID Bengaluru	95
	Total Intake	347

NID DAT 2026 Seat Confirmation Fees for M.Des (Expected)

The candidate has to pay the following tuition fees to confirm their seats:

INR 2,28,500/- (includes a non-refundable Token Fee of INR 30,000/) + Convenience Charges (as applicable) for GEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD candidates;
USD 2,910 (includes a non-refundable Token Fee of INR 75,000/) + Convenience Charges (as applicable) for Overseas candidates from SAARC & African Countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam;
USD 6,410 (which includes a non-refundable Token Fee of INR 75,000/) + Convenience Charges (as applicable) for Overseas candidates from the Rest of the World.

Commonly asked questions

Q: When will the NID DAT 2026 counseling be conducted for B.Des?

The NID DAT 2026 counseling process for the B.Des process will START in the third week of May 2026. Candidates who are allotted seats have to pay the seat-confirmation fees and upload documents.

Seats that are left vacant after completion of the 1st round of allotment will be allocated in Round 2. Allotments will be made to the candidate next in the order of merit.

Also, the candidate will be notified about seat allotted in a Round via their registered email IDs. So, it is recommended that the candidate keeps checking their mail IDs frequently.

Q: How to get admission to B. Des and M.Des courses at the National Institutes of Design?

Aspirants can secure admission to B. Des and M.Des courses offered at NID campuses on the basis of NID DAT 2026 merit rank. Note that merit ranks will be issued to the candidate only if he or she appears in both DAT Prelims and DAT Mains. The candidate has to first appear in DAT Prelims. Shortlisted candidates have to next appear in DAT Mains. The final result or merit list will be prepared by considering the weighted scores of DAT Prelims and DAT Mains.

The National Institute of Design will allow B.Des candidates to enter their campus preferences once final results are out. The seat allotment will be done based on campus option opted, seat intake, and merit rank of candidate.

In case of M.Des admission, the candidate is not required to enter campus preferences.

Campus Preference for B.Des Admission

Shortlisted candidates seeking admission to the B.Des program have to select campus preferences. The window to submit campus preferences will open soon after the DAT Mains results are declared.

The candidate will be prompted to submit campus preferences after logging into the result portal. Preferences have to be entered in order of priority. The candidate is also allowed to edit their preferences before the last date.
It is mandatory to select campus preferences.
If the candidate does not submit any preferences, he or she will be disqualified and not considered for admission to the B.Des program. Seats that are left vacant in a counseling round will be offered to the next candidate in the order of merit in subsequent seat-allotment rounds.

Commonly asked questions

Q: How can I download the provisional offer letter for NID DAT 2026 counseling?

The provisional offer letters for the NID DAT 2026 counseling will be issued separately for the B.Des and M.Des courses.

The offer letters for the 1st round of counseling for B.Des will be released around the 2nd week of June 2026.

To download the offer letter, follow these steps:

Go to the NID admission portal
Click on the Provisional Offer Letter link
A log-in window will open
Enter your log-in credentials
On successful log-in, you can download the Offer Letter.

The candidate need to produce the offer letter at the time of admission.

Q: How many seats are available for admission through NID DAT 2026 counseling?

The participating institutes of NID DAT 2026 offers B. Des and M.Des courses. The B. Des programme is available at five participating NIDs and has an intake capacity of 425 seats. Meanwhile, the M.Des programme is three NIDs and has a combined intake of 347 seats. Admission to both B. Des and M.Des courses will be through the NID DAT 2026 entrance exam. The seat allotment to the above courses wlll be based on respective merit lists which will be prepared considering weighted scores of DAT Prelims and DAT Mains.

Declaration of NID DAT 2026 Results

DeskCalendar Result: 17 Feb ' 26

The National Institute of Design will declare NID DAT Result 2026 for B.Des and M.Des. NID DAT (Prelims) B.Des Result 2026 is expected to be out in the first week of April 2026 and the rechecking window is also expected to open in the first week of April 2026. The admit card for the NID DAT Mains B.Des exam is scheduled to be out in the second week of April 2026. NID DAT (Mains) B.Des Result 2026 will be tentatively out in the third week of May 2026, and the rechecking window will open on the same day.

NID DAT (Prelims) M.Des Result 2026 is scheduled to be out in the third week of February 2026, and the rechecking window will open in the third week of February 2026. NID DAT (Mains) 2026 is to be tentatively out in the first week of May 2026, and the rechecking window is also expected to open on the same day.

Shortlisting of candidates for DAT Mains

Candidates will be shortlisted for the DAT Mains based on their scores in the DAT Prelims 2026.

Statement of Purpose and Portfolio Review

Candidates appearing in the DAT Mains exam have to upload a Statement of Purpose (SoP) and Portfolio.
The window for uploading the SoP and Portfolio will be notified by the National Institute of Design through its result portal. Candidates will also be informed through their registered e-mail IDs.
Separate SoPs and Portfolios for each discipline - If the candidate was shortlisted for multiple disciplines, then he/she had to upload separate SoPs and Portfolios for each discipline.

NID DAT Mains 2026 - Format of Statement of Purpose (SoP) and Portfolio

The format of the NID DAT Mains 2026 is:

	Statement of Purpose (SoP)	Portfolio Review
Word Limit	Each question should be answered in a maximum of 100 words.	-
File type	PDF	PDF
Maximum Size	2 MB	10 MB

Read More:

Commonly asked questions

Q: I have submitted the NID counselling fee and uploaded all the documents, but I forgot to join online session. Will NID refund the fees?

No, once the candidate pays the token fee, the Institute will not refund it under any circumstances. So, the candidate must pay the seat acceptance or token fee if they have finalized their admission. Also, note that the token fees have to be paid by the candidate only if he or she has been allocated a seat. Also, if the candidate fails to pay the token fees, the seat allocation will be cancelled. These vacant seats will then be filled in the next counselling round. The token fee for the B.Des program has to be submitted from May 25-31, while the fee for the M.Des program has to be paid from May 18-31, 2023.

Q: What will happens if a shortlisted candidate pay the fees and uploads all the required documents, but fails to attend NID online counseling?

In case, the candidate fails to report for the counselling, then his/ her candidature will be cancelled for that round. Such candidates, however, can still participate in the corresponding rounds. The only exception is for candidates who fails to attend the counseling in the last round. In such a case, the candidate will no longer be considered for admission. The counseling for NID that 2024 will be conducted separately for B. Des and M.Des courses.

Also, note that B.Des candidates will have to submit campus preferences as part of the counseling registration process.

NID DAT 2026 Counselling - FAQs

Candidates can check important FAQs related to the NID DAT 2026 counselling below.

Commonly asked questions

Q: What factors will be considered for declaring the final results of NID DAT?

The final results of NID DAT 2026 will be prepared by considering the weighated score of the candidate in DAT Prelims and DAT Mains. Note that only such candidates who have qualified in DAT Prelims will be allowed to appear in DAT Mains. The National Institute of Design announces the weightage for the DAT Prelims and DAT Mains.

As per the official notification, the DAT Prelims will carry 40% and DAT Mains will carr 60% weightage for the B. Des programme. In case of M.Des programme, DAT Prelims carries 30% weightage, while DAT Mains carries 70% weightage.

Q: I have been allocated a seat in round 1 of NID online counselling, can I still participate in the other rounds as well?

Yes. In case, you are not satisfied with the allocated seat or have a better option available, you are allowed to participate in the other rounds of counselling. In case the candidate wants to participate in the subsequent rounds of counselling, then he or she has to opt for auto upgrade. Note that if the candidate is allocated a higher preference seat in the subsequent round, then seat allocation of the previous round will be cancelled. The allotment of seats will be as per the merit rank of the candidate in NID that 2023. The National Institute of Design will release the detailed instructions for counseling at the time of declaration of NID that 2023 results.

Q: Where will NID release the detailed notification for NID counseling?

The National Institute of Design will release schedule for NID DAT 2026 counseling on its admission portal soon after DAT Mains results are declared.

Eligible candidates seeking admission to the B.Des program has to submit campus preferences.

The 1st round of seat allotment for B.Des program will be announed around the last week of May 2026. Note that the seat allotment for the M.Des program will be announced in April 2026.

The counseling process will be conducted online and include one or more seat allotment rounds.

NID counseling notification will include information like the mode of the counseling, application process, fees, etc. The candidate needs to carefully go through the notification to learn about the process. The NID counseling will be conducted for admission to the B. Des and M.Des courses. For the current session, there ate 425 B. Des seats, and 247 M.Des seats.

Q: How can I download the provisional offer letter for NID DAT 2026 counseling?

The provisional offer letters for the NID DAT 2026 counseling will be issued separately for the B.Des and M.Des courses.

The offer letters for the 1st round of counseling for B.Des will be released around the 2nd week of June 2026.

To download the offer letter, follow these steps: