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.

Will unfilled SC/ST seats be de-reserved for NID DAT admission?

No, unfilled seats in SC/ ST category will not be de-reserved. Meaning, such seats will not be transferred to the open category. The same applies to GEN-EWS category seats. So, even if there are vacant seats left in SC, ST, and GEN-EWS category, such seats will lapse.

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.

How to secure admission at NID?

Admission to the NIDs is conducted through the NID Entrance Examination. The NID exam has two stages - the candidate first appears in the DAT Prelims. Scores of the NID DAT Prelims are used to then shortlist candidates for DAT Mains. The final merit list for NID DAT 2026 will be prepared by giving weightage to Mains.

What are the design courses offered through NID DAT 2026 exam?

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.

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 be 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.

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 Counselling 2026: B.Des Seat Allotment I (June 09 - 11), Seat Metrix, Admission for B.Des & M.Des Programs

Updated on Jun 17, 2026 11:09 IST

By Sayeba Naushad, Assistant Manager

NID Counselling 2026 - The National Institute of Design began NID 2026 B.Des Seat Allotment Round 1 from June 09, 2026. Candidates could pay the seat allotment fee by June 11, 2026. Candidates who are allotted a seat must confirm it by:

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

Latest Updates:

If the candidate is allotted a seat at their first-choice Institute as per their order of preferences in NID Round I, they can either accept or decline the offer. NID Seat Allotment will be conducted in multiple rounds. There can be two or three rounds of Seat Allotment.

Table of contents

NID DAT 2026 Counselling: Required Documents
NID Entrance Exam 2026 Exam Dates & Schedule
NID 2026 Counselling Procedure
NID DAT 2026 - Seat Allotment
Campus Preference for Admission
NID DAT 2026 Counselling - FAQs

NID DAT 2026 Counselling: Required Documents

The shortlisted candidate will have to produce a copy of the following, along with the original documents:

NID DAT admit card 2026: Prelims and Mains Both
Any one valid photo identity (Aadhar Card, Election ID, Driving License, PAN Card, Passport)
Birth Certificate OR School Leaving Certificate bearing date of birth
Class 10th Mark-sheet
Class 12th Mark-sheet (in case hard copy not available, the digital copy of the same duly attested by the School Principal needs to be uploaded
Self-undertaking signed by the candidate as well as his/her parent, in case of the candidates whose results of Class XII is yet to be declared
GEN-EWS/OBC-NCL/SC/ST Certificate, if applicable
Disability Certificate and/or UDID Card, if applicable
Valid Passport and OCI/PIO Card (if applicable), if applied under the Supernumerary category
Certificate of Identity issued by the District Magistrate or equivalent authority under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act 2019 and/or Identity card issued community from the website transgender.dosje.gov.in, if applied under Third Gender for availing relaxation in application fees.

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 cancelled. 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 cancelled. 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 counselling for which he/she will have to submit their willingness to do so.

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	Past Exam Dates
16 Jun ' 26 - 18 Jun ' 26	NID B.Des Provisional Offer Letter of Round 01
09 Jun ' 26 - 11 Jun ' 26	NID B.Des Seat Allotment Round 1
Jun ' 26	NID M.Des Provisional Offer Letter: Round 2
View More Past Events (12)

NID 2026 Counselling Procedure

NID DAT Counselling for B.Des and M.Des involves the Declaration of NID BDes/M.Des Mains result, NID counselling registration, Submission of campus preference dates, Seat allotment, payment of token fees, and uploading of documents, Provisional offer letter, Payment of remaining semester fees and uploading of documents and NID seat allotment.

What is the Procedure for NID Counselling 2026?

The following steps explain the Counselling Procedure in detail.

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.

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:

Availability of seats
NID DAT merit rank

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

3. Seat Allocation: NID Seat Allotment will be done based on factors such as NID seat intake, merit ranks, campus preferences 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

Payment of non-refundable seat-confirmation fees

The paid token amount will be adjusted against the full fees for the First Semester. The seat Allotment fee is given below.

B.Des Token Fees	Categories
INR 45,100/- (online payment) + Convenience Charges (as applicable)	GEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD candidates
INR 55,686/- (online payment) + Convenience Charges	Overseas candidates from the SAARC & African Countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
INR 1,22,661/- (online payment) + Convenience Charges	Overseas candidates who belong to the rest of the world.

The token fee for M.Des is given below.

M.Des Token Fees	Categories
INR 52,400 (online payment) + convenience fees (as applicable)	GEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD candidates
INR 1,19,665 (online payment) + convenience fees (as applicable)	Overseas candidates

4. Uploading of documents: Candidates need to upload documents such as a valid photo identity, Birth Certificates, Class 10 and 12th mark sheets, etc. The documents are required to be uploaded as a single PDF file with a maximum file size of 10 MB.

5. 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.

6. Issue of Provisional Offer Letter for Admission: Upon verification of documents, the candidate will be issued a Provisional Offer Letter of Admission. The candidate has to next pay the NIDs directly; payment-related information will be communicated to the candidate.

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 cancelled (Preference 02), and the vacant seat is allocated to the candidate next in the order of merit.

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 at NIDs
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

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

The following table shows seat intakes in different disciplines:

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

Campus Preference for 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 counselling round will be offered to the next candidate in the order of merit in subsequent seat-allotment rounds.

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

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

B.Des Token Fees	Categories
INR 45,100/- (online payment) + Convenience Charges (as applicable)	GEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD candidates
INR 55,686/- (online payment) + Convenience Charges	Overseas candidates from the SAARC & African Countries, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.
INR 1,22,661/- (online payment) + Convenience Charges	Overseas candidates who belong to the rest of the world.

The Non-refundable token fee for the National Institute of Design M.Des programme:

M.Des Token Fees	Categories
INR 52,400 (online payment) + convenience fees (as applicable)	GEN, GEN-EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, PwD candidates
INR 1,19,665 (online payment) + convenience fees (as applicable)	Overseas candidates

List of NIDs accepting NID DAT Scores

The seven NID campuses accepting NID entrance exam scores/ranks for admission include

List of NIDs accepting NID DAT Scores
NID Ahmedabad	NID Gandhinagar
NID Bengaluru	NID Andhra Pradesh
NID Haryana	NID Madhya Pradesh
NID Assam

Also Read:

NID DAT 2026 Counselling - FAQs

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

Q: What is the tuition fees for the B.Des 2026 programme at the NIDs?

The combined tuition fees for the B.Des that candidates have to pay in eight semesters in the academic session 2026- 2027 is 2,25,000 per semester. For semester 1, the total fees without hostel is 2,26,900 and for semester 2 is 2,25,500.

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

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

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

Go to NID admission portal
Click on 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: 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: When will NID 2026 DAT cutoff be released?

National Institute of Design (NID) will release the NID DAT 2026 admission cut-off for the B.Des and M.Des programmes at the time of seat allotment, around May-June 2026. The cut-off will be released as the rank and score of the last candidate admitted to the M.Des program.

NID DAT cut-off for B.Des programme will be released separately.

Cut-off will be released by considering factors like the number of applicants, seat intake, and category. Candidates who meet the cut-off for their category in their chosen programme will get admission.

Q: Has the National Institute of Design (NID) released the fee structure for the current academic session?

Yes, the National Institute of Design (NID) has released the fee structure for students joining design courses from 2026-2027. The fee structure has been released for both the B.Des and M.Des programs.

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 a candidate pays the token fee, NID will not refund it under any circumstances. So, candidate must pay the seat acceptance or token fee if they have finalized their admission. Also, note that token fees have to be paid by candidate only if he or she has been allocated a seat. Also, if candidate fails to pay the token fees, seat allocation will be cancelled. These vacant seats will then be filled in the next counselling round.

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: 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.

Q: What are the various components of NID 2026 fee structure?

The various components of the NID fee structure for the B.Des and M.Des programme inlcudes components like tuition fees, insurance fees, student activity fund, film club fees, and alumni fees. The tuition fees have the highest contribution to the overall fees.

Q: What are the various factors that will be considered for preparing NID 2026 cut-off?

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.