Know NID DAT Prep Tips from Shortlisted Candidate
National Institute of Design Entrance Exam 2026 ( NID Entrance Exam )
Registration - 11 Sep '25 - 1 Dec '25
Fine out how NID shortlisted candidate, Prashant Sharma cracked NID DAT 2016.
Currently working as a freelance designer, Prashant Sharma scored an impressive 67/100 and cleared NID DAT 2016. Prashant has applied for Information Design and Universal Design specializations at the National Institute of Design (NID). He is a graduate of the Indian School of Mines (ISM), Dhanbad, and has earlier worked with Tata Motors.
Belonging to Jodhpur, Prashant does coding in his free time and also likes listening to music. He further shared that he did not take any formal coaching to clear NID DAT, however, he did spend considerable time acing up his skill to sketch with perfection.
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Shiksha spoke to Prashant in detail on how he prepared for the NID DAT; go through the interview below and find out how one should formulate their prep strategy for the NID 2025 Entrance Exam.
Updates on NID DAT 2025 Exam
The National Institute of Design (NID) will conduct DAT Prelims on January 5, 2025. The exam will be conducted in 22 cities across India. The candidate can check the name and address of the NID DAT 2025 exam center allocated to them in the NID DAT 2025 admit card. On the day of the exam, candidates must follow the NID DAT 2025 exam-day guidelines. This includes reaching the exam center on time, carrying only allowed items, following instructions given by the invigilator, etc.
The NID Entrance Exam is considered to be one of the toughest design entrance exam conducted in the country. In NID DAT, more weightage is given to subjective, drawing related questions. Thus, candidates need to be extremely creative and have a clear understanding of their concepts when appearing for the NID exam.
For preparing the final results for the B. Des program, the DAT Prelims will be allocated 40% weightage, while DAT Mains will be given 60%.
During the DAT Mains, which comprises a Studio Test, the candidate is tested hands-on and have to show their drawing abilities, creativity, innovativeness, and material-handling ability.
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NID DAT 2025 Prep Tips by Shortlisted Candidate - Read Interview
Q. Did you expect to get shortlisted in NID DAT 2016?
A. Yes. Last year I missed the cut-off by 1 mark. This year, I was pretty confident about the result.
Q. How did you prepare for the exam? Did you refer to any important books?
A. I practiced more sketching this year because that was the only weak thing due to which I failed last year. And as for General Knowledge part I did not prepare anything because I regularly read newspapers, Quora and Design websites like Smashing Magazine, TechCrunch, The Verge.
The general knowledge part is mostly about general awareness and not general knowledge as such. The events asked in the paper were also quite recent.
I solved previous year CEED papers, as they include multiple choice type questions. The questions asked in NID DAT 2016 were similar.
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.
NID DAT is one of the toughest entrance exams in the land. Also, given the large number of applicants, it is highely competitive.
So, to have a chance of scoring a good score in the exam and be in the contetion for a seat in one of the top NIDs, one needs to ensure their preparation is full proof.
Now unless you solve sample papers, there is no way to evaluate your preparedness for the exam. For instance, you may have completed the textual books and are confident about your ability to solve a proble. But what will you do if on exam do you find out that theoritical knowledge can take you only so far.
However, if instead you solve enough sample papers you will get battle ready.
Q. Which coaching classes did you join?
A. I did not join any coaching for NID Entrance Exam.
Q. When should one start preparing for the exam?
A. It takes practice to draw really good sketches. In my case I have been practicing for the past six months for this attempt. For general knowledge and aptitude, you just need to be curious enough to look around you.
Q. How long did you prepare for the exam and how many hours did you study in a day?
A. I prepared for the sketching part for almost six months.
Q. Are there any important topics to score well?
Ans. I think if you can sketch good you’ll be ahead of others because general knowledge is same for everyone and mostly everyone can score in this section.
| NID Entrance Exam Question Papers | NID Entrance Exam Pattern | NID Entrance Exam Preparation |
Q. Any preparation tips from your experience?
Ans. Just look around the things and websites you visit. Try to find out problems with the things and how can you fix them. It helped me find out many things which had some or the other relation to design and its principles.
Q. What as per you are the mistakes one should avoid while preparing for the exam?
Ans. Give more time to sketches as you have to think, visualise and draw. Try to be different. When I looked around in exam, I saw most people were drawing similar type of things in the papers.
Q. How did you prepare for different sections of the exam?
Ans. For Part A, I went through previous year CEED papers, Newspapers and Quora. For Part B, I scanned Online Design magazines and practiced more sketching.
Q. When did you start revising the syllabus?
Ans. This exam doesn’t have a fixed syllabus that can be revised except for the drawing skills to get better outcome.
Q. How did you manage time while giving the exam?
Ans. I finished the Part A - General knowledge part in almost 60 minutes. Rest of the time, I spent sketching the questions in Part B.
Q. What mistakes should one avoid while giving the exam in order to score well?
Ans. Do not try to be over creative. Try to draw practical ideas. Ofcourse, imagination has no limits but I did the same mistake in my last attempt and drew idealistic solutions instead of practical solutions.
Q. Which as per you was the most difficult part of the NID DAT exam?
Ans. Part B of NID DAT.
Q. Is there any section that plays the “deciding factor” for getting shortlisted in the exam?
Ans. You have to score maximum in Part A so that even if you mess up with Part B then also you can get through.
Q. So, what is your plan of action for Studio Test and Interview round?
Ans. I am preparing my portfolio for the studio test. I have a senior from my college Nakul Saxena who is a NID pass-out himself, and he has helped me at every stage for this test.
I take creative ideas from my friend Shraddha, she herself is very creative. She too has helped me think creatively. She works at Zostel Hostels as a Creative Content Writer.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 months ago
Candidates will be able to apply online by registering on the official portal, filling out the form, uploading documents, and paying the application fee. The registration process will start after the release of the NID DAT 2026 official notification. National Institute of Design is out now.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
The NID DAT 2026 notification will provide information about eligibility, application process, fees, exam dates, exam pattern, and selection process. The notification provides details of seat capacity at each NID campus for both B.Des and M.Des.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
NID DAT 2026 notifications will be available on the official website of NID at admissions.nid.edu. Official notification of the NID entrance exam is all set to be out by the first week of September 2025. The notifications will be out for UG and PG programmes.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
National Institute of Design is expected to release the NID DAT 2026 Applications by the first week of September 2025 for B.Des and M.Des programmes. The registration for NID DAT 2026 will be on the official website of NID. Candidates can fill out the application form by registering, filling in info
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
NID notification for 2026 has been released now. The official notification and applications are out on the official website of the NID and will contain details about the NID entrance examination.
The NID notifications will include:
General Information
Important Dates
Intake Capacity at Individual NIDs
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
One can follow these tips for NID 2026 preparations:
- Know your NID Syllabus.
- Understand the exam pattern of NID DAT.
- Make the NID DAT 2026 preparation plan.
- Books to refer.
- Practice till you are perfect using mock tests and previous year's papers.
- NID DAT Exam Day Strategy.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
In general, the average salary after passing from NID is between 8-12 lakhs. It can also range between 17 and 50 lakhs, depending on the recruiter and the performance of the student.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Yes, there are placements in NID campuses. NID has separate Placement cells for the placement process. Placement in NID completely depends on the performance of the student during the selection interview. Some of the top recruiters of NID are:
- Malabar Gold & Diamonds
- J.P.Morgan
- Tcs
- The Asian Heritage F
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
NID students can get job opportunities in graphic designing, UX designing, animation, fashion communication, furniture designer, fashion consultant, Textile designer, web designer, product designer, film and video communication and much more.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
NID Ahmedabad has a good record of placements. NID Ahmedabad consistently leads in placement outcomes among NID campuses. In 2025, the average package was around ?21.3 LPA and the highest package was around ?30 LPA. The Total offers made were 620.
S
Contributor-Level 10
NID evaluates aspirants based on their knowledge, creativity and aptitude for design. Experts share that NID is one of the most challenging design entrance exams conducted in the country. However, if prepared well, the difficulty level of NID Entrance Exam is medium. On of the main reasons why NID is such a competitive exam is there are very limited number of seats. For instance, there are only 425 seats available for the BDes programme through NID. In contrast, the NIFTs offer 2748 seats.