NID DAT 2026 Entrance Exam will be conducted today for B.Des and M.Des programmes. NID Admit card is available on the website. Candidates must appear on time for the exam. Read on for more details.
NID DAT 2026 Exam
National Institute of Design is all set to conduct NID DAT 2026 Entrance Exam today, on December 21, 2025 for UG and PG programmes. The exam will be conducted offline at the NID Test centres. The exam will be conducted from 10:00 AM to 1 PM. The reporting time is 8:30 AM, and the gates will close at 9:30 AM. Students must bring their NID DAT Prelims Admit card to write the exams.
Important Points About NID DAT 2026 Admit Card Prelims
- Candidates must bring any one valid Original photo ID proof for verification, such as (i) Voter ID Card, (ii) PAN Card, (iii) Driving License, (iv) Student ID issued by current school/ college (v) Passport (vi) Aadhar Card, etc. to the examination centre.
- In case candidates do not have any of photo ID proofs, they should get both Part “A” and Part “B” of the NID DAT Admit Card attested by the Principal of their current school/college or a Gazetted Officer.
- NID DAT digital copy of the admit card will not be considered. You must bring a hard copy of admit card.
Also Read:
LIVE UPDATE
NID DAT 2026 Exam Day Anaysis for B.Des and M.Des
- 12:40 AM IST• 21 Dec 2025
NID DAT: Second Phase
Candidates who get shortlisted based on their DAT Prelims have to next appear in the DAT Mains exam.
- 11:22 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID Design Aptitude Tests (DAT)
The NID Design Aptitude Tests 2026 will be conducted in two stages:
Stage 1: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Prelims
Stage 2: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Mains - 10:17 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
When is the NID DAT Prelims 2026 Exam for UG and PG?
NID DAT 2026 Prelims exam is on December 21, 2026 for B.Des and M.Des.
- 9:38 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT Exam Prelims 2026: Centre
NID DAT 2026 Prelims exams will be conducted in 17 cities in India. The details will be mentioned in the NID DAT Admit card. The cities are Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jorhat, Kochi, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi and Patna.
- 8:44 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT Exam Analysis: 2026
NID DAT Analysis will be released here soon.
- 8:02 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT 2026 Prelims: Exam day details
- Date of Exam: Sunday, 21 December 2025
- Reporting Time: 08:30 AM
- Gate Closing Time: 09:30 AM
- Time of Exam: 10:00 AM to 01:00 PM
- 7:12 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
What IDs are acceptable for the exam?
In case candidates do not have any of photo ID proofs, they should get both Part “A” and Part “B” of the NID DAT Admit Card attested by the Principal of their current school/college or a Gazetted Officer.
- 6:40 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
Can I carry Didigital copy of NID DAT Admit card 2026?
NID DAT digital copy of admit card will not be considered. You must bring a hard copy of admit card.
- 6:07 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT: Stationery Item Allowed
Candidates must bring blue/black ball-point pen, scissor, glue stick, lead pencil (of varying grades), colors (such as oil pastels/color pencils/sketch pens, etc.) eraser, sharpeners, ruler, transparent writing pad etc. for NID DAT Prelims examination.
- 5:32 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
Will there be any refreshment at the NID Prelims Centre 2026?
No refreshments shall be provided by NID for the NID DAT Prelims centre.
- 5:03 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
Item not allowed in the NID DAT 2026 Exam Centre
Items which are not allowed are mobile phone, any type of watch, bag, handbag, papers, notes, books, calculator, electronic gadgets, correction marker/white fluid, etc.
- 4:36 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID M.Des: Seat Intake
M.Des program has a combined intake of 347 seats and is offered at 3 campuses: NID Ahmedabad, NID Bengaluru, and NID Gandhinagar.
- 4:29 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID B.Des : Seat Intake
NID B.Des course has a seat intake of 589 seats and is available at NID Ahmedabad, NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Assam, NID Haryana, and NID Madhya Pradesh.
- 4:11 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT: Exam Analysis
NID DAT 2026 exam analysis will be out soon.
- 4:03 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT: Printed Copy
Candidates must bring a printed copy of NID DAT Admit card with them for the examination.
- 3:56 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
Original ID Proof Required for NID DAT
Candidates must bring any ONE valid Original photo ID proof for verification such as (i) Voter ID Card, (ii) PAN Card, (iii) Driving License, (iv) Student ID issued by current school/ college (v) Passport (vi) Aadhar Card, etc. to the examination centre. In case you do not have any of the above photo ID proofs, please get both Part “A” and Part “B” of this Admit Card attested by the Principal of your current school/college or a Gazetted Officer.
- 3:43 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID Exam 2026 Duration
The duration of the DAT Prelims paper for the B.Des program is THREE hours. The exam is usually conducted from 10 am - 1 pm.
- 3:29 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT 2026: Date
NID DAT 2026 exam will be conducted from 10 AM to 1 PM.
- 3:23 PM IST• 20 Dec 2025
NID DAT 2026: Exam Date
NID DAT 2026 exam will be conducted tomorrow, on December 21. 2025 for UG and PG programmes.
There is no negative marking in NID DAT 2026 exam. The candidate is recommended to go through the detailed exam pattern to get insights into the question paper structure, including types of questions asked, sections, etc. The DAT Prelims exam for the B. Des programme has two parts. Part I will include 22 objective-type questions, whereas Part II will include 4 subjective-type questions. Objective-type questions carry 1-2 marks, while subjective-type questions carry 15-20 marks. The total marks for the NID DAT Prelims will be 100 marks.
Yes, under unforeseen circumstances, the National Institute of Design reserves the right to change the nature and structure of the NID exam. This means all tests can be conducted online or offline, or a combination of online and offline, depending on how the National Institute of Design deems it fit.
So, the candidate is urged to keep looking up this space for all the latest on the NID 2026 exam.
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The NID DAT 2026 (Prelims) exam will be conducted on December 21, 2025.
As per the official pattern, the DAT Prelims exam wil be conducted offline and will be of 3 hours duration. The test will be conducted in English language and include a maximum of 26 questions. The question paper will include both subjective and objective-type questions. The paper will be for 100 marks. Candidate who qualify in DAT Prelims have to next appear in DAT Mains.
The candidate needs to consult the exam pattern along with the syllabus to prepare for the NID that exam. Note that the National Institute of Design also has the authority to make changes to the exam pattern.