NATA

To qualify in the NATA exam, a candidate must score a minimum of 70 marks out of 200. However, qualifying in NATA does not guarantee admission, as institutes may have their own cutoff criteria and eligibility requirements.

No, it is not compulsory to appear for all NATA tests. Candidates can choose to appear for any one, two, or all three attempts of NATA in a given year. The best score among all attempts will be considered for admission purposes.

The highest score varies by year and attempt. Some candidates have scored over 180 out of 200 in past years. 

• A score of 120+ is generally considered competitive for top architecture colleges like SPA, CEPT, but this also depends on the institute's cut-off.
• Top institutes like CEPT University, Jadavpur University, and some state government colleges may have high cut-offs.
• Your Class 12th marks (50% aggregate with Math) are also considered in admissions.
• Some colleges may also conduct counselling or require state-level architecture application (like DTE Maharashtra or KEA).

The overall pass percentage in NATA typically ranges between 70% and 90%, depending on the year and the specific test attempt.

For example:

In recent sessions, over 80% of candidates cleared the exam.

The pass percentage is generally high because the qualifying mark is 70 out of 200, and there is no negative marking.

However, qualifying NATA doesn't guarantee admission—higher scores are needed for top architecture colleges.

The NATA exam is scheduled from 7 Mar to 28 Jun. Candidates are required to appear for the entrance in order to participate in the entrance-based admission process. Candidates are required to clear the cutoff set by Nehru School of Architecture to get invited for the next admission rounds. 
Candidates who clear the admission process are eligible to pay the course fee and secure their seat. 

For admission to its BArch programme, the Nehru School of Architecture accepts NATA results. The NATA cutoff percentile for candidates in the General All India category was less than 90, following the previous year Nehru School of Architecture cutoffs. A candidate with a 90 percentile can thus be admitted to Nehru School of Architecture based on the cutoff pattern from prior years.