NID Entrance Exam Eligibility

Yes, candidates who have passed their H.S.C. vocational examination may apply for admission to the B.Des program.

Applications for NID DAT 2026 will open in September 2025 (tentatively). Candidates who have passed or will appear for higher secondary (10+2) qualifying examinations in the academic year 2025–26 in any stream (Science, Arts, Commerce, Humanities etc.) from any recognised board of education such as CBSE, IB, ICSE or equivalent could apply.

Candidates seekling admission to the M.Des programme must have complete their 3-year or 4-year Bachelor Degree programme in any discipline.

Candidates who have done full-time Diploma of minimum 4-year duration in Design/Fine Arts/Applied Arts/ Architecture, after 12th standard or equivalent to 12th standard, from any university or institute recognised by law in India, may also apply. 

The National Institute of Design (NID) will release the eligibility criteria for the NID DAT for the B.Des and M.Des courses through the respective admission handbooks. The eligibility criteria outlines requirements like academic qualification, minimum marks, age limit, number of attempts, etc.  

As per the prescribed eligibility criteria, open category candidates seeking admission to the B.Des programme must be born on or after July 1, 2005. So, you are not eligible for admission.

Note that even General-EWS categories have the same criteria as general or open category. 

However, in case of SC, ST, and OBC-NCL candidates, there is a relaxation of 5-years in the upper age limit. Further, PwD candidates are eligible for 5-year exemption.

Candidates are advised to be thorough in their preparation when they plan to appear for NID DAT. Being regular in studies is a must when appearing for NID Entrance Exam. NID Prelims comprises both objective and subjective questions. NID Entrance Exam preparation plan that candidates can follow includes.

• Know the NID exam pattern and marking scheme well
• Get well-versed with the NID that syllabus
• Prepare a time-table and strictly adhere to it
• Attempt NID previous year question papers
• Solve NID sample papers and mock tests
• Keep revising.

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.