NID DAT 2027: Exam Date, Registration (Ongoing), Eligibility, Syllabus, and More

The NID Entrance Exam 2027 Prelims (Stage 1) will be conducted on 20^th December 2026 and the students qualifying the same will be able to appear for the Mains (Stage 2). The registration portal of the entrance test is open and interested & eligible students can submit their form via online mode till 30^th November 2026 (till 11:59 PM).

NID DAT is conducted by National Institute of Design (NID) every year in 2 Stages to offer admission to the students in its B.Des, M.Des, Integrated M.Des, and other courses available at its various campuses & other Institutions. The Stage 1 (Prelims) will be held via offline pen / pencil & paper based mode at several centres. Followed by this, qualified students will have to appear for the Stage 2 (DAT Mains) which will include Studio Sensitivity Test & In-Person Sensitivity Test for B.Des / Integrated M.Des programs and Studio Test & Interview for M.Des course.

Interested candidates can go through this article in order to know details about several aspects related to the NID Exam 2027 including registration / application process, test schedule, eligibility criteria, admit card, participating Institutions, exam pattern, and so on.

The NID Design Aptitude Test is popularly known as NID DAT and it is conducted by National Institute of Design (NID) for the students willing to enroll in the B.Des, M.Des, Integrated M.Des, and Ph.D (Design) courses offered at its campuses located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Gandhinagar, Haryana, etc along with some other Institutions. The NID Entrance Exam is held in 2 Stages and candidates qualifying the Stage 1 will be able to appear for the Stage 2 of the test.

The overview of the NID Entrance Exam 2027 is given below:

The schedule of the entrance test is specified by the exam conducting body and interested & eligible students should be well-acquainted with the same in order to complete all the required formalities timely.

In order to know the NID Exam 2027 schedule, students can refer to the details mentioned in the following table:

Students who are interested in appearing for the NID Entrance Exam are advised to check the specified educational, age, and other requirements before moving ahead with the registration process. Qualifying the NID DAT Exam Eligibility Criteria 2027 is important for the appearing candidates otherwise their candidature will be cancelled.

The below-outlined table includes the general eligibility criteria of NID DAT Exam 2027:

Candidates who wish to attempt the entrance test should make sure to complete all the registration related formalities as per the prescribed schedule. Interested students can conclude the NID DAT Registration 2027 process only via online mode through the official website i.e., ‘admissions.nid.edu/NIDA2027’.

Along with this, applicants will have to deposit the specified exam fees in order to submit their application form which is Rs. 3000/- (General / Gen-EWS / OBC-NCL), Rs. 2000/- (Female Candidates (except SC, ST & PwD category)), Rs. 1500/- (SC & ST Students), and Rs. 500/- (PwD / Third Gender).

* For M.Des course, the aforementioned application fee is applicable for NID Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar & Bangalore and if students want to pursue the academic program at the campuses of NID located at Haryana / Madhya Pradesh, the fee will differ.

Students are recommended to cover the entire relevant subject-matter before the main test day in order to attempt the questions easily so that they can secure excellent marks. The conducting body will not release any official NID Entrance Exam Syllabus 2027, however, based on the previous years’ question papers, students can cover the important topics stated below:

• For B.Des & M.Des Courses:
  • For Stage 1 (Prelims): Design Theory, Picture Analysis, Color Terminology, Optical Illusion, Graphics & Pictograms, Elements & Principles of Design, Theme Development, etc.
  • For Stage 2 (Mains): Model Making, Doodling, Material Manipulation, Audio-Video Exercises, Creative Thinking, and many more.

The entrance test is conducted in 2 Stages including Prelims (Stage 1) & Mains (Stage 2) and appearing candidates should be well-acquainted with the format of the test so that they do not have to face any confusion / doubts at a later stage. In accordance with the NID Exam Pattern 2027, the Prelims will be conducted via offline pen / pencil & paper based mode at specified centres only in English language and candidates will have to complete the same within 3 hours (for B.Des course) and 2 hours 30 minutes (for M.Des course).

Along with this, the NID DAT 2027 Prelims will comprise 2 sections including Creative Ability Test (CAT) and General Aptitude Test (GAT) which will consist of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) & subjective (drawing & general) type of questions for a total of 100 marks.

Post this, students who will qualify Prelims will be considered qualified to attempt the NID DAT 2027 Mains which will include a Studio Test & Interview for M.Des courses and Studio Sensitivity Test & In-Person Sensitivity Test for B.Des programs.

National Institute of Design (NID) i.e., the exam conducting body releases the admit card of NID Exam 2027 Prelims & Mains through online mode as per the specified schedule. In order to download the NID DAT Exam Admit Card 2027, candidates can visit ‘admissions.nid.edu/NIDA2027’ (official website) and login with their credentials.

Also, students should be well-informed that any digital copy / hardcopy of the admit card will not be sent to anyone and they will have to download & print it by themselves. Several important details like exam time, allotted centre, and so on will be mentioned on the admit cards which is why candidates should timely download the same.

The NID Entrance Exam 2027 Prelims will be conducted via offline pen / pencil & paper based mode at a large number of specified centres present across India and students can choose any one of the same during the registration / application process. Refer to the following table to know about the specified NID Entrance Exam Centres 2027:

* In case, candidates want to change their selected exam centre then they can do the same after the conducting body opens the form correction window. Also, no requests for changing the test centre will be entertained after the form correction portal has been closed.

Note: The conducting body of the entrance test reserves the right to allot a centre to the students which is not chosen by them and they can also add / remove any of the specified test centre. Also, a city can have more than 1 centre.

Candidates who are planning to attempt the entrance test should include practising with last few years' question papers in their study plan as it will help in thoroughly understanding the paper pattern. After solving a certain number of NID DAT Previous Year Question Papers, students will get clarity regarding the distribution of marks, number & type of questions, etc. which will help them in scoring better results.

Apart from this, students are recommended to take some practise tests before the scheduled exam day so that they can elevate their overall preparedness. Also, the NID Exam Mock Test 2027 is conducted under similar timed conditions which will assist candidates in uplifting their time optimisation skills.

A few days after the NID DAT 2027 Prelims, the conducting body will release the results & merit list of the same which will be used only for shortlisting candidates for Mains (Stage 2). Also, after the completion of Stage 2, final NID Entrance Exam Result 2027 along with the merit list will be published and Prelims score will not carry weightage in the same.

Candidates can check the result of the entrance test only via online mode through the official website i.e., ‘admissions.nid.edu/NIDA2027’ by logging-in with their credentials. Also, students should download and / or print their scorecards of both the Stages after the release of the same as it will be available on the official website for only 20 days from the date of declaration.

Along with this, in case, students face any issues with the result then they can submit a request for re-totalling of marks after the announcement of the same through the official website of the test along with a scanned copy of their admit card with signature of their invigilator & seal of the test centre. The fee that is to be paid by the students for re-totalling is Rs. 2000/- (each discipline).

* The merit list will be prepared category-wise and verification of category certificate will be done before the release of the same.

After the conducting body releases the result of the entrance exam, qualified candidates will have to proceed ahead by participating in the NID DAT Counselling Process 2027 and during the same they will have to submit some essential documents for verification of the same in order to secure admission.

Also, students will have to fill-in an admission application form after the release of Stage 2 results in order to take part in the NID Entrance Exam Seat Allotment 2027 process. The final allotment of seats will be done on the basis of merit, preference of the candidates, and availability of seats in their category.

It is important for the interested candidates to be aware of the educational Institutions where they can secure admission in their desired academic program with the NID DAT 2027 scores. The NID Exam Participating Colleges 2027 includes multiple campuses of National Institute of Design (NID) which are located at Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Madhya Pradesh, Gandhinagar, Haryana, etc. along with CEPT University, Ahmedabad.