NID Entrance Exam 2026: Application Form, Exam Dates, Eligibility

NID 2026 Exam will be conducted via online mode for both B.Des & M.Des Courses. NID (National Institute of Design) conducts a national level entrance exam for admission into Undergraduate & Postgraduate courses in field of Design.

Registration process for NID 2026 exam will start in early September 2025…Check apply details below…

NID Registration | NID Exam Dates | NID Syllabus

NID conducts Design Aptitude Test (DAT) in two stages: Prelims and Mains. Students seeking admission into B.Des & M.Des courses must qualify this exam to secure admission at NID, Ahmedabad, and its affiliated campuses.

All You Need To Know About NID 2026 Exam:

• When to apply for NID 2026?…Check the Tentative Schedule below.
• Curious about the requirements for B.Des at NID?….Explore NID Eligibility Criteria 2026.
• How to apply for NID 2026? Check here for NID Application Process.
• Need guidance to crack DAT Prelims & DAT Mains?… Get Expert tips & tricks here.

Confused? Leave your comments below.

Applicants must go through the below article for complete details related to NID 2026 including exam dates, application form, eligibility, syllabus, pattern etc.

NID 2026 Overview

NID 2026 Exam Dates

Students can know the NID Exam Dates 2026 for both B.Des & M.Des courses below:

NID 2026 Application Form

Read the given information carefully before filling out the NID Application Form 2026:

• NID 2026 Application Form will be accessible by the applicants via online mode.
• Registration process for both B.Des & M.Des courses will begin in first week of September 2025.
• Students must ensure to meet the specific eligibility requirements before submission of application form.
• For registration, students must provide their valid email ID & phone number.
• Candidates must complete the form with asked details such as personal, qualifications etc.
• The last date to submit the NID 2026 application form will be till first week of December 2025.
• Candidates are suggested to retain a printout of the filled application form for future uses.

Application Fee:

• NID Entrance Exam 2026 application fee will be submitted via online mode.
• Payment will be made using debit card & credit card only.
• After successful payment, no refund will be done.

Here, we have mentioned the NID 2026 application fee details:

How to Apply for NID 2026 

Check steps to apply for NID 2026 below:

• Step-1: Go through the NID website  (link will be given above).
• Step-2: Register with details such as name, email ID, mobile number, Date of Birth, programme applying etc.
• Step-3: Login to the portal and proceed to “Step-2: Application Form”.
• Step-4: Fill in required details such as personal and qualification details.
• Step-5: Upload all necessary documents such as photograph, signature category certificate etc.
• Step-6: Click on “Save & Proceed” tab and proceed to pay the requisite application fee.
• Step-7: After completing the payment process, take a printout of the completed application form for future references.

NID 2026 Eligibility Criteria

Know the course-wise NID Eligibility Criteria 2026 from below:

For B.Des Course:

For M.Des Course:

NID 2026 Exam Pattern

Checkout the NID Exam Pattern 2026 details from the below section:

• Exam Mode: NID 2026 exam will be held via offline mode, using a pen and paper format.
• Duration: Applicants will have 3 hours to complete the exam.
• Question Types: Exam paper will include both objective and subjective type questions.
• Total Marks: The question paper will be worth 100 marks in total.
• Medium: NID 2026 question paper will be in English only.

NID 2026 Syllabus

NID syllabus 2026 for Prelims exam will cover design innovation, theme and picture analysis, color usage, presentation techniques, optical illusions, creative thinking and writing and story pictures etc.

DAT Mains exam syllabus for B.Des Programme will include a studio test with tasks like doodling, material manipulation and audio-visual exercises etc, whereas for M.Des Programme, it focuses on more advanced design theory, creative thinking and visual communication skills.

NID 2026 Preparation Tips

For effective preparation, students can check the given NID Preparation Tips 2026:

• Thoroughly review the NID DAT 2026 exam pattern and syllabus.
• Develop a study schedule to allocate sufficient time for each subject & topic.
• Solve mock tests & sample papers to simulate exam pattern and your preparation level.
• Create concise notes and develop a study timetable.
• Dedicate the last few days exclusively for revision.

NID 2026 Exam Centre

NID Exam Centre 2026 for DAT Prelims exam will be conducted in various cities across India such as Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Chennai, Dehradun, New Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kurukshetra, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Thiruvananthapuram and Vijayawada. Exam centres for DAT Mains will be announced later by the authority.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs):

NID 2026 Admit Card

NID Admit Card 2026 for DAT Prelims and DAT Mains will be available for download via online mode on the website. It will be the responsibility of candidates to download and print their own admit cards.

The hall ticket for DAT Prelims exam will be accessible in fourth week of December 2025 for both UG & PG courses. Students will be able to download their DAT mains admit card in fourth week of February 2026 for PG course & in second week of April 2026 for UG courses.

NID 2026 Answer Key

NID 2026 answer key for DAT Prelims and DAT Mains exams will not be available to candidates. NID Answer Key 2026 will not be displayed by the authority, as it is considered highly subjective.

However, candidates will be able to request to view their response sheets for one year after the declaration of the final result, but only after the admission process is complete. To obtain a copy of their OMR sheet, candidates will need to make an online payment of Rs. 1000/-per exam.

NID 2026 Result

NID Result 2026 for DAT Prelims exam will be used to prepare separate merit lists for each category. DAT prelims result will be declared via online mode on the website in third week of February 2026 for M.Des & first week of April 2026 for B.Des courses.

Based on the DAT Prelims merit list, students will be eligible to appear for DAT Mains exam.  A final category-wise merit list will be prepared based on the weightage scores obtained by the candidates in DAT Prelims & DAT Mains exam.

NID 2026 Cut Off

For NID admission, students from various categories will be considered eligible only if they meet the minimum qualifying criteria. NID Cut Off 2026 will vary based on several factors including number of applicants, difficulty level of exam and availability of seats.

Students must check the category-wise minimum qualifying marks required to be eligible for NID 2026 below:

NID 2026 Reservation Criteria

From below, students can check the NID Reservation Criteria 2026:

• General-EWS: 10%
• OBC-NCL: 27%
• Schedule Caste: 15%
• Schedule Tribes: 7.5%
• Person with Disability: 5%

NID 2026 Counselling/ Admission

NID 2026 Admission will be started in month of May 2026 for both UG & PG courses. Qualified candidates will be eligible to participate in various counselling rounds including registration, fee payment, document verification, and seat allotment.

Final seat allotment will be done based on merit list, preferences of disciplines filled by candidates, reservation criteria and availability of seats.

Admission will be confirmed only after payment of requisite fee and verification of documents such as qualifying marksheets, category certificate, photo ID proof, migration certificate, DOB proof etc.

In case, candidates have any other queries related to NID 2026, then they can feel free to ask us by leaving the queries in comment box below.