National Institute of Design (NID) 2025 has released the exam pattern for the NID DAT 2025-26 Exam on the official website -

nid.edu/" rel="follow">admissions.nid.edu. The Exam pattern will be released at the time of NID DAT 2025 Application form release.

NID DAT Exam will be conducted in two stages - DAT Prelims and DAT Mains. Candidates who are qualified in DAT Prelims only can appear to DAT Mains.

The B.Des and M.Des Admission handbooks include information about the exam pattern.

But the note that the guide only offers fundamental exam information. It states that a paper-and-pencil examination will be used for the B.Des DAT Prelims exam and that the paper may contain both text and visual questions. Interestingly, nothing about the test length, the number of parts, or the number of questions asked in each section in mentioned.

The NID DAT 2025 Admti card will contain information about the test's duration.

The Aid candidates, we have examined past exam paperes and created an exam pattern they can adhere to. The DAT Prelims for B.Des were three hours long in the previous iteration. In the meantime, the M.Des Program test took two hours and thirty minutes to complete.

NID 2025 Entrance test will be conducted on 05th January 2025. Those who make it through the DAT Prelims must next appear in the DAT Mains.

To find out all the information on the NID DAT 2025 exam pattern for both the preliminary & mains exams.

NID Exam Pattern - Candidates are assessed on the basis of their creativity skills, design skills, reasoning ability and Problem- Solving skills.

NID DAT 2025-26 Exam Pattern Highlights:

In order to secure admission in the fields of Bachelor of Design (B.Des), Graduate Diploma Programme in Design (GDPD) and Master of Design (M.Des), candidates have to appear for entrance examinations which will be conducted in two stages. 

Stage 1: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Prelims

Stage 2: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Mains

NID DAT 2025 Exam Pattern: Prelims

The first step of the two-stage NID Admissions procedure is called DAT Prelims.

The DAT Preliminary question paper structure will be made public by the National Institute of Design in the entrance guide.

For Bachelor of Design (B.Des) & Graduate Diploma Programme in Design (GDPD)

The B.Des DAT prelims paper is a 3 hours test of 100 marks which evaluates the Design aptitude of a candidate. The exam comprises of a mix of objective and subjective questions. Candidates who qualify in DAT Prelims are only eligible to appear for DAT Mains. It is to note that a separate merit list will be prepared for overseas candidates.

The DAT mains will consist of tests in multiple formats and will be conducted over a period of two days. The total marks of the test will be out of 100. The final marks of the candidates appearing for the B.Des/ GDPD programme will be determined based on the weightage of the marks obtained in the DAT Prelims and DAT Mains. The weightage of marks is 30% for DAT Prelims and 70% for DAT Mains.

DAT Preliminary Exam format for B.Des Students

Duration: Three hours are allotted for the B.Des Program's DAT Prelims Paper. The exam is scheduled to take place between 10 AM to 1PM.

Part I & Part II are the two components that make up the DAT Prelims Question Paper.

Mode: The test will be administered using paper pencil or pens.

Type of questions: Both textual and visual questions may be included in the question paper.

Language: Only English will be used in this work.

Negative marking: Negative marking is not going to occur.

Exam dates & times for the NID DAT (Prelims)

DAT Prelims Exam pattern for M.Des Program

The following lists the salient features of the DAT Prelims exam patterns for the M.Des Program.

DAT Prelims Exam Pattern - Sections, Type of Questions, No. of Questions

The DAT Prelims exam will be adminstered in a centre-based format at several test locations around India. Only English will be used for the question paper.

Based on an examination of previous year's papers, we have complied a list of sections, questions and questions types for you to review.

Exam Pattern for DAT Prelims (2025) B.Des : Section Types, and Quatity of Questions

For Master of Design (M.Des)

The M.Des DAT Prelims paper is of 2 hours 30 minutes and carries 100 marks. The DAT Prelims paper comprises of a mix of objective and subjective questions.

The test comprises of a Common Design Aptitude Test and a faculty-specific domain test, which together evaluate the design aptitude of the candidate. 

The five existing faculty streams at NID are:

1. Communication Design

2. Industrial Design

3. Information Technology Integrated Programmes

4. Inter-Disciplinary Design Studies

5. Textile, Apparel, Lifestyle and Accessory Design.

Candidates who apply for only one discipline of M.Des programme are required to appear for DAT Prelims comprising of Common Design Aptitude Test (CDAT) and domain-specific test of the faculty stream of the discipline selected by them. The total duration of DAT Prelim will be 2 hours and 30 minutes. 

Candidates who applied for two disciplines of M.Des programme are required to appear in DAT Prelims comprising of:

The CDAT and one domain-specific test if the two disciplines selected falls under same faculty stream. The total duration of DAT Prelim will be 2.5 hrs.

OR

The CDAT and two domain-specific tests if the two disciplines selected fall under different Faculty Streams. The total duration of DAT Prelim will be 4.5 hrs.

DAT Mains For M.Des

Only those candidates who qualify in DAT Prelims are eligible to appear for DAT Mains. A separate merit list will be prepared for each category and overseas candidates. The DAT Mains for M.Des. programmes consist of two parts:

1. Studio Test: This test consists of different formats. The marks for the test will be 100 and the duration is three hours. 

2. Interviews: The interview will be conducted separately for each discipline after the studio test at the same centre. 

The final result of the candidates will be based on the weightage of the marks obtained in the DAT Prelims and DAT Mains. The weightage of marks is 20% for DAT Prelims and 80% for DAT Mains.

Marking Scheme for NID DAT Prelims 2025

The table below shows the anticipated marking pattern for the DAT Prelims exam