NID Examination Pattern

National Institute of Design (NID) 2024 will release the exam pattern for the NID DAT 2024 Exam on the official website - admissions.nid.edu. The Exam pattern will be released at the time of NID DAT 2024 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

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

NID DAT 2024 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

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.

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.