NID Comprehensive Guide: Admission, Top #4 Courses, Entrance Exam, Fee Structure and more

National Institute of Design, an apex design Institute in India, is internationally recognized as one of the premium educational and research institutions for Industrial, Communication, Textile and Experiential Design. NID offers Bachelor’s degree courses in design (B.Des.), Masters of Design (M.Des.) and PhD in Design.

This article will talk about all the updated information on NID courses, admission procedure, entrance exams, eligibility criteria and much more.

Let’s first take a quick look at various courses at NID, various campuses where these courses are offered and more.

NID Courses

The National Institute of Design offers various undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs in diverse design disciplines.  

Take a look at the courses offered at various campuses of National Institute of Design at undergraduate and postgraduate level:

1. Bachelor of Design (B.Des.)
2. Graduate Diploma Program in Design (GDPD)
3. Masters of Design (M.Des.)
4. PhD in Design

NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Haryana, NID Madhya Pradesh & NID Assam are autonomous institutes under the DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and offer varied courses. Take a look at NID Courses and the campuses that offer these courses:

• The 4-year Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) program is offered only at NID Ahmedabad.
• The 4-year-long Graduate Diploma Program in Design (GDPD) is offered at NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Haryana, and NID Madhya Pradesh and NID Assam.
• The 2.5 year Master of Design (M.Des.) program is offered at NID Ahmedabad, NID Bangalore, and NID Gandhinagar campuses.

Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) at NID

Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) course is offered at NID Ahmedabad. Take a look at the faculty and the disciplines offered for this 4-year bachelor’s program:

Graduate Diploma Program in Design (GDPD)

The four-year-long Graduate Diploma Program in Design (GDPD) is offered at NID Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh and Assam in the below-mentioned areas of specializations:

*GDPD Courses specializations offered at NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Haryana, NID Madhya Pradesh, and NID Assam may differ.

Master of Design (M.Des.)

The Master of Design (M.Des.) program is a two and half year program offered at NID Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Gandhinagar. Take a look at the disciplines offered:

NID Admission Procedure for B.Des / GDPD

Admission to all the courses at the National Institute of Design is based on the candidates’ performance in the two-stages of Design Aptitude Test i.e. DAT Prelims and DAT Mains. The design entrance exam tests the knowledge, skills, and behavioral aptitude of candidates.

Stage 1: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Prelims

• NID DAT Prelims exam is conducted for B.Des. / GDPD courses comprising of an examination of 3 hours duration of a maximum Marks of 100. The question paper will be in English language only.
• Candidates qualifying or meeting the cut off for DAT Prelims would be eligible to appear for DAT Mains examination.
• Test Centres for DAT Prelims:
  • Ahmedabad
  • Bengaluru
  • Bhopal
  • Bhubaneswar
  • Chandigarh
  • Chennai
  • Dehradun
  • Guwahati
  • Hyderabad
  • Jaipur
  • Kolkata
  • Kurukshetra
  • Lucknow
  • Mumbai
  • Nagpur
  • New Delhi
  • Patna
  • Raipur
  • Ranchi
  • Thiruvananthapuram
  • Vijayawada

Stage 2: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Mains

• Candidates who are shortlisted after DAT Prelims will be eligible for the DAT Mains examination.
• DAT Mains consist of tests in multiple formats and the maximum marks for mains exam will be 100.
• Candidates are requested to download Admit card’s official NID admissions website admissions.nid.edu.
• As per recent changes in the examination process, candidates will not be called to NID’s campuses for DAT Mains.
• The updated/ revised weightage of DAT Prelims and DAT Mains is:

• Details for uploading the creative work samples and State of Purpose/ thematic reflections and downloading of admit card will be informed to registered candidates on their registered email IDs before DAT Mains.

NID Admission Procedure for M.Des

Admission to all the NID courses is based on the candidates’ performance in the two-stages of Design Aptitude Test, explained below:

Stage 1: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Prelims

• The M.Des. DAT Prelims comprises of a Common Design Aptitude Test (CDAT) and a discipline-specific Test, to examine the Design Aptitude of the candidate.
• The DAT Prelims paper is a mix of objective and subjective questions of a maximum of 100 marks.
• M.Des. DAT Prelims is conducted in the English language only.
• Candidates applying in only one discipline of the Master of Design program are required to appear in both the CDAT exam and the discipline program selected by them. In this case, the DAT Prelims exam will be of 2.5 hours.
• Candidates applying to two disciplines of Master of Design program are required to appear in both the CDAT exam and 2 discipline-specific programs selected by them. In this case, DAT Prelim will be of 4.5 hours duration.
• Candidates shortlisted in DAT prelims will be eligible to appear for DAT Mains.
• Test centers for DAT prelims are:
  • Ahmedabad
  • Bengaluru
  • Bhopal
  • Chandigarh
  • Chennai
  • Guwahati
  • Hyderabad
  • Jaipur
  • Kolkata
  • Lucknow
  • Mumbai
  • Nagpur
  • New Delhi
  • Patna
  • Raipur
  • Thiruvananthapuram

Stage 2: Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Mains

• Those candidates appearing and qualifying DAT Prelims will be shortlisted for DAT Mains examination.
• Due to recent changes in the testing format, DAT Mains will be conducted online. The studio test and interview shall no longer be conducted at NID Campuses.
• The revised weightage of DAT Prelims and Mains is:

• Details for uploading the portfolio & statement of purpose (SoP) and downloading of Admit Card will be informed to registered candidates on their registered email IDs before DAT Mains.

NID Admission Procedure for PhD in Design

Admission to PhD in design program will be based on a three-stage selection process. Moreover, the final selection of the candidate will be based on the candidates’ quality of research proposals and suitability of topics depending on NIDs research priorities.

Let’s understand the three stages of selection for PhD in Design at National Institute of Design.

Stage 1: Short listing of Application

• In this stage, the candidates’ application is examined first on the basis of fulfillment of eligibility criteria.
• Candidates’ research proposal is then examined on the basis of National Institute of Design’s research objectives i.e.

• Stage 1 comprise of a total of 100 marks.
• Candidates’ application shortlisted in the stage 1 is then forwarded to stage 2.

Stage 2: Design Research Test (DRT)

• In stage 2, candidates’ design research aptitude is tested via DRT. The entrance is conducted only at the Ahmedabad campus.
• This aptitude test evaluates a candidate’s general awareness, design aptitude, creativity, research and reasoning ability.
• DRT-I Situation Test/ Fieldwork comprises of a total of 50 marks.
• The candidates are evaluated on the basis of:

• DRT-II General awareness and Design Abilities comprises of a total of 50 marks.
• The candidates are tested for the following:

• Candidates appearing for and qualifying DRT or the second stage will then be invited for an interview.

Stage 3: Interview

The evaluation criteria for interview is based on:

• Candidates fulfilling all the above requirements in the three stages of selection will then be further notified based on their rank.

Eligibility Criteria for B.Des. / GDPD

To be eligible for admission to Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) and Graduate Diploma Program in Design (GDPD), candidates should be:

• Candidates who have passed or will appear for higher secondary (10+2) qualifying examinations in any stream (Science, Arts, Commerce, Humanities, etc.) from any recognized board of education such as CBSE, IB, ICSE or equivalent board are eligible to apply for B.Des. / GDPD programs.
• Candidates should be able to fulfill age limit criteria. Please refer to the admission brochure (https://admissions.nid.edu/NIDA2023/Default.aspx) for age-related requirements.
• To know more about the details of equivalent qualifying examination for class 12th, please refer to the latest admission brochure.

Eligibility Criteria for M.Des.

To be eligible for admission for Master of Design (M.Des.) at National Institute of Design, candidates must fulfill all the necessary age and educational qualifications. For educational requirements, candidates must fulfill any one of the following criteria:

• Candidate must have a bachelor’s degree of 4-years minimum duration in any subject area or specialization;
• Candidate must have a bachelor’s degree of minimum 3-years duration in any subject area or specialization;
• Candidate must have a full-time diploma of a minimum of 4-years duration in Design/ arts/ applied arts/ architecture

Candidates must have passed in all the subjects in their graduation degree.

Eligibility Criteria for PhD

To be eligible for PhD program in National institute of Design, candidate must be an Indian national and hold at least one of the following educational qualifications:

• A Master’s level qualification which includes: a) a Master’s degree at NID; b) NID’s PDGDPD Diploma;
• A Bachelor’s level qualification which includes: a) B.Des. in Design degree from NID; b) NID’s GDPD Diploma- along with 3 years of professional work experience or experience in teaching;
• Master’s in Philosophy in Design (M.Phil. in Design);
• Or completion of Faculty of Development Program of NID.

Moreover, candidates must make sure they fulfill age requirement criteria to be eligible for PhD program at NID. Must refer to the latest admission brochure for PhD at NID.

NID Entrance Exam Syllabus

NID DAT Prelims

Some of the important topics covered in the Design Aptitude Test DAT Prelims are:

National Institute of Design DAT Mains

Some of the important topics covered in the Design Aptitude Test DAT Mains are:

National Institute of Design Fee Structure

Bachelor of Design (B.Des.)

*Please note that the total fees for 8 semesters do not include hotel charges, mess and other charges.

Graduate Diploma Program in Design (GDPD)

*Please note that the total fees for 8 semesters do not include hotel charges, mess and other charges.

Master of Design (M.Des.)

*Please note that the hostel charges for Gandhinagar, Assam and other campuses vary.

PhD in Design (Full time)

In Conclusion

In this article we discussed about the NID courses, DAT entrance examination, syllabus, eligibility criteria and other important details. National Institute of Design is a prestige design institute and is for all those who have a knack in creativity and design. Do you have it in you to pursue your education from NID?

If you are not clear in mind about what career path to choose, you must seek our career counselling and guidance services.

Useful Links

• National Institute of Design official website (www.nid.edu/home)
• DAT Exam: What You Need to Know
• Career in Art and Design
• Fashion Designing Courses After 12th
• Top Fashion Design Careers
• Career as a Fashion Designer
• Career as Visual Communication Designer

Shruti Verma

Shruti Verma has an experience of around 2+ years in research and analysis of careers, jobs, and industries. She has a knowledge of diverse fields spanning from career counselling, management consulting, engineering, and technology to science, finance, and humanities.