Designing, which opens up the doors to the field of creativity and gives you myriad options ranging from fashion designing, interior designing, footwear designing, jewellery designing, and visual merchandising, is an excellent and lucrative career option. The top-notch design institutes take admissions through entrance exams such as NIFT, NID, UCEED, AIEED, PAF, SOFT, etc. In this article, we bring you the list of different design entrance exams that you should prepare for admissions to the dream college.
List of Entrance Examinations
Given below is the list of design entrance examinations that you need to take before applying for any course in designing.
NIFT Entrance Exam
- Every year National Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai conducts a national level entrance examination called NIFT for the admission of the aspirants in different Under Graduate and Post Graduate programs in the field of design and fashion technology.
- This exam is an ideal gateway to get into leading designing schools and show your talent and ideas.
- The written test is expected to take place in February 2022, and the declaration of the final result online comes at the end of May 2022. The counselling session starts from June onwards.
- To fulfil the eligibility criteria for the Bachelor Programs, the maximum age limit is 23 years which may be relaxed by a period of five years for the SC/ ST/ PHP aspirants.
- Also, the candidates should have passed +2 level examination from any recognized Board of Secondary Education.
- NIFT offers more than 2,000 seats in various fashion and design-centric courses like:
Bachelor of Design (B.Des.)- 4 Years
- Accessory Design
- Fashion Communication
- Fashion Design
- Knitwear Design
- Leather Design
- Textile Design
Bachelor of Fashion Technology (B.F.Tech)- 4 Years
- Apparel Production
(With Physics, Chemistry and Maths) from the recognised Board of Education
NID Entrance Exam
- National Institute of Design is the organising body that conducts an entrance exam in January every year.
- The competitive exam is conducted in two- stages:
- Stage1: Design Aptitude Test ( DAT) Prelims
- Stage 2: Design Aptitude Test (DAT)Mains
- The DAT Prelims is a written test of three hours duration followed by DAT Mains which includes Studio Test and Personal Interview.
- The eligibility criterion for the candidates to apply for Bachelor Courses is up to 20 years of age with relaxation by three years for the candidates belonging to the reserved category.
- The basic qualification required to appear in the test is +2 examination from any recognized Board.
- Keep note that the four years Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) program is proposed only at NID Ahmedabad in the following areas of specialization:
Faculty of Industrial Design:
- Ceramic & Glass Design (10 seats)
- Furniture Design (10 seats)
- Product Design (15 seats)
Faculty of Communication Design:
- Animation Film Design (15 seats)
- Exhibition Design (10 seats)
- Film & Video Communication (10 seats)
- Graphic Design (15 seats)
Faculty of Textile, Apparel & Lifestyle Accessory Design:
- Textile Design (15 seats)
However, the four-year Graduate Diploma Program in Design (GDPD) is offered at NID Vijayawada and NID Kurukshetra in these given areas of specialization:
- Industrial Design
- Communication Design
- Textile & Apparel Design
Under Graduate Common Entrance Exam of Design (UCEED)
- Every year IIT Bombay conducts UCEED under the leadership of the UCEED Admission Committee.
- The test is expected to take place in January, and the result is declared in February.
- UCEED is a three-hour computer-based entrance exam. It is held in 19 cities in India: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Raipur and Thiruvananthapuram.
- For a candidate to be eligible for the exam, the following is the criterion:
Criterion 1 –Qualifying Examination:
All aspiring candidates should have passed the qualifying examination (+2 or equivalent) or appear in the year of appearing for entrance. Students from all streams- Science, Commerce, and Arts & Humanities are eligible to take the test. An important point to note is that all those who appeared for the first time in their qualifying examination in 2016 or earlier are not eligible for the exam.
Criterion 2 – Age limit:
The candidate should have been born on or after October 1, 2002, if belonging to the OPEN or OBC-NCL category and on or after October 1, 1996, if belonging to the SC, ST or PWD category.
Criterion 3 – Number of Attempts
A candidate can attempt UCEED for a maximum of two times and that too in consecutive years. Also, UCEED score is valid for one year, and only for admissions in the corresponding academic year.
All India Entrance Examination for Design (AIEED)
- One of the esteemed examinations, AIEED is conducted by Arch Academy of Design in both online and offline mode.
- The test aims to inspect the candidate’s creative and designing ability along with the aesthetic feel.
- The test is conducted in the series which starts in April and continues till June.
- The Arch Academy has two campuses- Jaipur and Delhi that offer undergraduate level programs like:
Jaipur Campus:
- Fashion & Textile Design
- Fashion Design & Business
- Interior & Spatial Design
- Interior Design & Business
- Graphic Design (Applied Arts)
- Jewellery Design & Business
- Product Design
Delhi Campus:
- Fashion Design
- Interior & Spatial Design
- Graphic & Interaction Design
- Product Design
- AIEED Exam is divided into the following structure: The Creative Ability Test (CAT) and the General Ability Test (GAT). Both the exams can be written in the online and offline mode. The question paper comes in both- Hindi and English. An important point to consider is that the online test can be taken only in the English language, whereas the written proof can be attempted in both the expressions of the words.
- All the candidates who are 16 years of age or above are eligible to apply for the International Undergraduate level course.
- The students who have passed their 10+2 from any recognized board or equivalent university as per UGC Guidelines are eligible to write the exam. Even, the 10+1 students can take the exam, and the scores will be valid for the consecutive year.
Pearl Academy Entrance Exam
- Pearl Academy is a famous and renowned college in India that conducts its entrance exam for the admission of the students to the field of art and creativity.
- Pearl Academy offers more than one cycle of admission to reach large masses of students and acquire more talent. The admission cycle for 2022 is expected to start in June, July, August and October.
The various undergraduate courses that the candidate can apply after +2 are:
- Fashion Design
- Fashion Styling and Image Design
- Fashion Media Communication
- Interior Architecture & Design
- Product Design
- Lifestyle Accessory Design
- Communication Design ( Graphics)
- Communication Design ( Interaction & Digital)
- Fashion & Lifestyle Business Management
- The eligibility for the 3-year or 4-year undergraduate pathway is 10+2 or equivalent with minimum 50% marks.
- The examination pattern for the UG Pathway is:
Design Stream:
General Proficiency Test (GPT)- 60 minutes
Design Aptitude Test (DAT)- 120 minutes
Business Stream:
General Proficiency Test (GPT) only- 60 minutes
Undergraduate Professional Development program
Personal Interview only
The given comprehensive article guides you with the different design entrance exams that you can take to make a career in designing. Just prepare well, give your best shot and open up the doors to get admission in your dream institute.
