NID-DAT Notification, Important Dates & Information

The National Institute of Design- Design Aptitude Test (NID-DAT) is a national level entrance test conducted once a year by the National Institute of Design for admitting students into its different programs of Bachelor of Design (B.Des.), Graduate Diploma Programme in Design (GDPD) and Master of Design (M.Des.). It consists of two parts: DAT (prelims) and DAT (mains). The students who clear the DAT (prelims) are then required to give the DAT (mains). The B.Des. DAT prelims paper is a 3 hour test of 100 marks which evaluates the Design aptitude of the candidate, the exam is in English. It comprises of a mix of objective and subjective questions; whereas the DAT (mains) comprises of a studio and an interview round spread over 2 days  at one of NID’s campuses in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru or Gandhinagar. Students are scored out of 100 and the medium of the test is english.
Only after clearing both these rounds are students offered admission into the desired programmes at different NID campuses.
It is important to note that NID GDPD is a four year long programme which is currently offered only by NID Vijayawada and NID Kurukshetra, but starting from 2019 the new NID campuses of NID Bhopal and NID Jorhat will also offer this programme.  B.Des. is also a 4 year programme while M. Des. is a 2.5 year programme.
These are the important dates for the NID DAT exam
Event Dates
Announcement of Notification 5 October 2021
Availability of Application forms 5 October 2021
Last date for submitting online application 30 November 2021
Last date for submitting online application with late fees 1 December 2021 to 5 December 2021
Window for editing the online application 6 December 2021 to 13 December 2021
Issuance of Admit card for DAT (prelims) 23 December 2021
NID-DAT (prelims) examination 2 January 2022
Prelims Result To be Notified
Prelims Rechecking Window (with payment) To be Notified
Issuance of Admit card for NID-DAT (mains) exam To be notified
DAT (mains) exam To be Notified
DAT (mains) result To be Notified
Here are the various seats on offer in the different NIDs all across India on the basis of the performance in the NID DAT (prelims) and then the NID DAT (mains), for those who clear the first stage.
Bachelor of Design (B.Des.)
Name of the Course College Offering the Course Number of Seats
Faculty of Communication Design
Animation Film Design NID Ahmedabad 15
Exhibition Design NID Ahmedabad 10
Film and Video Communication NID Ahmedabad 10
Graphic Design NID Ahmedabad 15
Faculty of Industrial Design
Ceramic and Glass Design NID Ahmedabad 10
Furniture and Interior Design NID Ahmedabad 10
Product Design NID Ahmedabad 15
Faculty of Textile, Apparel, Lifestyle and Accessory Design
Textile Design NID Ahmedabad 15
  Total Seats 100
Master of Design (M. Des.)
So keep updated on all the information, know where you can apply for what course and know the last dates for application, editing the application, paying the late fees and downloading the admit card, so that on the exam day, the only thing you have to worry about is your exam.
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