NID DAT (Design Aptitude test)

NID DAT (Design Aptitude test) is conducted for admissions of Bachelor of Design (B.Des) and Master of Design (M.Des) programmes offered by

• National Institute of Design NID Ahmedabad (B.Des)
• National Institute of Design NID Gandhinagar extension campus (M.Des)
• National Institute of Design NID Bengaluru extension campus (M.Des)
• National Institute of Design NID Andhra Pradesh (Vijaywada)
• National Institute of Design NID Haryana (Kurukshetra)
• National Institute of Design NID Madhya Pradesh (Bhopal)
• National Institute of Design NID Assam (Johrat)

The NID DAT (Design Aptitude test) is conducted in 2 stages:

• NID DAT (Design Aptitude test) Prelims
• NID DAT (Design Aptitude test) Mains

The NID DAT (Design Aptitude test) Prelims for the admissions of academic year 2025-26 will be conducted on Sunday 5^th January 2025.

The NID DAT (Design Aptitude test) Prelims will be conducted at Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, Kolkata, Kurukshetra, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Thiruvananthpuram and Vijaywada.

NID DAT Prelims Exam Pattern:

• The NID DAT Prelims is a paper & pencil / pen based exam. The duration of the NID DAT Prelims normally is for 3 hours and carries 100 marks however the duration of NID DAT (Design aptitude test) prelims for academic year 2024-25 will be announced in the admit card.
• The language of instruction is English.
• It is divided into Objective and Subjective type questions.
• The weightage of the NID DAT prelims marks is 30% in the final merit score however for the admissions for academic year 2024-25 the weightage of NID DAT Prelims & Mains will be declared later. The table below shows the distribution of marks between Objective and Subjective sections of the Prelims previous year NID question paper:

SECTIONS MARKS DISTRIBUTION OF NID PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTION PAPERS

Note: *This is the expected distribution of marks for NID DAT 2024 Prelims paper based on previous years papers.

The Objective Questions of the NID DAT Prelims exam in previous years have been generally MCQ (multiple choice questions), MSQ (multiple select questions), NAT (numerical answer type), WAT (word answer type), Fill in the Blanks, Match the Columns etc. The topics and syllabus covered in the previous years were General Knowledge & Current Affairs, Numerical & Logical Ability, History of Art, Elements & Principles of Design, Color Theory, English Language and Comprehension, and Basic understanding of Science. The table shows the average distribution of marks across objective topics in previous year papers:

Sr No	Topics	Marks
1	General Knowledge	8
2	Current Affair & News	4
3	History of Arts	8
4	Science & Social Science (8th to 10th Std)	4
5	English Language & Comprehension	4
6	Numerical Ability	4
7	Analytical Thinking (Verbal & Non-Verbal)	8
	Total	40

The Subjective Questions of the NID DAT Prelims exam in previous years have been visual or writing based (refer to NID DAT sample paper for better understanding). The topics/syllabus for the previous year’s questions were Visual Sensitivity, Form Sensitivity & Object Drawing, Sketching, Problem Identification & Solving, Creative Thinking, Visual Communication and Creative Writing. The table shows the average distribution of marks across objective topics in previous year papers:

Sr No	Topics	Marks
1	Form Sensitivity & Object Drawing	6
2	Sketching scenes in Proportion & Perspective	12
3	Visual Communication (Posters, Stamp etc)	6
4	Visual Thinking (Patterns, Doodles etc)	3
5	Sequential Drawing (Characters, Story etc)	6
6	Product Design (Products, Accessories etc)	6
7	Multiple Thinking & Connecting Dots (Creativity)	12
8	Colour Theory & Application	6
9	Creative Writing	3
	TOTAL	60

Note: The NID M.Des DAT Prelims paper is split into 2 parts- Common DAT (40 marks) and Discipline Specific DAT (60 marks). The Common DAT is common for all 19 disciplines and can cover questions from Objective as well as Subjective topics mentioned above. The Discipline Specific DAT section contains only questions based on the discipline chosen by the candidate. There are 19 different disciplines for M.Des at NID.

The Discipline Specific DAT question paper is different for each discipline. Interestingly, candidates can choose to apply for up to 2 disciplines while applying for admission to NID, which requires them to attempt both Discipline Specific DAT papers.

NID DAT Mains Exam Pattern:

Candidates who are able to clear the NID DAT Prelims exam, as per every year’s cut-off marks, are shortlisted for NID DAT Mains exam. The weightage of the NID DAT Mains exam marks in the final merit score is 70%, however for the admissions for academic year 2024-25 the weightage of NID DAT Prelims & Mains will be declared later. So it is the most important part of the NID examination process. The DAT Mains exam for B.Des is a practical test and covers Observation skills tests, Sensory tests, Drawing & Sketching tests, 3D Model making tests, and Material handling tests. The DAT Mains exam for M.Des is a discipline-specific test. The candidate will get questions on problem-solving, model making, sketching, and sensory tests from the disciplines they have chosen.