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    Design Courses After 12th Arts: Eligibility, Entrance Exams, Careers & Avg Salary
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    • Design Courses After 12th Arts: Eligibility, Entrance Exams, Careers & Avg Salary

    Design Courses After 12th Arts: Eligibility, Entrance Exams, Careers & Avg Salary

    #B.Des
    Tekumalla AvinashramUpdated on 06 Jul 2026, 04:10 PM IST

    Design courses after the 12th Arts have seen an exponential growth in the past few years. Students who are interested in pursuing a design course after completing 12th have many options to choose from. By completing a design course, students can build their careers in fashion, advertising, animation, gaming, and interior design. Read the complete article by Careers360 to know about the design courses after completing the 12th standard from an arts background, and also check the career opportunities and skills required for the design programme.

    Design Courses After 12th Arts: Eligibility, Entrance Exams, Careers & Avg Salary
    Design Courses After 12th

    Can Arts Students Pursue Design Courses after 12th?

    Yes, students who have completed their 12th standard from an arts background are eligible to apply for any of the design programmes in India. Students who enjoy drawing, storytelling, visual communication, and having innovative ideas can pursue a design course in their undergraduate studies. Most of the institutes and colleges accept students from all streams for the design programmes.

    Arts students have an added advantage as they have a creative mindset and have a basic knowledge of visual thinking, storytelling, and artistic expression. But still, students are advised to carefully check the eligibility criteria and admission process of the institute they wish to apply.

    The admission process for the design programme generally consists of entrance exams, portfolio submission, a studio test, and a personal interview round. Upon clearing the selection process, candidates will be given seats in their desired programme.

    Popular Design Entrance Exams in India

    Candidates who are interested in appearing for the design entrance exams after completing their 12th standard from an arts background can check the table below to know some of the top design entrance exams in India:

    Exam Name

    Details

    NID DAT(Design Aptitude Test)

    National Institute of Design

    NIFT Entrance Exam

    National Institute of Fashion Technology

    UCEED

    BDes admission in all the participating institutes

    CUET

    Design programmes in all the participating institutes

    SEED

    Symbiosis Institute of Design

    Pearl Academy Entrance Exam

    Pearl Academy

    MITID DAT

    MIT Institute of Design

    UPES DAT

    UPES School of Design

    Eligibility Criteria for Design Courses after 12th in Arts

    Candidates who wish to pursue a design programme after completing their 12th standard in an arts background have various options. Students should first understand the eligibility criteria for every programme and college. As the eligibility criteria for every college differ, candidates can check the general eligibility criteria as given below:

    Eligibility Criteria

    Details

    Education Qualification

    10+2 from any recognised board

    Stream

    Students from any stream are eligible (Including commerce students)

    Admission Process

    Entrance exam, Portfolio and studio test round, Personal interview round

    Course Duration

    3 Years

    Skills Required to Build a Design Career after 12th

    Most Arts students already have a creative mindset, strong visual thinking skills, and a basic understanding of storytelling. However, to build a successful career in the design industry, students should also develop the following essential skills.

    • Time Management

    • Observation skills

    • Software knowledge

    • Problem-solving skills

    Mahindra University | Admissions 2026

    4000+ Placements to date | 6000+ Students | Advanced applied research, patents, and partnerships

    Vogue Institute of Art and Design Admissions 2026

    Design Admissions 2026 Open | 28+ year of academic excellence | Placement & Internship Support

    Required Cutoff for Design Colleges

    The Cutoff mainly depends on the choice of exam preferred by the candidate. Most of the colleges give admission after evaluating candidates' entrance exam scores, portfolio, studio test, and personal interview round. The details given below are about all the important design entrance exams along with the previous year’s cutoff score:

    Design Entrance Exam

    Previous Year’s Cutoff

    NID DAT

    59.60

    NIFT Entrance Exam

    Opening: 3

    Closing: 170

    UCEED

    55.42

    Career Opportunities after Completing a Design Course

    Design students will be able to find various career opportunities after completing their graduation. Students can check the following list of career opportunities, including the industry type:

    Industry

    Job Role

    Fashion & Apparel

    Fashion Designer

    Advertising & Branding

    Graphic Designer

    Architecture & Construction

    Interior Designer

    IT & Software

    UX/UI Designer

    Entertainment & Gaming

    Animator

    Textile Industry

    Textile Designer

    Jewellery Industry

    Jewellery Designer

    Digital Media

    Visual Communication Designer

    Event & Exhibition Industry

    Exhibition Designer

    Advertising Agencies

    Creative Director

    Average Salary Packages After Completing a Design Course:

    The salary offered to design graduates depends on factors such as the institute, specialisation, skills, internship experience, portfolio, and the recruiting company. Check the below-given entry-level salary packages for all the mentioned job roles:

    Job Role

    Average Salary Package (P.A)

    Fashion Designer

    3 - 6 LPA

    Graphic Designer

    3 - 5 LPA

    UI/UX Designer

    4 - 6 LPA

    Interior Designer

    4 - 5 LPA

    Textile Designer

    3 - 5 LPA

    Animator

    4 - 7 LPA

    Top Recruiters for Design Graduates

    Reliance Retail

    Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail

    IKEA

    Godrej Interio

    Amazon

    Flipkart

    Myntra

    Titan


    Apart from these companies, many leading fashion brands and product design companies also actively recruit design graduates.

    Students who have completed their 12th standard with an arts background are eligible to take admission into design programmes. Candidates are advised to check all the design programmes, admission process, eligibility criteria, and selection process before applying for any of the design entrance exams. Choosing the right design programme as per their interest will help them to build their career in a faster way.



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    Questions related to B.Des

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to B.Des ?

    Hello Dear Student,
    Top government-run colleges offering a Bachelor of Design (BDes) in UI/UX in India. Admissions to these premier institutions are primarily based on national-level entrance exams like UCEED, NID DAT, and the NIFT Entrance Exam.

    You can check, find and access more information here: https://www.careers360.com/courses/ui-ux-course https://www.careers360.com/courses/b-des-bachelor-of-design
    Hope it

    Hello Dear Student,

    The total cost of pursuing a B.Des degree in India generally ranges from 4 lakh to 25 lakh or more for the entire course, depending on the institute.

    • Fees vary based on the college, location, and facilities offered.

    • Additional expenses may include hostel, mess, study materials, and

    Hi,

    The MIT Institute of Design B.Des final results for 2026 were published on May20, 2026 on the official portal. Candidates can download their scorecards by logging into the official website with their email ID and password.

    You can also the results at https://design.careers360.com/articles/mit-dat-bdes-final-result-2026-out

    Hello Romika, Please check the FDDI AIST BDes sample paper here . You can also check all the FDDI previous year sample papers for a better understanding and better preparation. Please let me know if I can assist you with anything else.

    Hello Ishika,

    For CUET 2026 exam preparation, you can refer to the CUET study materials such as NCERT books which are foundational textbooks covers all the important subjects, for science focused books you can refer to R.S. Aggarwal books and for current affairs you can refer to McGraw-hill books. These