Fashion Design Admission 2025: Process, Eligibility, Preparation, How to Apply

Fashion Design Admission 2025: Process, Eligibility, Preparation, How to Apply

Team Careers360Updated on 24 Oct 2024, 05:58 PM IST

Candidates who aspire to become fashion designers must enrol themselves for a formal education that trains them in the nitty gritty of fashion designing. For that the candidate must know the top fashion design colleges and how to take admissions in them. As a part of fashion design admission, most of the colleges test the candidate’s aptitude and design skills through an entrance exam and select the best out of them. The candidates who qualify in the fashion design exams are shortlisted to verify their original documents and then a seat is allotted to them after the necessary fee is paid.

This Story also Contains

  1. Fashion Design 2025 Admission: Selection Process
  2. Fashion Designing Admission Criteria
  3. Entrance Exams for Fashion Design Admission
  4. How to Apply for Fashion Design Admission?
  5. How to Prepare for Fashion Design Entrance Exam?
  6. Fashion Design Admission 2025: Counselling Process
  7. Fashion Design Admission 2025: Courses
  8. Top Fashion Design Colleges in India
Fashion Design Admission 2025: Process, Eligibility, Preparation, How to Apply
fashion design admission

Fashion Design 2025 Admission: Selection Process

Fashion designing admission process requires the students to appear for the design entrance exams and then in some cases the colleges select the students based on their merit. They check the academic progress of the students with 10th and 12th marks and select the candidates based on that. Some colleges also conduct the personal interview rounds to offer fashion design admission. The entrance examinations for fashion designing admission usually consist of an aptitude test and drawing test to select the candidates.

Fashion Designing Admission Criteria

The first step of taking fashion design admission into any college is to check the eligibility criteria of the college, fulfilling them and submitting for any documents if required. Each college might have a different fashion design eligibility criterion for students but some of the common of them are listed below:

Pearl Academy B.Des Admissions 2025

No. 1 Design & Fashion Institute by ASSOCHAM, India Today, Outlook and The Week rankings | Last Date to Apply: 31st August

UPES B.Des Admissions 2025

Ranked #46 amongst Universities in India by NIRF | Ranked #1 in Academic Reputation in India by QS World University Rankings | Last Date to Apply: 31st August | Admissions Closing Soon

  • As per fashion design BDes eligibility, students must have qualified the minimum educational qualification of 10+2 or equivalent. Some colleges require a minimum aggregate of 50% or above, so it is better to aim for it. For M.Des the student must have qualified the undergraduate degree in order to get fashion design admission in a post graduate course. For the diploma in fashion design students can have 10+2 or equivalent or sometimes a matric or equivalent qualification is also accepted.

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  • There are no restrictions for any stream to pursue fashion designing. Students can be from Arts, Commerce or Science background.

  • Most of the reputed colleges require the candidates to appear for certain entrance exams which the candidate needs to qualify in order to grab a seat.

WUD Design Admissions 2025

International tie-ups | Project based learnings | Attractive Scholarships | State of the art infrastructure | Applications Closing Soon!

Apeejay Institute of Design, Delhi B.Design Admissions 2025

100% Placement Assistance. Ranked among top 5 Design Institutions in the Country

Entrance Exams for Fashion Design Admission

The students are in some cases required to appear for certain entrance examinations to get a seat in the college they desire. Some of the top entrance exams are listed below:

NIFT entrance exam

It is one of the top choices for students who want to pursue fashion designing as a career. The NIFT entrance exam is conducted by NTA (National Testing Agency) every year to select the candidates for the 18 NIFT campuses across the country. The fashion design admission at NIFT is done in two stages – First the students need to appear for the GAT and CAT exam which tests their aptitude in design and creativity. Followed by that the selected candidates need to appear for the situation test that tests their material handling abilities.

Pearl Academy Entrance Exam

Pearl Entrance is conducted by the Pearl Academy to select students who want to pursue a major in fashion design. In Pearl Academy entrance exam, the students need to appear for the GPT and DAT exams which test the student’s aptitude and drawing skills. This is accompanied by an interview round to conclude the fashion design admission process. This exam is conducted 5 times every year.

SMEAT

This exam is conducted by Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology (SMI) to choose the students who are a best fit to become future fashion designers. SMEAT is conducted five times a year.

CUET

The full form of CUET is the Common University Entrance Test. It is conducted by NTA (National Testing Agency) every year to grant students admission to central universities across India. The exam is conducted across various subjects the students need to choose their preference while filling in the entrance application form.

How to Apply for Fashion Design Admission?

Students need to go to the official website of the entrance exam form they want to fill in and register themselves with valid email id or phone numbers or both. They must then fill in the details of the application form carefully and upload all the valid and required documents. They need to pay the nominal application fee and submit the form. The students must be careful about the last date of the application forms in order to avoid last minute haste or fine. The students must also note to carefully upload the scanned copy of the original documents so that they do not have any discrepancy later.

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How to Prepare for Fashion Design Entrance Exam?

Candidates need to prepare for the top entrance exam and prepare themselves to stay calm and composed before the exam. The colleges have different exams but mostly deal with similar questions that tests the students on their design aptitude and drawing skills. The students are required to prepare questions based on logic and reasoning, quantitative abilities, and general knowledge for the aptitude tests. For the drawing tests the students need to prepare their sketching skills, understanding of perspective and colour theory. The students must solve previous year question papers to get an idea of the variety of questions asked and check on their weaker areas. Here are some tips for students to prepare for NIFT entrance exam.

Fashion Design Admission 2025: Counselling Process

After the exam students must check the official websites regularly to keep an update on the results and further counselling process. The students who are selected need to choose the colleges and need to verify the documents. Once the verification of the documents is done they are required to pay the fee prescribed by the college and get admitted to the institution.

Fashion Design Admission 2025: Courses

In India various fashion design courses are available for the students to choose from depending on their financial conditions and time they can afford. Candidates can check courses offered through the fashion design admission process 2025.

B.Des: B.Des (Bachelor in Design) courses is the most commonly opted fashion design course after 12th by the aspirants. The duration of this course is four years, and the students need a minimum qualification of 10+2 or equivalent to get admissions in most of the cases.

M.Des: M.Des (Master of Design) in fashion design is a two year post graduate course that candidates can pursue after their graduation. Students who want to change their career can apply to this course.

Diploma in Fashion Design: The students who want to explore fashion designing without much time or finances can go for this course. It offers a very basic level of introduction to fashion designing in one or two years.

Read Also:

Top 10 Fashion Colleges in the World

Top 10 Fashion Shows in India

Top Fashion Design Colleges in Chennai

Top Fashion Design Colleges in India

For the ease of students, we have listed down some of the best fashion design colleges of India:

  • NIFT: The full form of NIFT is National Institute of Fashion Technology. It is a college dedicated to the study of fashion and it has 18 campuses across India. The college has a worldwide reputation for its world class faculty and placements.

  • Pearl Academy: It is one of the most reputed private institutes in design studies. It offers the students high quality education and good placements in the field of design.

  • SMI: Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology is a college under Manipal University that offers world class education in fashion design and has good placement opportunities.

  • World University of Design: This university in Sonipat offers a B.Des degree in fashion design to students. All the courses offered are recognized by UGC and the placements are very good.

  • MIT Institute of Design Pune: This college offers a B.Des in fashion design course to students in Pune. The placements are of high quality and the college is famous for its education.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: How can I get admission in fashion design after 12th?
A:

Students can get admission in fashion design after 12th by appearing in the entrance examinations or directly taking admissions into the preferred college.

Q: What is the entrance exam for fashion design?
A:

There are several entrance exams that a fashion designing aspirant can appear for. It depends on the course and college he or she wants to join. Some of the common design entrance exams are CUET, NIFT, SMEAT etc.

Q: How to start fashion design?
A:

Fashion Designing aspirants can get a formal education and build a Portfolio before applying to various jobs.

Q: Can I study fashion design at home?
A:

Fashion designing courses require theoretical as well as practical knowledge. While some colleges do offer a distance course in fashion design students should try to opt for classroom programs if possible.

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Questions related to NIFT Entrance Exam

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to NIFT Entrance Exam ?
Hello,
It’s completely understandable to feel disheartened after not getting a seat in the first and second rounds, especially when you’ve filled all the colleges and have your hopes set on a particular course like Fashion Communication . With an OBC rank of 1910 and CMR 7192, your chances can improve in the upcoming counselling rounds as more students withdraw or shift to other colleges.
So make sure to check the further rounds of counselling and don’t lose hope. Many students get seats in the 3rd, 4th, and mop-up rounds. You can also consider updating your preference list or keeping a wider range of courses and campuses open in case you're okay with related fields.
Keep checking the official NIFT website for updates on seat allotment and further counselling instructions.
Thank you

Dear Candidate ,
Yes , you are eligible for NIFT - UG 2026 . Based on your birthdate , you will be 19 years old as of August 1 , 2026 , which is well within the age limit .
NIFT requires applicants to be under 24 years of age on August 1 of the admission year , with a 5 year relaxation for SC/ST/PwD candidates .

Hello

The syllabus of NIFT 2026 will be released on October 2025 by Nift officials on their official website nift.ac.in . The syllabus comprises of topics General Ability Test (GAT) and Creative Ability Test (CAT). The syllabus is different for UG and PG programmes. The GAT syllabus consists of :

  • Communication ability and English comprehension
  • Quantitative ability
  • Analytical and Reasoning
  • Case study
  • General knowledge and current affairs

The CAT syllabus consists important topics like

  • Creative ability
  • Observation power
  • Discernment ability
  • Design ability
  • Colour combination ability

To download the complete syllabus kindly refer this

https://design.careers360.com/articles/nift-syllabus

Good luck !

Hello,

The Chennai NIFT entrance exam results for 2025 are usually declared a few weeks after the exam date. You can check the official NIFT website or trusted education portals like Careers360 for the latest updates and result announcements.

Make sure to keep your application details handy to access your result easily.

Hope this helps!

Hii,

NIFTEE 2025 Result has been released by NTA on 24th April 2025. UG and PG aspirants can now check and download their scorecards through direct links given in this news. The NTA has declared the NIFT 2025 Result on its official website, exams.nta.ac.in/NIFT.