The National Institute of Design conducted NID DAT 2026 prelims on December 21, 2025. The NID exam is one of the top design entrance exams in India. Past trends show that around 15000 to 17000 candidates appear for NID DAT. Candidates who appear for NID 2026 exam can pursue B.Des or M.Des programmes at participating colleges. NID 2026 is one of the toughest and most competitive design exams in India. The exam tests creativity, so the competition in NID 2026 remains very high. Candidates must prepare well to succeed in NID 2026. Read the complete article by Careers360 to know how many students appeared for NID DAT 2026 and the figures for previous years.
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Candidates who qualify in the NID prelims will be eligible to appear for the NID mains 2026. Only those candidates who appear for both parts of the NID entrance exam will be considered for NID admission.
The figures about the number of students who appeared for NID 2026 will be updated in the table below.
Particulars | Students Registered for NID 2026 | Students Appeared for NID 2026 |
B.Des | Will be updated | Will be updated |
M.Des | Will be updated | Will be updated |
Check the table below to understand how many students appeared for the NID exam in the past years. Past trends show that the number of candidates appearing for the NID exam has been progressively increasing over the years.
Course | Registered | Appeared |
BDes | 14075 | 13467 |
MDes | 4093 | 3878 |
Course | Registered | Appeared |
BDes | 12537 | 11780 |
MDes | 3892 | 3562 |
Course | Registered | Appeared |
BDes | 11612 | 10751 |
MDes | 4451 | 4180 |
Candidates who qualify in the NID prelims will be eligible to appear for NID Mains. Candidates in the range of around 1.5 times the number of seats will be called to participate in the NID Mains 2026. As per the NID 2026 selection process, only marks obtained in the NID mains will be considered for final selection.
On Question asked by student community
Dear Student,
For NID DAT exam preparation, you can follow the preparation tips provided by Careers360. The article covers important aspects such as understanding the exam pattern and syllabus, choosing the right study material, practising previous-year papers, and taking mock tests.
Use these strategies
Hello Student,
To start your NID DAT and UCEED preparation, begin with the syllabus, exam pattern, and previous years' question papers. You can also refer to the Careers360 preparation resources and sample papers for regular practice using the links provided below.
No, the NID DAT Prelims paper is not exactly the same for B.Des and M.Des aspirants.
You can check these resources for more clarity:
https://design.careers360.com/articles/nid-dat-sample-papers
https://design.careers360.com/articles/nid-mdes-previous-year-question-papers-with-solution
Hello Dear Student,
Could you provide more information so that i could help you further
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