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    NID Entrance Exam Difficulty Level, Check Past 5 Years NID Difficulty Level Analysis

    NID Entrance Exam Difficulty Level, Check Past 5 Years NID Difficulty Level Analysis

    Sumeet SudarshanUpdated on 21 Dec 2025, 06:52 PM IST

    The National Institute of Design has conducted the NID DAT 2026 prelims on December 21, 2025. The NID 2026 entrance exam difficulty level will be known after the exam. The NID 2026 exam analysis for M.Des or B.Des and the student reactions will provide data about whether the NID DAT is difficult. Candidates appearing for NID DAT 2026 can go through the NID 2026 exam analysis to understand their prospects in the NID entrance exam. As per the student reactions on the NID entrance exam last year, the NID exam difficulty level was moderate. While Part A was easy, Part B was moderate and lengthy. The drawing part was tricky to assess the candidate's creative thinking. In the last five years, many students have found the logical thinking section difficult. Please find below the analysis of the NID entrance exam difficulty level over the past five years.
    Also Check: NID past year paper pdf | NID Acceptance Rate

    This Story also Contains

    1. Is NID DAT Difficult?
    2. Previous Year’s NID Exam Difficulty Level
    3. Which is easier to qualify, NID prelims or NID Mains?
    NID Entrance Exam Difficulty Level, Check Past 5 Years NID Difficulty Level Analysis
    NID entrance exam difficulty level

    The NID DAT 2026 syllabus is designed to test the candidate's general knowledge, analytical ability, and creative aptitude. Being one of the top design entrance exams, and NID being among the top design colleges in India, the NID DAT entrance exam is very competitive.

    Is NID DAT Difficult?

    Aspirants who wish to know if the NID entrance exam is difficult should note that the overall difficulty level of the exam was moderate in previous years. The NID DAT 2026 difficulty level is expected to be in line with in previous years.

    Past 5 Years NID Difficulty Level Analysis

    Year

    NID exam difficulty level

    2025Easy to moderate

    2024

    Moderate

    2023

    Moderate

    2022

    Easy to Moderate

    2021

    Easy

    2020

    Difficult

    Previous Year’s NID Exam Difficulty Level

    Candidates who are going to appear for the upcoming NID entrance exam should practice previous year NID Question papers. With the help of NID PYQ, candidates can get an idea on the types of questions asked and also the difficulty level.

    NID exam difficulty in 2025: Moderate

    • As per the student reactions on the NID entrance exam last year, the NID exam difficulty level was moderate. While Part A was easy, Part B was moderate and lengthy. The drawing part was tricky to assess the candidate's creative thinking.

    NID exam difficulty in 2024: Moderate

    • Feedback from students suggested that the exam was easy to moderate. The NID exam 2024 paper pattern was changed, the drawing section had many questions and aptitude questions were not much. The NID entrance exam paper was lengthy, but students had managed to finish. The aptitude section was very easy, whereas the drawing section was moderately difficult.The aptitude section carried 25 marks and drawing section had 75 marks.

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    NID exam difficulty in 2023: Lengthy and moderate

    • In NID entrance exam 2023, 40 marks of aptitude section consisting of 28 questions and 60 marks of drawing section. The drawing section was lengthy.

    • The entrance exam 2023 paper was a bit lengthy, an applicant said. The difficulty level of the exam paper was moderate.

    • One more student who appeared for the entrance exam had said the exam was easy and a bit lengthy but manageable.

    NID DAT 2026 Full Study Material
    Students preparing for NID 2026 can access this study material for both prelims and mains. Download now to strengthen your preparation and boost your chances of success.
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    NID exam difficulty in 2022: Easy to moderate

    • The exam difficulty was moderate, the paper was manageable in 3 hours so, the student had attempted all the questions, the aptitude and GK part was simpler and the drawing section was also moderate.

    • The other student from the M.Des in animation design found the paper difficult and lengthy compared to the previous year NID exam paper (2021). The paper had 37 questions in aptitude and 8 questions in the drawing part. The time was limited according to the questions that appeared in the exam. The paper pattern was changed. The student had to answer 27 aptitude questions in 2½ hours.

    • One more student who appeared in the M.Des in industrial design found the paper easy but had issues with time management during the exam.

    You may also check:

    NID exam difficulty in 2021: Easy

    • According to one student who appeared in the NID 2021 exam, the paper pattern was changed. The drawing section was lengthy. The aptitude section had the questions about Covid.

    • The other student who appeared found the NID exam 2021 paper easy.

    • One more student found the NID paper easy but a bit lengthy and time management was challenging.

    NID exam analysis 2020 - Difficult

    • The NID exam paper in 2020 was lengthy and found challenging for the creative part. In the creative part the student found difficulty as there was a pattern change as compared to the last year (2019).

    • The other student found the NID exam paper not that hard and average.

    • One more student found the drawing part difficult and time management was difficult.

    Which is easier to qualify, NID prelims or NID Mains?

    The difficulty level of NID Prelims or NID Mains depends on several factors that include the candidate's preparation, aptitude, and individual skills. NID Prelims consists of subjective and objective questions, whereas NID Mains consists of sketching and drawing along with model making with a set of materials. NID Mains involves creative thinking and innovation on time as required. Hence, the NID exam student reaction is generally that the NID Prelims is easy to qualify as compared to the NID Mains.

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    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    Q: What is the difficulty level of the NID entrance exam?
    A:

    Past trends suggest that the difficulty level of the NID entrance exam as per 

    Q: In the last five years, has the NID entrance exam been difficult to crack?
    A:

    As per previous years, the difficulty level of the NID entrance exam was moderate.

    Q: Can I crack the NID entrance exam?
    A:

    Yes, the candidates can crack the NID entrance exam with thorough preparation by attempting to mock tests with the help of time management.

    Q: What are the types of questions asked in the NID entrance exam?
    A:

    The types of questions asked in the NID entrance exam are subjective and objective questions.

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    Questions related to NID DAT

    On Question asked by student community

    Have a question related to NID DAT ?

    No specific stream is required in Class 11 for BDes admissions. You can join B.Des (Bachelor of Design) with any stream in Class 11th (Science, Commerce, or Arts/Humanities). Top design institutes like NID ( NID DAT scores) and NIFT ( NIFT Entrance Exam ), as well as IITs (via UCEED),

    Hello,

    Yes, if you are in Class 12, you are eligible to sit for the NID DAT 2026 (BDes) exam. The National Institute of Design allows students who are in their final year of Class 12 or have already passed to apply.

    To know more access below mentioned link:

    https://design.careers360.com/articles/nid-admission-2026

    You can get the NIT DAT SYLLABUS, updated version from careers 360 in detail from careers 360 article. Follow the link given from The link of the syllabus article is given below from careers 360

    https://design.careers360.com/articles/nid-dat-syllabus-2026

    Yes you are eligible to appear for NID DAT for the M.Des programme. Since you are in final make sure you will have completed your BA by the required deadline. Also go through the specific specializations you want to apply for, some may require certain specific backgrounds to be eligible

    Hello,

    To prepare for M.des exams like CEED or NID DAT, here are some points which you can follow:

    Understand the pattern – focus on creativity, design aptitude, and problem-solving.

    Practice sketching daily and improve visualization.

    Study basics of color, form, and design concepts.

    Solve previous papers and build a