Pearl Academy B.Des Admissions 2026
No. 1 Design & Fashion Institute by ASSOCHAM, India Today, Outlook and The Week rankings
NID DAT Application Date:11 Sep' 25 - 01 Dec' 25
The NID 2026 entrance exam difficulty level will be known after the exam. The NID 2026 exam analysis and student reactions will provide data about whether the NID DAT is difficult. Candidates appearing for NID DAT 2026 should go through the difficulty level of the 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
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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.
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.
Year | NID exam difficulty level |
| 2025 | Easy to moderate |
2024 | Moderate |
2023 | Moderate |
2022 | Easy to Moderate |
2021 | Easy |
2020 | Difficult |
Candidates who are going to appear for the upcoming NID entrance exam should practice previous year papers. With the help of NID PYQ, candidates can get an idea on the types of questions asked and also the difficulty level.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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 candidates generally feel that the NID Prelims is easy to qualify as compared to the NID Mains.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Past trends suggest that the difficulty level of the NID entrance exam as per
The types of questions asked in the NID entrance exam are subjective and objective questions.
Yes, the candidates can crack the NID entrance exam with thorough preparation by attempting to mock tests with the help of time management.
As per previous years, the difficulty level of the NID entrance exam was moderate.
On Question asked by student community
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 to apply for them. You can find more details here design.careers360.com/articles/nid-dat-eligibility-criteria
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 strong portfolio.
Stay consistent and observe everyday designs for new ideas.
THANKU.
Hi daksh
As 563 rank in nid dat exam cannot guarantee admission in designing college but it could be a good chance to explore some campus as if you are not from general category as category role plays an important role . But now you can do one thing focus on your strengthening your protofile or preparing for the studio test (bdes) or interview (mdes).
Thanks.
No, IPU (Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University) does not accept NID DAT Prelims score for admission to the B.Des (Bachelor of Design) program.
Instead, IPU conducts its own entrance test or may consider CUET (UG) scores for B.Des admissions, depending on the latest admission guidelines. Always refer to the university's official prospectus for the year you're applying to for the final admission criteria.
NIT DAT (https://www.shiksha.com/design/articles/nid-admissions-2025-colleges-accepting-nid-entrance-exam-scores-for-bdes-mdes-courses-blogId-13097)
Ranked 2nd in the IIRF 2023 Design School Ranking | Approved by AICTE | Highest CTC 13 LPA
Ranked amongst top 3% universities globally (QS Rankings)
No. 1 Design & Fashion Institute by ASSOCHAM, India Today, Outlook and The Week rankings
EXAMS dates- 13-14 Dec | Leading Design College | Highest CTC: ₹12 LPA | Average CTC: ₹7.5 LPA | Scholarships for Deserving Students
Courses offered in- Fashion Design, Product Design, Communication Design, Interior & Spatial Design & Animation & VFX Design
Ranked #45 amongst Universities in India by NIRF | Ranked #1 in Academic Reputation in India by QS World University Rankings