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    NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025: Category-Wise Opening & Closing Rank (CMR)

    NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025: Category-Wise Opening & Closing Rank (CMR)

    Himanshu ShekharUpdated on 04 Feb 2026, 04:12 PM IST

    The NIFT lateral entry cutoff is a key factor for those who want direct entry in the second year of BDes and BFTech at the National Institute of Fashion Technology. Candidates who have applied for NIFTEE NLEA admission process should appear for the same exam as the NIFTEE 2025. However, the cutoff and the ranking along with the allotment of seats varies for NIFTEE and NIFTEE NLEA.

    This Story also Contains

    1. NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025: Understanding Campus Merit Rank (CMR)
    2. Complete Guide to Seat Allotment in NIFT Lateral Entry
    3. NIFT College Predictor for Lateral Entry
    NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025: Category-Wise Opening & Closing Rank (CMR)
    NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025

    Candidates can follow the article to know about the NIFT Lateral Entry cutoff 2025 and the opening and closing rank CMR for NIFTEE NLEA 2025. Candidates can also verify the NIFT seat allotment for NLEA candidates across different categories as well. This article aims to answer whether NIFT allows lateral entry and by how much.

    The seats for the NIFT NLEA admission process are tentative and final seats will be available at the time of seat allocation. NIFT reserves the right to increase or decrease the number of seats offered at its discretion before seat allocation based on NIFT lateral entry eligibility.

    NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025: Understanding Campus Merit Rank (CMR)

    Candidates who are aiming for the Lateral Entry method for direct second year admission to the BDes programme need to be aware of the NIFT NLEA Cutoff Rank. The NIFT Result provides the rankings which dictates whether and where a candidate can apply for B.Des or B.F.Tech.

    There are three rounds for the NLEA admission process via NIFT lateral examination. Moreover, the focus for the table below will be on the open category thus answering who qualifies for lateral entry?

    NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025 with Opening and Closing Rank for Category-wise Differentiation

    NIFT Bengaluru

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Knitwear Design)

    OBC

    12

    12

    Open

    4

    4

    NIFT Bhopal

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    SC

    14

    14

    Bachelor of Fashion Technology (Apparel Production)

    Open

    3

    3

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Communication)

    Open

    24

    24

    NIFT Chennai

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Textile Design)

    Open

    15

    15

    NIFT Daman

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Textile Design)

    Open

    20

    20

    NIFT Gandhinagar

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    Open

    6

    6

    Bachelor of Design (Textile Design)

    Open

    21

    21

    Bachelor of Fashion Technology (Apparel Production)

    Open

    1

    1

    Bachelor of Design (Accessory Design)

    Open

    22

    22

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Communication)

    Gen-EWS

    27

    27

    NIFT Hyderabad

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    Open

    9

    9

    Bachelor of Design (Textile Design)

    Open

    28

    28

    Bachelor of Design (Knitwear Design)

    Open

    16

    16

    NIFT Kannur

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Communication)

    Open

    2

    2

    NIFT Kolkata

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    OBC

    11

    11

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    Open

    7

    7

    Bachelor of Fashion Technology (Apparel Production)

    OBC

    2

    2

    Round 3

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    Open

    11

    11

    NIFT New Delhi

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Knitwear Design)

    Open

    1

    1

    NIFT Jodhpur

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Textile Design)

    Open

    18

    18

    NIFT Bhubaneswar

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    Open

    26

    26

    Round 2

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    Open

    10

    10

    NIFT Varanasi

    Round 1

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    OBC

    23

    23

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Communication)

    SC

    8

    8

    Round 3

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Communication)

    Open

    8

    8

    NIFT Shillong

    Round 3

    Program

    Category

    Opening Rank (CMR)

    Closing Rank (CMR)

    Bachelor of Design (Fashion Design)

    Open

    17

    17

    This constitutes the opening and closing category wise rank for NIFT Lateral Entry Cutoff 2025. Candidates taken into the programme at each NIFT branch are situated at the specified ranking of the CMR.

    Complete Guide to Seat Allotment in NIFT Lateral Entry

    The NIFT CMR ranks accounts for the category wise distribution, such as the NIFT Lateral entry cutoff for OBC. Candidates who qualify for the NIFT counselling are viable to seek admission out of the specified number of seats. The tentative NIFT Seat allotment 2025

    For the NLEA admissions are as follows.

    NLEA NIFTEE Admission Seats (Tentative)

    Programmes

    Tentative Seats

    Bachelor of Design (B.Des Programmes)

    Open or OBC/EWS

    SC

    ST

    Accessory Design (AD)

    18

    23

    41

    Fashion Communication (FC)

    5

    19

    41

    Fashion Design (FD)

    11

    20

    26

    Fashion Interiors (FI)

    4

    4

    4

    Knitwear Design (KD)

    3

    5

    14

    Leather Design (LD)

    6

    10

    9

    Textile Design (TD)

    24

    30

    40

    Bachelor of Fashion Technology (B.F.Tech.)

    Open or OBC/EWS

    SC

    ST

    Apparel Production (AP)

    69

    55

    47

    Total

    140

    166

    222

    NIFT College Predictor for Lateral Entry

    After NIFT results are announced, students can use a NIFT College Predictor tool to know which campuses they are eligible for based on their score and NIFT NLEA cutoff trends. This helps in making an informed choice during counseling.

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

    Q: What is the rank of CMR in NIFT?
    A:

    The Common Merit Rank (CMR) is an all-India rank assigned to candidates based on their performance in the NIFT entrance exam, regardless of their category. It represents the overall position of a candidate among all test-takers.

    Q: How many people gave NIFT in 2025?
    A:

    NTA has released the NIFT 2025 exam statistics on its official site, nift.ac.in. According to NIFT exam statistics, a total of 33,877 students registered, and 31,061 wrote the NIFT entrance exam, marking an overall attendance of 91.69%.

    Q: Is lateral entry possible in NIFT?
    A:

    The National Institute of Fashion Technology offers a 'Lateral Entry Admission' scheme (NLEA) that allows candidates to get admitted to the third semester of UG programmes. 

    Q: What is NIFT lateral entry 2025 CMR eligibility?
    A:

    For B.Des a 3- or 4-year diploma in a fashion-related field from a recognized board, along with passing the 10th or 12th standard is needed. For B.F.Tech, the same diploma applies, but the 12th standard must have Physics and Mathematics.

    Q: How many rounds for NIFT lateral entry admission?
    A:

    Candidates proceed to the counseling process, which typically involves three seat allotment rounds followed by a Spot Round to fill any vacant seats.

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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,

    I am providing you the link below through which you will be able to download the NIFT Question papers with solutions PDF

    Here is the link :-

    https://design.careers360.com/articles/nift-question-paper

    In the above link , you will get the direct links to download the year vise question papers with solutions ,

    Hello,

    Yes, a diploma holder in Computer Engineering can apply for the NIFT entrance exam , but only through the lateral entry route.

    NIFT allows candidates with a 3-year or 4-year engineering diploma from a recognized board to apply for B.F.Tech (Fashion Technology) through lateral entry. The diploma must be

    Hello aspirant,

    The National Testing Agency (NTA) has determined the official date for NIFT 2026 applicant registrations, which is expected to open in November 2025. Online applications will be accepted through January 2026.

    For complete information, you can visit our site through following link:

    https://design.careers360.com/exams/nift-entrance-exam

    Thank you