NID DAT mock tests
National Institute of Design, Design Aptitude Test (DAT) Prelims for Bachelor of Design and the integrated Master of Design
Free practice tests
- NID DAT Prelims (B.Des.) practice test 1: A full practice paper in the shape of NID's B.Des. sample: 20 objective questions for 25 marks and design tasks for 75 marks, on one 180-minute clock.
- NID DAT Prelims (B.Des.) practice set: Untimed practice for the DAT Prelims: objective questions on colour, crafts, design, science, environment, spatial reasoning and materials, a reading passage, and design tasks to draw and self-assess.
About NID DAT
The National Institute of Design admits students through the Design Aptitude Test (DAT), held in two stages. The Admissions 2027-28 handbook for the undergraduate route, published on 10 September 2026, covers the 5.5-year Professional Education Master of Design (Integrated Pathway) at NID Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Bengaluru, and the 4-year Bachelor of Design (or 5.5-year integrated M.Des.) at NID Andhra Pradesh, NID Assam, NID Haryana and NID Madhya Pradesh. The DAT Prelims is common to all these NIDs. It is set for Sunday, 20 December 2026, at test centres in 17 cities, and is open to candidates who pass or sit Class XII in any stream.
The DAT Prelims is a paper-and-pencil test, held at the same time on the same day everywhere. The handbook says the questions may involve text and visuals, that the question paper is in English only, and that the duration will be printed on the admit card. NID's two published B.Des. sample papers, labelled 2024 and 2025, each total 100 marks. Both open with short objective questions worth 25 marks together (1-mark questions, then a few 2-mark ones), on visual observation, colour, Indian crafts, everyday science, environment and society, design awareness and spatial reasoning. The remaining 75 marks go to four or five larger tasks answered on the paper itself: generating ideas for a situation, drawing a scene from an unusual viewpoint, making a poster, studying users of an everyday product, drawing a whole object from partial views, and reading a passage, with two short choice questions followed by a sketched concept. Neither sample paper nor the handbook mentions negative marking.
This practice test follows the 2025 sample paper's shape: Part A has 20 objective questions (15 of 1 mark, 5 of 2 marks), and Part B has the design tasks worth 75 marks, all on one 180-minute clock. Questions that need a printed picture (odd figure out, cube faces, logo identification) are replaced by questions described in words. The drawing tasks are done on paper; you type short notes in the answer box and then mark your sheet against this site's criteria. The Prelims score is used only to shortlist for the DAT Mains, and is not carried into the final merit.
Shortlisted candidates, 2.5 times the available seats in each category, are called to the DAT Mains, which the handbook describes as a Studio Sensitivity Test and an In-Person Sensitivity Test. Each NID uses the DAT Mains score for its own admissions, and the weightages are to be announced later. The Master of Design route has its own DAT Prelims paper, also in English and pen-and-paper, with mostly objective questions in its sample papers, followed by a studio test and an interview in the Mains; it is described here and not set as a test.
NID DAT DAT Prelims — Bachelor of Design and integrated Master of Design exam pattern
About 180 minutes (the handbook says the duration is printed on the admit card; compensatory time of 20 minutes per hour for an eligible candidate with disability)
- Part A — objective questions: Within the one time limit, 20 questions, 25 marks (15 of 1 mark and 5 of 2 marks, as in the 2025 sample paper; the 2024 sample had 13 and 6)
- Part B — drawing, design and written tasks: Within the one time limit, 4 to 5 tasks, some with parts, 75 marks