NIFT 2025: Registration (OPEN), Exam (9th Feb), Eligibility, Syllabus, Pattern, Preparation

NIFT is a national-level design entrance exam conducted by the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT).

The exam is conducted once every year and has TWO parts:

• Written Exams - It comprise the GAT and CAT. The GAT paper is mandatory for all programs, while only B.Des and M.Des candidates need to take the CAT. 
• Situation Test/ Personal Interview - B.Des candidates who get shortlisted have to appear in the Situation Test, whereas PG candidates need to appear in a Personal Interview. The only exception is B.F.Tech program, where the admission merit list will be prepared solely based on GAT scores.    

The FINAL score of NIFT 2024 for the other programs will be prepared by giving weightage to the written exams and Situation Test/ Personal Interview.

The scores or merit rank of NIFT will be considered for admission to design courses offered by the NIFT participating institutes. Currently, there are 18 participating institutes. The institutes offer the following courses - B.Des, M.Des, B.F.Tech, M.F.Tech, and M.F.M. Admission to these courses will be based on NIFT merit rank.

Note that the National Institute of Fashion Technology also allows candidates the option of direct admission to the 3rd semester of a UG program. 

Interested candidates may apply for NIFT Lateral Entry Admission 2025.

The important points related to the NIFT 2025 exam are in the table below.

The application form for NIFT 2025 is OPEN.

The application is common for the B.Des, M.Des, B.F.Tech, M.F.Tech, and M.F.M courses. The candidate can select their program of study when filling out the form.

How to apply for NIFT 2025

The NIFT application form is open online. To fill out the form, follow these steps.

1. Go to the NIFT admission portal and click on the "Registration" link
2. A registration form will open. Enter your name, email ID, phone number, and other relevant details.
3. On registration, an applicant account will be created
4. Log in to fill out the rest of the form and select an exam center 
5. Upload documents
6. Finally, pay the application fee to complete the process.

The NIFT 2025 application fee for the OPEN category is INR 3,000. However, SC, ST, and PwD candidates must pay only INR 1,500. 

NIFT 2025 Application Form - Document checklist

The candidate must upload their signature and photograph in the prescribed format when applying for NIFT 2025.

NIFT 2025 application form correction window 

The correction window will be open from January 10-12, 2025. Using the NIFT 2025 application correction window, the candidate can make corrections to all the particulars in the form, except for the mobile number and email ID.

Note that once the correction window closes, no further modifications to the application form will be allowed.

The National Institute of Fashion Technology offers the following design courses - B.Des, M.Des, B.F.Tech, M.F.Tech, and M.F.M.

The NIFT 2025 eligibility criteria are specific to each of these courses.

This means if you want to apply to the B.Des program, you need to meet the eligibility specific to the program. 

Note that the eligibility STATUS of the candidate will be checked at the time of NIFT 2025 counseling and seat allotment. So, if you use incorrect details to fake your eligibility, you may be disqualified if caught.

The program-specific eligibility criteria for NIFT 2025 are given in the table below.

NIFT 2025 Eligibility Criteria - B.Des

NIFT 2025 Eligibility Criteria - B.F.Tech

 Candidates seeking admission to the B.F.Tech programs need to meet the following eligibility conditions.

NIFT Eligibility Criteria 2025 - Master's Courses

Candidates seeking admission to the Master's Programmes in NIFT need to meet the following program-specific eligibility criteria.

Note: Candidates appearing in the qualifying examination in the year of admission can also apply, subject to fulfilling necessary eligibility conditions at the time of seat allotment /admission.

Also Read:

• NID vs NIFT - Differences, Participating colleges, Admission Process, Placement
• NIFT Study Material 2025 - Recommended Books, Sample Papers
• NIFT 2025 Quantitative Ability Syllabus, Questions & Preparation Tips
• General Knowledge (GK) Questions for NIFT 2025 Exam

The NIFT exam is conducted in TWO stages.

1. Stage 1 - The first stage includes the Written exams - General Ability Test  (GAT) and Creative Ability Test (CAT)
2. Stage 2- Shortlisted candidates must appear in a Situation Test/ Personal Interview.

B.Des and M.Des candidates need to appear in both GAT and CAT. Other candidates only need to take the GAT.

The NIFT 2025 syllabus for the written exams is given below.

NIFT 2025 Syllabus for Situation Test

Candidates appearing in the NIFT 2025 exam are urged to consult the NIFT 2025 exam pattern to prepare for the exam.

The exam pattern will contain insights into the exam like the types of questions, how many questions are asked, total and sectional questions, weightage, etc.

Here we bring you the NIFT 2025 exam pattern for the written exams and Situation Test/ PI.

NIFT GAT Exam Pattern 2025 - B.Des and M.Des

NIFT GAT 2025 Exam Pattern - B.F.Tech

NIFT GAT 2025 Exam Pattern - M.F.M & M.F.Tech

NIFT Exam Pattern 2025 - Situation Test

B.Des candidates who qualify the written exam have to next appear in a Situation Test.

Note that PG candidates aren't required to take the Situation Test; instead, they have to appear in a Personal Interview. 

The NIFT 2025 Situation Test will evaluates the “material handling and the innovative ability” of applicants. Here, candidates will be examined in areas like “Space Visualization, Innovative and creative use of given material, the composition of elements, color scheme, construction skill, the finesse of the model and overall presentation, etc.

At the time of the Situation Test, the candidate must submit a write-up explaining the concept/idea explaining the model. The write-up must be in the English language. No marks will be given for write-up in any other language.

The updated list of exam cities for NIFT 2025 (written exams) is notified through the information brochure.

The NIFT written exam will be conducted across 82 cities in the country.

The candidate has to select their preferred city when filling out the NIFT 2025 application form.

Note that an exam city can have one or more exam centers.

The name and address of the exam center allocated to the candidate were mentioned on the admit card. You can't select a specific exam center, as you are only allowed to select the city.

The allotment of NIFT 2025 exam centers will be based on factors like:

• Exam city selected
• Address of the applicant
• The seat intake at the available exam centers in the city opted for by the candidate

Go through the city-wise list and details of the NIFT 2025 exam center here.

Candidates appearing in NIFT 2025 must make sample papers a part of their exam preparation.

Sample papers for one will help you develop problem-solving and time-management skills. Note that sample papers will contain similar questions to the ones asked in the NIFT exam. So, their difficulty level and range would match your requirements.

You can start solving sample papers very early on in your preparation. For instance, after completing a chapter, you may solve all related problems given in the sample paper.

Even if you want to improve time-management skills, there are few better tools than sample papers. 

Along with sample papers, the candidate also needs to solve previous years' question papers of NIFT:

• Previous year's question papers will give the candidate an idea regarding the types of questions asked in the design entrance exam.
• The candidate can check the difficulty level, types of questions asked, marking scheme, and weightage by consulting these papers.
• The candidate may also check if there is any change in the types of questions asked, or any emerging trends by consulting the question papers.

Along with sample papers, the candidate must also solve previous years' NIFT question papers.

Unlike sample papers, the previous years' papers will contain the specific questions asked in the previous editions of the NIFT exam.

Consequently, the question papers will help the candidate identify the types of questions asked, how they are asked, the structure of the question paper, and the difficulty.

Additionally, the candidate can also look for any emerging trends. 

So, give your NIFT 2025 exam preparation that much-needed push by solving NIFT sample and question papers.

The NIFT 2025 written exams will be conducted on February 9, 2025.

If you are seeking admission to the B.Des and M.Des courses, you need to note that the CAT paper will carry maximum weightage. Meanwhile, those seeking admission to other courses only need to concentrate on the GAT paper.

Given below are tips to prepare for NIFT 2025 GAT and CAT:

GAT preparation tips:

• Carefully go through the exam pattern and syllabus. If there is any change in the pattern or syllabus, incorporate that in your preparation.
• Make sure that you are following the best books for NIFT 2025
• Prepare an actionable study plan and stick to it. Start your NIFT 2025 preparation early. This will ensure you have enough time to complete the syllabus, solve sample papers, take mock tests, and do enough revision.
• Take notes during your study. If the notes are good enough, you can use them for quick revision instead of reading large blocks of text. This can save a lot of time that can be used elsewhere.
• Solve as many sample papers as you can. Also, add previous years’ NIFT question papers to the mix.
• In the last week or so before the exam, take a few mock tests to give final touches to your preparation.
• It is also important that you stay positive and healthy.

CAT preparation tips:

Here is how you can prepare for the NIFT creative ability test (CAT):

• Work on your observation and creative skills.
• Learn the nuances of geometrical shapes.
• Before you draw anything, learn to conceptualize
• Jittery and unclear lines are a big no-no for getting a good score in CAT. So, improve your line drawing skills.
• Shading is not a very important skill for CAT, but learning the basics won’t do any harm.
• Learn various types of drawings - human, figure, cartoon, perspective, doodling, geometric, etc.

The NTA will release admit cards for the NIFT 2024 written exams in the 3rd week of Jan 2025. The admit card will be released online at nift.ntaonline.in. To download the admit card, you will have to enter your application number and date of birth.

Note, that the admit card will not be sent by post.

On the day of the NIFT 2025 exam, the candidate needs to report at the exam center with an admit card and a valid photo ID proof.

The admit card will carry details like the name, roll number, exam date and timings, and venue details. On the day of the exam, the candidate needs to bring with them the admit card and a valid photo ID proof.

Note that separate admit cards will be issued for the Situation Test/ Personal Interview.

Step-wise process to download the NIFT 2025 admit card

1. Go to the NIFT admission portal
2. Click on the admit card link
3. A log-in window will open
4. Enter your email ID and password.
5. On successful login, you can download the admit card.

City Intimation Slip

Note that the National Testing Agency will release the NIFT 2025 city intimation slip a few weeks before the release of the admit card. To download the intimation slip, use your application number and date of birth.

The intimation slip will contain the name of the city allocated to the candidate, along with other details like application number and exam date.

Note that once a city has been allocated, there is no provision to change it.

Also, unlike the admit card, the intimation slip is not required to appear in the NIFT 2025 exam.

The National Institute of Fashion Technology will release the draft answer key of NIFT 2025 in February 2025. It will be uploaded on the NIFT NTA admission portal. It will contain the official answers to all the questions asked in the exam.

Note that no answer keys will be released ONLY for the computer-based GAT paper; no keys will be released for the offline-based CAT paper. 

Using the the answer key, you can calculate the number of correct attempts, and then the probable score.

Challenges against the draft key will also be allowed; the candidate will have to pay INR 200/ per challenge. 

The final answer key of NIFT 2025 will be released after considering the feedback of the candidate.

How to download the NIFT 2025 answer key

The step-wise process to download the answer key is given below.

1. Go to the NTA NIFT admission portal
2. Click on the answer key download link
3. In the log-in window that opens, enter your Roll Number, Program Name, Question Booklet No., and DOB
4. On successful login, you can download the answer key.

Recorded Responses and QP of NIFT 2025

Along with the answer key, NTA will also release the recorded responses and the NIFT 2025 question paper. The candidate can download the documents from the NIFT 2025 admission portal. 

The National Institute of Fashion Technology will release the cut-off marks for NIFT 2025 written tests at the time of the declaration of results.

The cut-off will be category-specific and indicate the minimum marks (or rank) the candidate needs to secure for admission.

The candidate thus needs to log in to the result portal to check their qualifying status. Candidates who qualify in the written exams have to next appear in a Situation Test/ Personal Interview. It may be noted that the qualifying score or cut-off of NIFT 2025 is different from the admission cut-off.

The admission cut-off of NIFT 2025 will be prepared based on the final merit after considering the following points:

• The total number of applicants
• The category-wise seat intake
• The total number of applications 
• The category under which admission is sought.
• Previous years’ cut-off criteria.

NTA will declare the results of the NIFT 2025 written exam tentatively in the 3rd week of February 2025. The result will be released online at the NTA NIFT admission portal.

Hard copies of the results will not be sent to candidates. 

Also, the scores of the written exams will not be used for admission purposes. It is merely used to shortlist candidates for the next admission round.

How to check NIFT 2025 result

To check your results, follow these steps.

1. Click on the result link
2. In the log-in window that opens, enter your application number and date of birth
3. On log-in, the result of NIFT 2024 will be displayed on the screen
4. Download and take a printout of the result.

The scorecard of the NIFT 2025 will include information like the section and overall score, and the qualifying status. Such candidates who qualify in the exam are eligible to appear in a Situation Test/ Personal Interview.

FINAL results of NIFT 2025

The FINAL score for NIFT 2025 will be declared later.

Candidates who qualify in the written exams will have to appear in a Situation Test/ Personal Interview.

The final result will be prepared by giving weightage to CAT, GAT, and Situation Tes/ Personal Interview.

NIFT Toppers and Exam Statistics

NTA may also release the list of NIFT 2025 Toppers alongside the results. The NIFT topper list, if and when released, will include details like the name of the toppers, application number, and state of eligibility (domicile).

That is not all as NTA will also most likely release the detailed exam statistics, including the gender-wise and total number of candidates registered, appeared, and qualified in NIFT 2025. 

We will update the details as and when NTA makes the details available.

So, stay tuned. 

The National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will conduct the counseling for NIFT 2025 once the FINAL results are declared.

Note that the role of the NTA is limited to the conduct of the NIFT 2025 exam and declaration of results.

The scores of the NIFT 2025 final results will be used to shortlist candidates for the counseling process.

NIFT 2025 counseling will have four seat allotment rounds, followed by a SPOT round.

Vacant seats that are left after the four regular rounds of counseling will be offered in the SPOT round. 

NIFT 2025 Counseling process

The counseling process for NIFT 2024 will be conducted in a centralized manner for admission to the 18 participating colleges. Candidates who have qualified in the NIFT 2024 entrance exam will be eligible to participate in the counseling process.

Shortlisted candidates will have to register for counseling and fill in and lock choices. Here choices mean the combination of academic program and college.

The choices entered by the candidate must be in the order of priority. 

NIFT 2025 Saet Allotment

Based on the choices opted by the candidates and their merit ranks in NIFT 2025, the allotments of seats will be done.

To confirm their seats, the candidate will have to pay the seat-acceptance fee within the given deadline. Note that if the fee is not paid within the given deadline, then the allotment will be canceled and offered to the candidate next in the order of merit.

Once the regular counseling rounds conclude, FRESH registrations will be opened for the SPOT round.

During the SPOT round, seats will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

NIFT Score-accepting colleges

Note that in addition to the participating NIFTs, scores of the NIFT 2025 will also be used by other institutes for admission purposes. For instance, the World University of Design (WUD) will fill some of its UG and PG seats based on NIFT 2025 merit ranks.

To be considered for admission, the candidate needs to apply directly to WUD.  

Read More:

• NIFT 2024 Toppers - All India Rank, Scores, Interviews
• How to prepare for NIFT Creative Ability Test (CAT)
• How to Prepare For NIFT Situation Test?

To learn more about NIFT 2025, go through the FAQs given below.