NIFTEE 2026: Admit Card (OUT), Check Exam Dates, Guidelines, Preparation & Previous-Year Papers

NIFT Exam 2026 Eligibility

NIFT 2026 Eligibility is set by the conducting body of the entrance exam – National Institute of Fashion Technology. Interested candidate needs to satisfy eligibility criteria before filling NIFT 2026 Application form. NIFT Entrance Exam 2025 for UG as well as PG programs will be conducted in February 9, 2026. The written exam is conducted for candidates seeking admission in various UG and PG courses in fashion and technology across India. Candidates can check eligibility for appearing in the entrance test in the article below.

NIFT Entrance Exam 2026 General Eligibility

NIFT has set some basic eligibility standards that a candidate needs to clear before filling the Application Form. These standards are categorised as listed below:

On the basis of Academic Qualification

If a candidate is in 12th/final year of college/final year of diploma does not submit the examination result at the time of admission or counselling, his/her admission depends on the following conditions: -

• Candidate below 18 years of age has to submit an affidavit on non-judicial stamp paper of Rs.10 in the prescribed Proforma duly signed by the parent/guardian. Submission of the false document is a punishable offence.
• Candidates have to submit their qualifying degree to the campus director or joint director of the allotted college on or before a date to be announced soon.
• In case a candidate fails to submit his/her qualifying degree at the time of admission, his/her admission will be considered null and void.
• If a candidate’s result has not been declared at the time of admission and he/she is seeking provisional admission, in that case he/she shall have to provide relevant proof of having cleared the examination.
• Candidates who are seeking provisional admission will have to bring the date sheet/admit card/Principal’s certificate as proof of having taken the exam. Same thing applies to the candidates who have taken the compartment/supplementary exam in the 12thstandard or final year of graduation/diploma.
• Candidates who are seeking provisional admission will only be considered for admission if their result has not been declared by the institution or university. In any other case, their admission will liable to be cancelled under provisional admission category.

On the basis of Age

• The maximum age allowed for general category candidates as of 1st August in the year of examination should be less than 24 years of age.
• There will be 5 years’ relaxation in age limit for SC/ST or Differently Abled Person (PHP) candidates.
• There is no age limit for candidates for applying for master degree programs.

NIFT 2026 Course Wise Eligibility

All the candidates interested to get into a particular course can go through the following article to know if they are eligible or not. To have a clear picture about the criteria followed for each course will help them save their time. Courses Offered by NIFT are as follows:-

Undergraduate Programmes

• B.Des. Programme
• B.F.Tech Programme

Postgraduate Programmes

• M.Des. Programme
• M.F.M. Programme
• M.F.Tech Programme

For B.Des. Course: -

This is an Undergraduate programme and it stands for Bachelor of Design. It will be 4 years’ course. And it will consist of following programmes- Accessory Design, Fashion Communication, Fashion Design, Knitwear Design, Leather Design and Textile Design.

• Candidates must have passed 10+2 examination from any recognized central/state board or,
• Candidates who have taken the General Certificate Education Examination in London/ Sri Lanka etc., at the advanced (A) level or,
• Candidates who have taken the exam in foreign countries and if that is recognized by the Association of Indian Universities as equivalent to 10+2 are eligible or,
• Candidates who have passed 3-4 years’ diploma recognized by AICTE or state board are eligible.
• Candidates who are appearing for 10+2 exam are also eligible.

For B.F.Tech Course: -

This is another course under Undergraduate programme offered by NIFT and it stands for Bachelor of Fashion Technology. It will also be for 4 years. It will cover- Apparel Production as one of its main topics.

• Candidates who have cleared 10+2 examination from any recognized central/state board with physics, chemistry and mathematics
• Candidates who have taken the General Certificate Education Examination in London/Sri Lanka etc., at the advanced (A) level or,
• Candidates who have taken the exam in foreign countries and if that is recognized by the Association of Indian Universities as equivalent to 10+2 are eligible or,
• Candidates who have passed 3-4 years’ diploma recognized by AICTE or state board are eligible.
• Candidates who are appearing for 10+2 exam are also eligible.

For M.Des. Course: -

This is one of the Post Graduate course offered by NIFT. It stands for Master of Design and covers Design Space as its main topic. The Design Space is an advanced course that demands an understanding of fundamentals in design and presupposes that candidates would be familiar with the basic skills and theories for successful completion of the programme. The time duration for this course will be of 2 Years.

• Candidates must have passed an undergraduate degree from any institution/university recognized by law in India or,
• Candidates who have diploma in UG Design from NIFT/NID only, are eligible or,
• Candidates who have passed diploma course of three years from NIFT/NID are also eligible.

For M.F.M. Course: -

This is another course under the PG course by NIFT. It stands for Master of Fashion and it is also for 2 Years.

• Candidates who have Undergraduate Degree from any Institute / University recognized by law in India. or,
• Candidates who have Undergraduate Diploma of minimum 3 years’ duration from NIFT / NID.

For M.F. Tech: -

The last course under the category of PG course is Master of Fashion Technology. This course will also be for 2 years.

• Candidates who have a Bachelor of Fashion Technology (B.F.Tech.) from National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) or
• Have Bachelor of Engineering (B.E )/ Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) from any Institute / University recognized by law in India.

Note(s):

• The medium of instruction at NIFT is English and all aspirants applying to NIFT must possess working knowledge of English language.
• All aspirants applying to NIFT must possess basic computing knowledge and skill as applied to operating system, word processing, text editing, spreadsheet, database application, presentation as well as net surfing abilities.

NIFT 2026 Category Wise Eligibility

For SC/ST Candidates

Candidates applying under this reserved quota will have to produce a Caste/Tribe certificate from the Competent Authorities of the respective States/ Union Territories/ National Commission of Tribes.

For OBC (Non-Creamy) Candidates

Candidates applying under this quota would have to substantiate the caste and creamy layer requirement.

• The candidate should possess an OBC certificate issued in the name of the candidate and not in favour of respective parents/guardian.
• The caste mentioned in the OBC certificate should find mention in the Central list of OBCs available at http://ncbc.nic.in/ backward-classes/index.html
• The OBC certificate should not be more than a year old and should clearly mention that the candidate belongs to the non-creamy layer.
• The certificate must be issued by the Competent Authority.
• In case of married women applying to any course under reserved category, she has to produce the caste certificate in her own name. Certificate in the name of husband/ mother/ father is not acceptable.

For PHP (Differently Abled Candidates) Candidates

• At the time of submission of application, Physically Handicapped candidates shall be required to necessarily attach a copy of Disability Certificate.
• Such candidates are required to produce the original Medical Certificate both at the time of Counselling and at the time for Admission to the Institute.
• It is mandatory for the Differently Abled candidates to attend the Counselling for evaluation. The course will be allotted to the candidates after assessing the capabilities of the candidates. NIFT may consider applications from PHP students for providing external assistance during assessments, with the condition that the expenses for the same will be borne fully by the student/ applicant.
• It is however recommended that the student/ applicant arrange his/her own external assistant for this purpose as this will ensure a better fit for individual needs.
• Candidates are advised to come prepared for such assessments at the time of counseling.

For Foreign Nationals/SAARC/NRI Candidates

The admission to NIFT programmes for foreign nationals / NRI candidates will be based on the following examination:

General Certificate Education (GCE) Examination (London/Cambridge/Sri-Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level/ International Baccalaureate (IB). Any Public School/Board/University Examination in India or in foreign countries recognized by the Association of Indian Universities as equivalent to 10+2 system with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics will be considered.