NIFT 2026 registration begins, exam on February 8; NTA reduces fees, adds more test cities

NIFT 2026 Notification (OUT): The National Testing Agency (NTA) has opened registrations for the National Institute of Fashion Technology Entrance Examination (NIFTEE 2026) for admission to undergraduate (UG), postgraduate (PG), lateral entry (NLEA), artisans, and PhD programmes. As per the schedule, the NIFT 2026 exam will be conducted on February 8 in hybrid mode.

The NIFT exam will be held in 100 cities across the country, up from the previous 82 test cities. The NTA will administer the exam in both computer-based test (CBT) and pen-and-paper test (PBT) modes.

The NIFT application form 2026 is now available on the official website, exams.nta.nic.in/niftee/. Applicants will have to submit the registration form by January 6. Those who miss the deadline will be allowed to apply by paying a late fee of Rs 5,000, in addition to the application fee, between January 7 to 10.

NIFT 2026: Selection process

Admission to UG programmes — Bachelor of Design (BDes) and Bachelor of Fashion Technology (BFTech) — will be based on the scores obtained in General Ability Test (GAT) and Creative Ability Test (CAT) followed by a situation test.

For PG programmes, a personal interview is conducted in place of a situation test for final selection.

For PhD admissions, candidates will be required to appear for a written test, followed by a Research Proposal Presentation and Interview (RPPI) conducted by NIFT.

NIFTEE scores will be used for admission to 19 campuses situated across the country. As per the previous years’ trends, campuses in Delhi, Mumbai, and Hyderabad have the highest NIFT cut-offs for BDesign admission .

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NIFT 2026 application fee

The NTA has reduced the application fee for candidates appearing in single papers. Earlier, the registration fee was Rs 3,000 for general category and Rs 1,500 for reserved category. However, now Open, OBC-NCL, Open-EWS candidates applying for either BDes or BFTech or MFM or MDes or MFTech or PhD are required to pay Rs 2,000. SC, ST, and PwD candidates applying for these subjects will have to pay Rs 500 only.

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NIFT 2026 exam schedule

Important dates for NIFT entrance exam 2026 for BDesign and MDesign admissions.