National Institute of Fashion Technology

What are the cutoffs for National Institute of Fashion Technology in 2026?

National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), New Delhi admits students through the NIFT Entrance Examination (NIFTEE), conducted in 2026 by NTA on 8 February 2026, and the headline closing ranks at this campus are extremely tight: for B.Des General-category seats under the All India quota, the most competitive specialisation (Fashion Communication) closed near rank 54 in Round 1 of 2025, while the overall B.Des General closing ranks at NIFT Delhi ran from roughly 54 to 967 across specialisations and counselling rounds. For B.Des, selection combines the General Ability Test (GAT) and the Creative Ability Test (CAT) plus a Situation Test; for M.Des it is GAT plus CAT and a Personal Interview, where NIFT Delhi M.Des General closed as low as rank 24 in 2025. NIFT Delhi is consistently the toughest of all NIFT campuses, so its closing ranks are the lowest (most demanding) in the country.

In short, a serious B.Des aspirant targeting NIFT Delhi should aim for an All India rank inside the top 100-150 for the flagship Fashion Design and Fashion Communication programmes, while reserved-category and less-saturated specialisations such as Leather Design extend the realistic window into the high hundreds.

Year-Wise Cutoff Trends (2024-2026)

The table below tracks how NIFT Delhi closing ranks have moved across 2024, 2025 and the 2026 cycle for the bachelor's (B.Des) and master's (M.Des) design programmes. It answers the core question every applicant asks: "Is the rank I need at NIFT Delhi getting harder each year?" Read it as All India quota closing ranks (the last rank admitted) for the General, OBC and SC categories; lower numbers mean tougher competition. The 2026 column reflects the expected band based on the just-concluded 8 February 2026 exam and prior-year trends, since final 2026 counselling ranks settle after the Situation Test and counselling rounds.

The takeaway is that NIFT Delhi's General cutoffs have barely loosened year on year: B.Des Fashion Communication moved from a closing rank of 48 in 2024 to 54 in 2025, and M.Des held almost flat at 25 (2024) and 24 (2025). The gap between General and reserved categories is large but predictable - in 2025 the OBC closing rank of 944 and SC closing rank of 1593 for Fashion Design sat far behind the General figure, which is the single biggest factor that widens admission chances for reserved-category aspirants at this campus.

Course-Wise Cutoff at National Institute of Fashion Technology

NIFT Delhi offers several B.Des specialisations, and the closing rank you need varies sharply by programme. The table below breaks down the 2025 NIFT Delhi General-category All India quota ranks by programme, showing how the spread runs from the ultra-competitive Fashion Communication and Fashion Design through to the comparatively more accessible Leather Design. Use it to match your expected NIFTEE rank to a realistic programme choice; remember that ranks rise (get larger) from Round 1 to later counselling rounds as seats fill, so the figures here capture the range of General closing ranks observed across rounds in 2025.

The clear pattern is a tiered hierarchy: Fashion Communication (closing 54) and Fashion Design (closing 86 onward) are the crown jewels and demand a top-100 to top-150 rank, while Knitwear Design (446-539) and Leather Design (800-967) absorb candidates several hundred ranks lower. For an aspirant whose rank is outside the top 200, prioritising Textile, Knitwear or Leather Design in the choice-filling order is the most rational way to secure a NIFT Delhi seat rather than chasing Fashion Design and losing the campus entirely. The M.Des route is even tighter at the top, with the 2025 General closing rank at 24 and a second listed General close around 40, reflecting how few master's seats this campus offers.

Cutoff Trend Analysis

NIFT Delhi's cutoffs are broadly stable-to-tightening rather than falling. The flagship B.Des Fashion Communication closing rank moved from 48 (2024) to 54 (2025), and M.Des held at 25 then 24 - movements small enough that the practical bar has not eased. The reason is structural: NIFT Delhi has a fixed, small intake per specialisation and is the first-preference campus for almost every top NIFTEE scorer nationwide, so even as the applicant pool grows, the closing ranks compress around the same narrow band each year. Because the 2026 NIFTEE was conducted on 8 February 2026 with the same GAT-plus-CAT-plus-Situation-Test selection model, the 2026 General cutoffs for Fashion Communication and Fashion Design are expected to stay in the same demanding 50-150 zone.

Realistically, a General-category candidate needs an All India rank inside roughly the top 100 to be confident of Fashion Design or Fashion Communication at NIFT Delhi, the top 300-550 for Accessory, Textile or Knitwear Design, and up to around 800-970 for Leather Design. OBC aspirants have a meaningful cushion (Fashion Design closed at 944 in 2025) and SC aspirants more so (1593 in 2025), so reserved-category candidates with ranks in the high hundreds to mid-thousands remain genuinely in contention for this campus. M.Des aspirants, by contrast, must be near the very top of the merit list, with a General closing rank of just 24 in 2025.