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Updated By Debanjalee Sen on 04 Nov, 2025 10:50
The Indian Institute of Art and Design does not release any detailed iDAT syllabus. However, students can get an idea about the key topics from the IIAD entrance exam sample papers and previous year question papers. Major subjects typically include Logical Reasoning, Creative Thinking and Visual Aptitude.
Your Ultimate Exam Preparation Guide Awaits!
The iDAT 2026 syllabus can be interpreted from the IIAD sample papers. You can get an idea about the key subjects and skills to be evaluated in the entrance test for admission to UG and PG Design programmes. Aspirants planning their preparation must review the syllabus thoroughly to understand the major sections and which areas to focus on. The questions are mainly based on the academic curriculum of Classes 10 and 12.
The IIAD entrance exam syllabus mainly covers Logical Reasoning and Creative Thinking& Visual Aptitude, both designed to test a student’s analytical ability, observation, imagination, and awareness of design concepts. Along with the syllabus, you should be familiar with the IDAT 2026 exam pattern to be acquainted with the structure, marking scheme, weightage, etc, and perform confidently in the test. To learn more about IIAD entrance exam syllabus, make sure to check the sections below.
Here’s a quick overview of IDAT 2026 syllabus.
Conducting Body of IDAT | Indian Institute of Art & Design (IIAD), New Delhi |
|---|---|
Exam-Level | Institute-level entrance test for UG and PG design programmes |
Main Subjects for Written Exam (Design Aptitude Test) | Logical Reasoning and Creative Thinking & Visual Aptitude |
Question Type for Written Test | MCQs, one-word answers, and short visual response tasks |
Focus Areas for IDAT (Written Exam) | Analytical reasoning, observation, creativity, visualisation, and design awareness |
Additional Round (PI) | Portfolio Evaluation or Personal Interview to assess creativity, originality, and presentation |
Purpose of Additional Round | To evaluate a student’s aptitude for design through reasoning, creativity, and visual expression |
Find the IIAD entrance exam 2026 syllabus for Logical Reasoning.
Numerical Series based on the Different Patterns | Numerical Series based on the Logics Design and Shapes Geometrical |
|---|---|
Identification of similarities and an identical one | Find out number and item for incomplete number series |
Logical Decision | Select the odd one out |
Logical Sequences of Numbers, Shapes, Words, Figures and Letters | Logical Sequence |
Decoding Statement | Analogy Series Coding |
Blood Relations | Effects Assertion |
Arguments Statement | Situation Reaction Cause |
Reason Syllogism | Assumptions Statement & Conclusions |
Analytical Ability and Logical Ability | Order & Ranking |
Data Sufficiency | Analogy |
Go through the IDAT 2026 syllabus for Creative Thinking and Problem Solving.
Picture Construction Task | Imaginative Stories Creation |
|---|---|
Generation and Development of Ideas | Shapes Creative Design |
Circles and Squares Task | Development of Options for a Solution |
Essay Writing | Description of a Scene |
Incomplete Figures Task | Creative writing Evaluation of Information on the Basis of Observation |
Imaginative Writing and Drawing | Analysis of a Problem |
Design Awareness | Story Pictures |
Presentation Techniques | Drawing Fundamentals |
You can have a fair idea of the concepts to be covered for the Personal Interview or Portfolio Evaluation Round (Studio Simulation) according to IDAT 2026 syllabus. For this part, focus is on assessing your level of idea clarity, presentation skills, originality of design thinking and visual expression.
Presentation of portfolio of creative work | Drawings, sketches, paintings, collages, digital work, 3D projects, sculpture, etc |
|---|---|
Studio simulation or interview interaction | Group task or individual exercise in a studio-like setting to test creative thinking, articulation, teamwork, problem-solving and design execution. |
Some key pointers of IDAT 2026 syllabus are added below.
The IDAT 2026 exam pattern has two main parts - a written aptitude test and a personal interview phase. Take a quick look at the sections below.
Sections for Written Exam (Part A) | Topics | Section-Wise Marks | Duration | Mode | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
I | Logical Reasoning | 100 | 2 hours 30 minutes | Online and Offline | 200 |
II | Creative Thinking & Visual Aptitude | 100 |
The Interview/ Portfolio round/ Studio Simulation (Part B) is conducted after the Design Aptitude Test (written exam).
Students must refer to IDAT 2026 best books to excel in the test. Here are some titles added for your reference.
Subject Name | Book Name | Author |
|---|---|---|
Creative Thinking | Cracking the Creativity Code: Zoom in/Zoom out/Zoom in Framework for Creativity, Fun, and Success | Arie Ruttenberg |
Problem-Solving | Problem-Solving 101: A Simple Book for Smart People | Ken Watanabe |
Drawing Test | Drawing: A Complete Guide | Giovanni Civardi |
Logical Reasoning | A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning | R.S. Aggarwal |
Visual Aptitude | The Design of Everyday Things | Don Norman |
Want to know more about iDAT
No, the IIAD Exam include a portfolio review or presentation round. It is one of the selection rounds of the IIAD exam.
The IIAD exam will be conducted in both online and offline mode. Candidates have to select their preferred mode while filling out the application form.
No, there is no negative marking in the IIAD Exam 2024. Candidates will be awarded 1 mark for each correct answer and more than or equal to 5 marks for descriptive questions.
The first section takes place for 30 minutes and the second section is for 2 hours in the IIAD exam. Students are advised to refer to the exam pattern before preparing for this exam.
Yes, students are advised to refer to the books with the relevant syllabus for the IIAD preparation such as Problem-Solving 101: A Simple Book for Smart People, A Modern Approach to Logical Reasoning and more. Check out more books above on this page.
Yes, cultural awareness is part of the IIAD syllabus. It includes Indian and global culture, art & design. Student’s awareness of the culture is analysed through this section of the syllabus.
The creative thinking section evaluates the candidate’s ability to generate innovative ideas, visual creativity, and design concepts. It is advised to refer to the best books for this section to understand different topics.
Creative thinking & visual aptitude sections of the IIAD exam cover imaginative writing & drawing, shapes creative design, description of scenes and various others.
Yes, the logical reasoning section includes blood relations, logical sequence, analogy data sufficiency and more. More topics on this subject can be checked out above on this page.
The IIAD exam 2025 covers Logical Reasoning, Creative Thinking and Visual Aptitude subjects. These subjects include different topics such as decoding statements, problem analysis and various others.
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