Everything you need to know about NATA Exam

The field of architecture is set to emerge into a lucrative profession in the next couple of years. By 2022, architects would witness a growth of about 17 percent in their employment opportunities. There would be increased competition in this field.

You can obtain the best education in architecture by appearing for competitive exams such as NATA Exam which is conducted at the national level. These types of tests examine your drawing and observation skills, besides enabling you to enroll in some of the top universities teaching architecture. NATA is the most significant exam that you must clear successfully if you aim to be a part of a career in architecture.

NATA is a national-level competitive exam. It is conducted by an organization called NIASA (National Institute of Advanced Studies in Architecture) that belongs to the Council of Architecture (CoA) based in Delhi. To get admission in universities providing bachelor’s degree courses in architecture, then you must appear for NATA exam. The NATA examiners test your observation skills, drawing skills, aesthetic sensitivity, and other skills.

Now the question is, why the NATA exam is important? It is compulsory for students who want to be in the very first year of undergraduate courses in Architecture in the country. The administrative body of institutes offering the architecture as a subject notices the NATA scores of the candidates. They compare the scores of all the candidates to learn about the qualification of each student. They also consider their performance in class 12th board exams before giving them admission.

Eligibility for NATA Exam: if you have cleared the SSC exam or any exam relevant to this particular examination, then you are eligible to appear in the exam. You must have achieved a minimum mark of 50 percent in your class 12 boards to get admission to the architecture course. Also, you have had maths as one of your subjects in your 10+2 exams. Your NATA scores are officially valid for a period of two years, from the date on which you appeared for it.

What are the documents required for registration?

• A copy of the mark-sheet of your class 10 board exam.
• You must paste a passport size photograph that must be recent, on top of your registration form.
• Any document used for your identification, complete with your photograph on it.
• Valid proof of your payment of the fees of NATA. It can be a copy of your online payment or a challan.
• You must also possess an authentic email ID. If you don’t have a Gmail account, then create one.

The pattern of NATA Exam

The NATA paper is divided into two parts. The first part is a drawing test that is based on paper. The second test is given with the help of a computer. It is known as an aesthetic sensitivity exam and mode of conduction is online. The main aim of the examiner is to test your aptitude for aesthetics as well as sketching through this exam.

Test for Drawing: the duration of the exam is two hours where the candidates are required to answer three different questions. You must be able to draw the object perfectly that is mentioned in the paper. While drawing the object, you must display the effect of light over it and also the shadows around it. You must be familiar with two-dimensional shapes when you give this exam, along with knowledge in proportion and visual harmony. You must also possess the new ideas for sketching, focusing on themes revolving around daily life.

Test for Aesthetic Sensitivity: this part contains 40 questions and you must use a computer to answer it. Your power and aptitude for imagination and creativity would be tested in this part of the NATA exam. So, you must be knowledgeable in dimensions and know how to represent all the sides of a multi-dimensional object.

Syllabus of NATA Exam: CoA expects you to be perfect in basic skills of drawing, especially in:

• Logical reasoning
• Visualizing three-dimensional objects
• Basic understanding of architecture.
• General knowledge.
• Basic skills in computer.