NATA Eligibility Criteria 2019

NATA Eligibility Criteria 2019 - Candidates planning to appear in the national level exam must meet prescribed eligibility criteria of NATA 2019 set by Council of Architecture (COA), the exam conducting body. In such cases where a candidate qualify in NATA exam, but fail to meet eligibility criteria, the candidate will not be considered for admission to B.Arch course under any circumstances. Also, from this academic session onward COA has made some key changes to the NATA 2019 eligibility criteria, for example, the requirement of minimum 50% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. This means, diploma candidates are currently ineligible for admission to B.Arch course, unless a new notification in this regard is released by the council. Go through the rest of the article to learn the full details of NATA eligibility criteria. 

Latest: NATA 2019 application form to be available from January 24.

Latest: The eligibility criteria of NATA 2019 has been modified by COA. 

NATA Eligibility Criteria 2019

All candidates appearing in the exam have to meet the below mentioned eligibility criteria of NATA 2019. 

• Academic background - The candidate must have passed 10+2 exam and scored minimum 50% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics and also in aggregate. 

• Age limit - There is no minimum or maximum age criteria for appearing in the exam. However,  the candidate will have to meet any additional eligibility criteria that may be specified by the institute the candidate has applied for admission. 

• Lateral admission - There is no provision of direct lateral entry at any stage of the B.Arch course, no matter the qualification of the candidate. 

One must note that merely meeting the above listed eligibility criteria is no guarantee of admission to B.Arch courses. The candidate in addition will also have to qualify NATA 2019 or an equivalent exam.

What changes have been made to NATA 2019 Eligibility Criteria

Background and Impact on Diploma candidates

The MHRD in a letter dated January 19, 2017, had declared that only those candidates who have passed 10+2 with minimum 50% marks in PCM and also in aggregate will only be eligible for admission to B.Arch courses.

In doing so, the MHRD removed the provision of ‘or any other equivalent exam’ from the eligibility criteria which was the case earlier. So, for the time being diploma candidates are ineligible to appear in the exam.

The latest news is the COA has written a letter to the MHRD to review its decision and allow diploma candidates with Mathematics to appear in the exam. It has contested that diploma candidates are taught relevant architecture subjects at the diploma level. Further, to summarily reject the candidature of diploma candidates will severely affect their careers. 

To read the letter written by Council of Architecture to MHRD - Click here

Additional Resources:

Circular for eligibility released by Council of Architecture (dated August 7, 2019) - Click Here

Important highlights of NATA 2019

• From this academic year, NATA will be conducted twice a year - first attempt will be held on April 14 and second on July 7.

• Candidates can appear in one or both the attempts. If the candidate appears in both attempts, then best of the two scores will be considered.

• The exam pattern of NATA 2019 might also be tweaked, with additional time allotted for drawing test.

• There are also plans to conduct a centralized counselling for NATA 2019 qualified candidates. This will ensure candidates don’t have to hop across from one college to another.

• NATA is conducted for admission to 5-year B.Arch courses offered by participating institutes. 

• Candidates who qualify NATA 2019 will be considered for admission to 1st year of B.Arch course. 

• Admission will be on the basis of NATA scores. The score of NATA 2019 will be valid for the current academic session only.