NATA is your ticket to a career in architecture
Sanjay Arora
National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) is an entrance exam conducted by the Council of Architecture for candidates seeking admission into the 5 year BArch programme. This is a national-level undergraduate exam. Candidates wanting to get into prestigious architecture colleges in India have to appear for this exam. They are tested on their sense of proportion, critical thinking ability, observation skills and other areas relevant for the study of architecture.
Exam date
NATA was initially planned to be held in the month of March. But in view of the global pandemic, authorities have now confirmed the new dates. The Council of Architecture(COA) announced that the first test will be held on August 1, 2020 and the second one on August 29, 2020. In case of any further postponement, candidates can refer for updates on the official website for NATA (nata.in).
Paper Pattern
Institute Watch
Colleges that accept NATA scores
- Rachana Sansad Academy of Architecture, Mumbai
- LS Raheja School of Architecture
- Sir JJ College of Architecture
- Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT)
- NMIMS University
The test is divided into sections. Part A consists of drawing test while the Part B includes multiple choice questions on general aptitude and PCM. It is a 200 marks test, broken down to 125 marks for Part A and 75 marks for Part B. The duration of the paper is 3 hours 15 minutes in total, with a 15-minute break between the two parts. Part A is conducted in offline mode while Part B is in online mode, there is no negative marking in either of the sections.
Preparation for Part A
Important topics to cover for Part A include aesthetics, geometric composition, scale and proportion of objects, perspective drawing, urban landscape, building forms and elements and colour harmony. Emphasis is given on the students’ drawing skills, observation and imagination. Candidates are judged on their:
- Understanding of 2-D and 3-D forms
- Sense of perspective
- Understanding of scale and balance
- Sense of using colours to create visual harmony
Apart from this one of the most crucial things to remember is time management. Working in layers and focusing on the entire composition instead of focusing on only one part of the drawing will help to keep the bigger picture in mind while managing time effectively. Practice questions from previous year’s papers or from mock tests, and practice with dry mediums since they are fuss free and thus more convenient.
Preparation for Part B
For general aptitude questions, solving brain teasers and puzzles is important. Solving these questions is equally important too, since it not only improves the speed but it also makes the candidates familiar with all possible types of questions that can be expected. Similar to the tip for Part A, candidates can take advantage of previous year’s question papers and mock tests. A lot of reference books are available for preparation of Part B. We have listed some of them below:
- NATA and B.Arch Question bank by Ar. Shadan Usmani
- A complete self-study guide for B.Arch by P.K Mishra
Apart from these many other books are also available. Candidates can also choose to solve online sample papers. You must be thorough with the physics, chemistry and maths syllabus of Class Xi and XII for acing this section. The mathematics questions are dominated by questions regarding trigonometry, coordinate geometry, algebra and probability while the general aptitude questions cover syllogism, statement assumptions and conclusions, critical reasoning and puzzle-solving.
— The writer is Chief Mentor and CEO, Maven Career Coaching
