How to register and pass the national apditude test in archittecture?

 Introduction:

The Council of Architecture (COA) has been constituted by the Government of India under the provisions of the Architects Act, 1972, enacted by the Parliament of India, which came into force on 1st September, 1972. The Act provides for registration of Architects, standards of education, recognized qualifications and standards of professional conduct and etiquette to be complied with by the architects. The Council of Architecture is vested with the responsibility to regulate the education and practice of profession throughout India besides maintaining the register of architects. For this purpose, the Government of India has framed Rules and Council of Architecture has framed Regulations as provided for in the Architects Act, with the approval of Government of India. Any person desirous of carrying on the profession as 'Architect' must have registration with Council of Architecture. For the purpose of registration, one must possess the recognized qualification as appended to the Architects Act, after having undergone the education in accordance with the Council of Architecture Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations. The registration with Council of Architecture entitles a person to use the title and style of Architect, for practising the profession of architecture. If any person falsely represents or claims to be registered architect or uses any words or letters to suggest that s/he is an architect or misuses title and style of architect, such acts tantamount to committing of a criminal offence punishable under the Architects Act, 1972. The practice of profession of an architect is regulated under the Architects (Professional Conduct) Regulations, 1989 (as amended in 2003), which prescribe the professional conduct, ethics and etiquette, conditions of engagement and scale of charges, architectural competition guidelines etc. Pursuant to these Regulations, the Council of Architecture has framed guidelines governing the various aspects of practice. There are about 450 institutions presently imparting architectural education in India leading to recognized qualifications. The standards of education being imparted in these institutions (constituent colleges/departments of universities, deemed universities, affiliated colleges/schools, IITs, NITs and autonomous institutions) are prescribed and monitored by Council of Architecture by way of Regulations and norms & standards prescribed from time to time which set forth the requirement of eligibility for admission, course duration, standards of staff & accommodation, course content, examination etc. These minimum standards as prescribed by the Council are required to be maintained by all the institutions. The COA oversees the maintenance of the standards periodically by way of conducting inspections. The COA is required to keep the Central Government informed of the standards being maintained by the institutions and is empowered to make recommendations to the Government of India with regard to recognition and/or de-recognition of a qualification. As per the Minimum Standards of Architectural Education Regulations, qualifying in an aptitude test in Architecture is mandatory .

What is NATA ?

National Aptitude Test in Architecture (NATA) is being conducted by COA since 2006, in terms of the provisions of CoA (Minimum Standards of Architectural Education) Regulations, 1983, published in the Gazette of India. It is implied that a separate aptitude test in .Architecture should be conducted and such test should not be combined with the tests for admissions to Engineering, Pharmacy, Medicine and other disciplines. Being the competent authority for fixing norms and standards for architectural institutions, COA has the necessary expertise to hold a Common Aptitude Test in Architecture, at national level to provide a single window system for appearing in aptitude test and to facilitate institutions, students and public at large for admission to First year of 5 year B.Arch. Degree Course at all recognized Institutions all over country. The purpose of conducting NATA is to provide a single scheme of examination for holding aptitude test and to facilitate prospective students all over the country to apply for admissions in architecture seats in institutions spread across the country and to avoid appearing in multiple aptitude tests. However, the actual admissions shall be carried out only by the concerned competent authorities of the respective states/institutions based on NATA. The NATA also ensures that the eligibility criteria for admission to five year Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch.) degree course, as prescribed by CoA and duly approved by the Central Government, are strictly adhered to and followed all over the country in Architectural Institutions. NATA measures the aptitude of the applicant for specific field of study, i.e. Architecture. The test makes an assessment of drawing and observation skills, sense of proportion, aesthetic sensitivity, Mathematics and critical thinking ability that have been acquired over a long period of time and are related to the specific field of study. In order to further strengthen the conduct of the test and to attract more number of bright aspirants into studying Architecture, COA has decided to conduct NATA-2018 for admission to B.Arch. in the academic session 2018-19, as a one-day online examination all over the country, which will comprise of two parts: Part A comprises of Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) to be answered online and Part B is paper based drawing. This would surely be a step towards producing competent architects to serve the society and to build the nation in coming decades, especially in view of the Govt. of India mission of Smart Cities.



Mathematics & General Aptitude Test

 Only one option is correct and correct response will yield 2 (two) marks. There is no negative marking. 4.2 Drawing Test Candidate has to attempt two questions within 90 minutes. The drawing aptitude is judged on the following aspects -  Ability to sketch a given object proportionately and rendering the same in visually appealing manner;

Visualising and drawing the effects of light on the object and shadows cast on surroundings;
 Sense of perspective drawing;
 Combining and composing given three dimensional elements to form a building or structural form;  Creating interesting two dimensional composition using given shapes and forms;
 Creating visual harmony using colours in given composition
 Understanding of scale and proportions;
 Drawing from memory through pencil sketch on themes from day to day experiences. The Answer to each question in the 'drawing' paper will be examined by more than one examiner independently and the marks are to be averaged. The primary emphasis in scoring the drawing section is on the candidate's drawing, imagination and observation skills. The candidate's sense of proportion and perspective are also evaluated together with sense for colour and composition.
Taking NATA-2018 Candidates may come from the following backgrounds: (a) 10+2 or equivalent passed/appearing; (b) 10+3 Diploma (any stream) passed/appearing recognized by Central/State Govts; (c) International Baccalaureate Diploma passed/appearing, after 10 years of Schooling.

QUALIFYING IN NATA-2018 DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A RIGHT/ GUARANTEE IN FAVOUR OF THE CANDIDATE FOR HIS/HER ADMISSION TO ANY ARCHITECTURE COURSE UNLESS HE/SHE HAS FULFILLED ALL THE PRESCRIBED REQUIREMENTS AS SPECIFIED BY RESPECTIVE COUNSELLING AND ADMISSION AUTHORITIES.

 Only candidates who have the following credentials shall be eligible for admission to B.Arch. Course. i. Qualified a recognized aptitude test in Architecture (NATA or equivalent) in 2018 ii. Have gone through any of the following curriculum with marks as prescribed below: (a) 10+2 or equivalent examination of Central/State Govts. with 50% aggregate marks and with Mathematics as a compulsory subject of examination; OR (b) 10+3 Diploma (any stream) recognized by Central/State Govts. with 50% aggregate marks with Mathematics as a compulsory subject of examination; OR (c) International Baccalaureate Diploma passed/appearing, after 10 years of Schooling with 50% marks in aggregate and with Mathematics as compulsory subject of examination


Application Procedure Application has to be filled up ONLINE at the NATA portal of https://learning.tcsionhub.in/test/nata-2018. Candidates need to visit the portal and CLICK the requisite link ONLINE APPLICATION NATA– 2018 and thereafter will be directed to the actual application form. The form is interactive in nature and the fields required to be filled up are categorized in different sub-sections. The fields super-scribed with * MUST be filled up as they are MANDATORY, otherwise the application will NOT get submitted. The application form is broadly categorized into three steps: filling of PERSONAL DETAILS; DOCUMENT UPLOADING & FEE PAYMENT. Please see Appendix-IV for detailed guidelines on fields to be entered at the time of online form filling. Candidates need to fill in the first part i.e. PERSONAL DETAILS and will thereafter be directed to DOCUMENT UPLOADING. Once the documents are successfully uploaded, the system enters into the FEE PAYMENT. Finally, the candidate must take a printout of CONFIRMATION PAGE generated upon successful fee payment for their
own record. There is no need to send any document by post.

Application form:

 Filling up the application form is in two stages as outlined: Stage I- Registration Process Stage II- Submission of Application form Stage I – Registration Process Step 1: Visit NATA portal at www.nata.in or https://learning.tcsionhub.in/test/nata-2018 Step 2: Click on Register Now button and it will take you to the Login Page. Step 3: Again click Register Now button for signing up the User Account Registration. Fill-in the MANDATORY fields and click on Sign up. Step 4: Once you have successfully signed up. Click on Login to continue, login with your chosen credentials. Note: To create your credentials candidates are required to provide a login ID and password
Stage II Submission of Application Form Step 1: Login into NATA- 2018 portal with chosen credentials, and Click on Apply Now button which will be directed to the application form. Step 2: Fill-in the MANDATORY fields which is mentioned in the Appendix III. Step 3: Upload the required documents and click on Preview button to preview the filled in application form then click on Submit button to submit the form. Once the form is submitted, no changes will be entertained, so carefully fill-in the application form. Step 4: Once the application form submitted, it will be redirected to Payment Gateway page. Kindly provide the required inputs for payment process. Step 5: Upon successful fee payment, you will get land up in confirmation page contains Application No and Transaction No., kindly take a printout of it as a proof of application form submission.
Confirmation Page (A proof of REGISTRATION) The Confirmation Page is generated upon successful payment of Application Fee. Its generation means that the candidate has been successfully REGISTERED. The candidate should take a printout and preserve the confirmation page for future reference. There is no need to send any document to the Council by post. A print out of the Confirmation page will not provide admittance to the Test Centre to take the examination. The candidate has to print the Admit Card when issued online as per the time schedule (Appendix VI) to take the examination. 7.0 Filling up of Application Form The online filling-up of the Application Form is interactive in nature and online guidance will be available to the candidate while filling up the form. Please refer to APPENDIX-III and APPENDIX-IV for detailed guidelines on filling up the form. 7.1 Discrepancy and correction The candidate is expected to fill up all details correctly, check a preview of the application before submitting the same online. Corrections will not be entertained, however in rare circumstances, in case corrections are needed, they will be addressed on a request by the candidate. Such requests may be emailed to nata2018helpdesk@gmail.com 8.0 Issue of Admit Card For each Applicant, an Admit Card will be generated according to the schedule notified indicating the allotted Examination Centre for NATA - 2018 and a downloadable version of the admit card will be published on the respective webpage of the candidate concerned. An Examination Roll Number will also be generated for each candidate.
Allocation of Examination Centre The allocation of examination centre spread across all state capitals and other selected cities subject to availability of at least 250 students in general. Cities will be based on the choices given by the candidate during online form fill-up. However, discretion of the Council in allocation of examination centre shall be final. No request for change of allocated center will be entertained under any circumstances. List of city-wise examination zones is given in APPENDIX-V. 10.0 Declaration of Results 10.1 Rules for scrutiny / review of Answer Sheet Within a week of taking the examination, the response sheet of each candidate for Part A will be uploaded along with subject wise mark(s) secured. No review will be available for the drawing test (Part B). Further, there will be no provision for post publication scrutiny and /or review and any request after publication of the result will not be entertained 10.2 Result format Results will be available in the website https://learning.tcsionhub.in/test/nata-2018. The candidate can access the website with the login credentials created at the time of application.