How to Crack Coding-Decoding Questions in NIFT GAT 2026

How to Crack Coding-Decoding Questions in NIFT GAT 2026 : The trick here is to understand the pattern and treat coding-decoding questions as merely a puzzle and not serious maths and you will be able to score well in NIFT GAT 2026. Student must know that coding-decoding is part of the Analytical & Logical Ability section where the ability is checked as to how quickly you can spot rules in letters, numbers and symbols and then apply them correctly. The Coding-Decoding section in NIFT GAT 2026 can become one of the highest scoring areas if practiced carefully.
Also Read: Essential NIFT GAT 2026 Arithmetic Progression Questions

Coding-Decoding in NIFT GAT 2026: Exam Pattern

Analytical & Logical Ability section is one of the crucial sections for clearing General Ability Test (GAT) for NIFT. The section includes different types of questions on series, pattern recognition, puzzles and coding-decoding. Each correct answer adds 1 mark, and 0.25 marks are deducted for every incorrect answer. Speed and accuracy are very significant because of negative marking, and one must be careful while solving this section.​ Students also must know the types of questions that are asked in coding-decoding in NIFT GAT 2026 as discussed below:

In coding-decoding questions, you are given words, numbers or letter strings in a ‘coded’ form and asked to:

• Identify the rule (for example, reversing order, replacing with numbers, shifting letters, etc).
• Apply the same rule to a new word or decode a given code.

If you understand the standard patterns through regular practice, then it usually takes 30-40 seconds to solve each question, and you can get a strong score in GAT.
Also Read: Skills You Must Have to Crack NIFT CAT 2026 Exam

Common Types of Coding-Decoding Questions

If you have an idea about the common types of questions that are generally asked in the coding-decoding section, then you can crack this section easily. Some of the common types are discussed below:

1. Letter shifting codes
   • Each letter is moved forward or backward in the alphabet by a fixed number which needs to be observed.
   • For Example: DESIGN → EFGHJO (each letter +1 in this case).
2. Positional value codes
   • Letters are replaced by their actual position in the alphabet ( for example, A=1, B=2, …Z=26) or it can be reversed (A=26, B=25, …).​
   • Sometimes operations like +2, −3 or swapping the positions are added.
3. Reversal and arrangement codes
   • Here, the word is simply reversed (FASHION → NOIHSAF) or letters may be rearranged according to a certain rule (alphabetical order, alternate letters, etc.).​
4. Substitution codes
   • One word substitutes another: For example, ‘Red’ is coded as ‘Green’, ‘Green’ as ‘Blue’… and you must follow the substitution chain to solve questions.​

Step-by-Step to Crack Coding-Decoding Questions in NIFT GAT 2026

You can follow the different steps as mentioned below to solve coding-decoding questions in NIFT GAT 2026 in efficient manner:

1. Write the alphabet with positions

Keep a rough-work reference to avoid mistakes: A=1, B=2, …, Z=26. You can also use checkpoints like E-J-O-T-Y (5, 10,15, 20, 25) to jump quickly along the alphabet and save time.​

2. Compare letter by letter

Take the original word and the coded word and align them in two rows.

• If letters move forward or backward by a constant number, note the shift like +3 or + 2 for all letters.
• If the pattern keeps changing, be alert and check for reversal and alternate letters (for example- 1st, 3rd, 5th letters treated one way; 2nd, 4th, 6th another).

3. Repetition and Symmetry

Repeated letters or mirrored sequences are often easy to understand as they follow a simple underlying rule. For example, codes like ABBA, 1221 or XYXY indicate some symmetrically repeated pattern.​

4. Elimination is the key

You can quickly rule out options that are not going with the pattern (for example wrong letter positions, wrong shift, extra symbols).​

5. Skip time-consuming puzzles

NIFT GAT has many different question types and it can be tricky as well. If you don’t understand a pattern in the first 15-20 seconds, you must skip the questions for the last. ​

Coding-Decoding Questions in NIFT GAT 2026: Tips for practice

Coding-decoding becomes easy only with regular practice. You can adopt the following

• Solve topic-wise reasoning sets from general aptitude books designed for design and management exams so that you can easily attempt for NIFT level coding-decoding questions.​
• Attempt previous year questions of NIFT GAT and solve as many Mock Tests as possible to have better understanding and clarity.​
• Solve a few coding-decoding questions every day and it must be a time bound mock drill practice without fail.

Many reasoning guides recommend starting with simple letter-shift questions and then moving on to mixed-pattern puzzles once your confidence grows.​

Also Read: How to Master Reading Comprehension in NIFT GAT 2026
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