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UCEED, CEED & NID resource by dkosh

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What is UCEED? The Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design Explained

June 11, 2026 Exam GuideUCEED

The Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design (UCEED) is the entry route to Bachelor of Design (B.Des) programmes at the IITs and a few other institutes. If you are in Class 12 and want a formal design education straight after school, UCEED is the exam to target.

Conducting body

UCEED is organised by IIT Bombay under the guidance of the UCEED & CEED Implementation Committee. It is held once a year, usually in January.

Eligibility in brief

  • The candidate should have passed Class 12 (or equivalent) in the year of the exam or the previous year, across any stream – Science, Commerce or Arts.
  • There is an upper age relaxation for reserved categories; check the brochure for the exact cut-off birth date.
  • A candidate can attempt UCEED a maximum of two times, in consecutive years.

Exam pattern

Like CEED, UCEED is a three-hour paper in two parts:

  • Part A (screen-based, objective): Numerical Answer Type (NAT), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). It covers visualisation and spatial ability, observation and design sensitivity, environmental and social awareness, analytical and logical reasoning, language, and design/art history.
  • Part B (on paper): a drawing question that assesses sketching skill, sense of proportion, and the ability to communicate an idea visually.

Programmes that use UCEED

B.Des seats at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad and IIITDM Jabalpur are filled through the UCEED score and the subsequent seat-allocation process. Some private design colleges also accept UCEED ranks.

After the result

Qualified candidates receive a rank card and register for joint seat allocation. Seats are offered based on rank, category, and choices filled during counselling.

Note: DKosh is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with IIT Bombay or the CEED/UCEED offices. Always confirm exam details with the official information brochure at ceed.iitb.ac.in and uceed.iitb.ac.in.

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