The basics
UCEED — Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design — is conducted by IIT Bombay every January. It's the only standardised entrance exam that opens the door to Bachelor of Design (B.Des) programs at IITs at the undergraduate level. If you want to study design at an IIT, this is the one exam you write.
Crucial difference from JEE: You do not need to be a Science student. UCEED is open to all streams — Science, Commerce, and Arts.
Eligibility
Three criteria. You must meet all three to write the exam.
Age limit
For General, EWS, and OBC-NCL candidates: born on or after October 1, 2001. For SC, ST, and PwD candidates: born on or after October 1, 1996.
Number of attempts
Maximum of two attempts. They must be in consecutive years. You can write it in your Class XII year, and the year immediately after. That's it.
Qualifying exam
You must have passed Class XII (or equivalent) in 2025, or be appearing for it in 2026. All streams (Science, Commerce, Arts & Humanities) are eligible.
The 70% Board Requirement
There is no minimum aggregate for writing the UCEED exam itself. However, IITs internally mandate a minimum of 70% in Class XII for admission (65% for SC/ST/PwD candidates). A strong UCEED rank will not override this board requirement.
Exam Structure
One paper. Three hours total. 300 marks. Two mandatory parts — both must be attempted. Missing either Part A or Part B is not an option.
Part B Discrepancy Rule
Part B is evaluated manually by two independent evaluators. If their scores differ by more than 20 marks, a third evaluator is brought in. Do not use generic shading techniques; originality is aggressively rewarded.
Marking Scheme
| Question Type | Correct | Partial | Incorrect |
|---|---|---|---|
| NAT (Numerical) | +4 | None | 0 |
| MSQ (Multiple Select) | +4 | +3 / +2 / +1 | -1 |
| MCQ (Multiple Choice) | +3 | None | -0.71 |
Syllabus — what actually appears
IIT Bombay explicitly states that the syllabus is exhaustive and indicative — meaning nothing outside these topics will appear, but not all topics are tested every year.
Part A topics
| Topic area | What it actually tests |
|---|---|
| Visualization and Spatial Reasoning | Rotating and transforming 2D shapes and 3D objects mentally. Folding/unfolding, mirror images, pattern completion, spatial relationships. |
| Practical and Scientific Knowledge | How everyday objects work — mechanisms, materials, physics of daily life. Basic engineering and science intuition, not textbook formulae. |
| Observation and Design Sensitivity | Noticing what most people tune out. Visual hierarchies, anomalies in images, what's wrong here, attention to detail. This is developed through habit, not mugging. |
| Environment and Society | General awareness of how design intersects with environmental issues, culture, and society. Indian crafts, sustainability, socially relevant design. |
| Analytical and Logical Reasoning | Verbal and non-verbal reasoning, sequences, pattern recognition, quantitative reasoning. |
| Language | Reading and understanding standard English. Comprehension passages, vocabulary in context. |
| Creativity | Analogies (verbal and non-verbal), metaphors, signs and symbols. Lateral thinking and novel associations. |
Part B topics
| Sub-section | What it tests in practice |
|---|---|
| Drawing | Draw products, people, or scenes in proportion. Tests line quality, composition, perspective, shading, and your ability to communicate visually. Annotation matters — explain what you're drawing and why. A clean, labelled, well-composed drawing will outscore a technically polished one that's poorly explained. |
| Design Aptitude | A structured design problem. You're asked to identify a real-world issue, propose a solution, and justify your thinking. Think about: user, context, materials, ergonomics, feasibility. Drawing quality matters less here than structured reasoning. This section is worth 50 marks and significantly underprepped by most students. |
The cutoff system — two walls, not one
Most students think cutoff means the rank you need to get into an IIT. There are actually two separate cutoffs. Failing the first one means your Part B drawing never even gets evaluated.
Wall 1 — Part A qualifying cutoff
After Part A is scored, IIT Bombay calculates a qualifying cutoff using the mean and standard deviation of all Part A scores. Only candidates who clear this mark have their Part B evaluated and receive a rank.
UCEED 2026 Part A stats (official, released February 5, 2026):
Mean score: 70.86 · Standard deviation: 25.77
Formula: Cutoff (delta) = mean (mu) + 0.5 x standard deviation (sigma)
General cutoff — 83.74 marks out of 200
OBC-NCL / EWS: 0.9 x delta | SC / ST / PwD: 0.5 x delta
In 2025, approximately 15,986 students appeared, and only around 5,703 — roughly 36% — cleared the Part A cutoff and received a rank. If you don't clear Part A, your Part B answer booklet isn't evaluated and your scorecard only shows Part A marks.
Wall 2 — Admission closing ranks
Getting a rank doesn't guarantee admission. Seats are filled in five counselling rounds based on All India Rank. The table below shows approximate closing ranks (General/Open category) based on 2026 Round 1 data and historical trends.
| Institute | Approx. closing rank (Open, 2026) | Seats (Open) |
|---|---|---|
| IIT Bombay | ~14 (Round 1, 2026) | 14 |
| IIT Delhi | ~30-40 | 8 |
| IIT Hyderabad | ~40-55 | 11 |
| IIT Guwahati | ~70-80 | 22 |
| IIT Roorkee | ~90-110 | 8 |
| IIT Indore | ~100-130 | 6 |
| IIITDM Jabalpur | ~150-200 | 25 |
Note: These are General/Open category closing ranks. SC, ST, OBC-NCL, EWS, and PwD candidates have separate rank lists with different cutoffs — generally more accessible. Always plan around your own category rank, not just AIR.
Score-to-outcome rough guide
The seven institutes — what each one actually is
IIT Bombay
37 seatsIDC School of Design, Mumbai
The oldest and most recognised design program in the country. IDC — Industrial Design Centre — has been running since 1969 and has built the strongest alumni network in Indian design. The B.Des program runs eight semesters with heavy project-based learning. In year three, students can choose to shift to a five-year dual-degree B.Des + M.Des.
Specialisations available at IDC include Industrial Design, Communication Design, Animation Design, Interaction Design, and Mobility and Vehicle Design.
IIT Delhi
20 seatsDepartment of Design, New Delhi
The capital gives IIT Delhi a location advantage no other institute has — direct access to government, policy, and every major consultancy and firm in India. The B.Des program is explicitly human-centred: studio-based learning, multidisciplinary collaborations, and strong industry interface.
Small intake (20 seats) means intense peer competition and close faculty attention. Open category closes around rank 15-40 consistently — it's the second most competitive design program in India.
IIT Guwahati
56 seatsDepartment of Design, Guwahati
The largest seat pool among the participating IITs — 56 seats — which makes it a strong destination for students in the rank range of 50-100. The program focuses on the intersection of technology and experience design, with interdisciplinary research cutting across engineering, design, and social sciences. Located on the Brahmaputra, the campus environment is unlike any urban IIT.
IIT Hyderabad
30 seatsDepartment of Design, Hyderabad
Established in 2014 with an interdisciplinary approach at its core. The B.Des curriculum is structured in four levels — broad foundation in year one to specialisation by year three. Students can specialise in Product Design, Visual Design, Interaction Design, UX Design, or Film and Animation.
Hyderabad as a city is increasingly relevant for design — strong startup ecosystem, major tech firms, and a growing creative industry.
IIT Indore
16 seatsSchool of Innovation, Indore
The newest program in this list — first batch joined in 2025. IIT Indore frames design through innovation, with four specialisation areas: Urban System Innovation, Educational Technologies, Healthcare Systems, and Sustainable Energy Systems. Less traditional design school, more innovation-focused — which suits students who want to work on large systems problems.
Only 16 seats makes this a smaller, tighter cohort. Given how new it is, there's limited alumni data on placements — factor this in.
IIT Roorkee
20 seatsDepartment of Design, Roorkee
India's oldest technical institution (1847) now offering design. The B.Des curriculum combines design with computing, engineering, and manufacturing — covering product design, user experience, materials, ergonomics, and sustainability. More industrially grounded than most other IIT design programs.
IIITDM Jabalpur
66 seatsDesign Discipline, Jabalpur
The largest seat count of any participating institute — 66 seats — and consistently the most accessible in terms of closing rank (~150-200 for Open category). The curriculum covers multiple design areas in initial semesters before specialising in product, space, or communication design.
Not an IIT — it's an IIITDM (Indian Institute of Information Technology Design and Manufacturing). The distinction matters when comparing prestige and alumni networks, but the program quality is solid. It also conducts spot admission rounds if seats remain vacant after counselling, unlike the IITs.
Seat matrix — category-wise breakdown
245 total seats. The table below is from the UCEED 2026 seat matrix.
| Institute | Open | EWS | OBC-NCL | SC | ST | PwD* | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IIT Bombay | 14 | 4 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 37 |
| IIT Delhi | 8 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 20 |
| IIT Guwahati | 22 | 6 | 15 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 56 |
| IIT Hyderabad | 11 | 3 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 30 |
| IIT Indore | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
| IIT Roorkee | 8 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 20 |
| IIITDM Jabalpur | 25 | 6 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 66 |
| Total | 94 | 25 | 63 | 34 | 17 | 13 | 245 |
*PwD seats are horizontal — distributed within each category (Open, EWS, OBC-NCL, SC, ST), not separate from them. EWS certificates issued on or after April 1, 2026 are accepted. OBC-NCL certificates must also be dated April 1, 2026 or later.
Important dates — UCEED 2026 timeline
Registration opens
Online at uceed.iitb.ac.in (1:00 PM onwards)
Regular registration closes
Late fee period: Nov 5-10
Late registration closes
5:00 PM. Portal shuts automatically.
Admit card available
Download from candidate portal
Last date to report discrepancies
In admit card (5:00 PM)
UCEED 2026 exam
Sunday, 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon. Reporting from 7:00 AM.
Draft answer key released
Part A responses also available for download until results
Part A cutoff announced
Mean and standard deviation released
Results declared
Rank list published
B.Des application window
Apply separately for institute admission
Round 1 seat allotment
Last date to download scorecard
Important: UCEED and B.Des admission are two separate processes. Qualifying the exam and getting a rank does not automatically enrol you. You must separately apply for B.Des admission through the IIT Bombay Admissions Portal between March 14 and April 10. Application processing fee: ₹4,000 (non-refundable).
Counselling — how seats get allocated
Five rounds of seat allotment. Based on your AIR, your category, and the order of institutes you listed in your preference. You will receive allotment letters by email. Each round has a payment deadline — missing it cancels your seat.
Apply for admission
After results, apply separately via the IIT Bombay Admissions Portal (March 14 - April 10). Fill your institute preferences in order. You can edit until the deadline — your final submission is locked.
Round 1 allotment (April 21)
You receive a provisional allotment. If you get your first-choice institute: ACCEPT (freeze) or DECLINE. If you get a lower-preference institute: ACCEPT and FREEZE, or ACCEPT and FLOAT.
Freeze or Float
Freeze = accept the current allotment, exit the process. Float = accept the current allotment but stay in the pool for subsequent rounds. If a higher-preference seat becomes available in a later round, it is automatically allocated to you and you lose the earlier one. Float is active until Round 4.
Pay the Seat Acceptance Fee
₹60,000 for General/EWS/OBC-NCL. ₹15,000 for SC/ST/PwD. Pay only once — it's adjusted against institute fees at joining. Miss the payment window and your seat is cancelled; you're out of all further rounds.
Rounds 2-5 (May-July)
Vacant seats from declined or forfeited allotments are redistributed. Rounds 3-5 fill residual vacancies. If you paid in Round 1 and chose Float, you may be upgraded in later rounds automatically.
On withdrawals: Candidates who accepted seats in Rounds 1 or 2 can withdraw before the Round 2 withdrawal deadline for a partial refund (₹55,000 back for General; ₹10,000 back for SC/ST/PwD — ₹5,000 cancellation charge is deducted). After the Round 2 withdrawal deadline, fees from Rounds 3-5 are non-refundable.
Exam day — what to bring and expect
Reporting and entry
Reporting from 7:00 AM. Exam starts at 9:00 AM sharp — no entry after that. Bring a printed copy of your admit card and an original photo ID. Biometric data (thumb impression, photo) is captured on exam day and may be re-verified at admission.
What you can bring
- ✓Pencils (black shades only) in a transparent packet
- ✓A writing board of A4 size (optional but useful for Part B)
- ✓Admit card (printed)
- ✓Original photo ID
What you cannot bring
- ✕Mobile phones, smartwatches, or any electronic device
- ✕Sketch pens, colour pencils, poster colours, or any colouring material
- ✕Geometry boxes, log books, calculators
- ✕Any study material of any kind
Part A logistics
Computer-based. The exam interface is the same system IIT Bombay uses for other CBT exams — practise it beforehand using the official sample interface at uceed.iitb.ac.in. Technical issues are handled by invigilators and time lost to technical problems is automatically compensated. You cannot leave during the exam.
Part B logistics
The questions appear on your computer screen. You draw and write answers in the physical answer booklet provided by the invigilator. Booklets are collected at the end of the examination. Do not leave early — you must remain in the hall for the full three hours.
Exam cities (27 in 2026): Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh/Mohali, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dehradun, Delhi, Ernakulam, Guwahati, Hubballi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, Noida, Panaji, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur, Visakhapatnam.
Pick three cities in preference order at registration. City change requests are not accepted after registration is complete.