CEED Cut Off: Part A Qualifying Marks and Previous Years

The CEED cut-off is the minimum Part A score you need for IIT Bombay to evaluate your Part B answers. It is not a fixed number announced in advance. After each exam, IIT Bombay works it out from how all candidates performed in Part A, so it moves with paper difficulty every year. For CEED 2027, the Part A cut-off is scheduled for 4 February 2027.

This page explains how the CEED cut-off is calculated, the category-wise values for recent years, why it changes, and how to set a realistic target. Remember that this exam-level cut-off is separate from the admission cut-offs that each IIT or IISc sets for its M.Des programmes.

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How the CEED Cut-off Is Calculated

IIT Bombay calculates the mean and standard deviation of Part A marks for all candidates, each rounded to two decimals. The general category cut-off is the mean plus half the standard deviation. Reserved categories get a proportion of that figure.

Only candidates at or above their category cut-off have Part B evaluated and receive a rank. Their final score is 0.25 x Part A marks + 0.75 x Part B marks.

CEED Previous Year Cut-off

IIT Bombay announces the Part A statistics as a mean and standard deviation. The category values below apply the official formula to the figures reported for each year.

These category figures are worked out from the reported mean and standard deviation and are indicative. Rounding in the official calculation may differ by a few hundredths. Check the result section of the official CEED website for the exact values.

Official CEED website: https://www.ceed.iitb.ac.in/2027/

Trend

The general cut-off has stayed roughly between 48 and 54 out of 150 over these three years, about a third of the Part A maximum. CEED 2026 had the lowest mean of the three, which pulled the cut-off down to about 47.80. The spread of marks, shown by the standard deviation, has stayed close to 17 each year.

What Affects the CEED Cut-off

• Paper difficulty: A harder Part A lowers the average score and therefore the cut-off.

• Spread of scores: A wider gap between strong and weak candidates raises the standard deviation, which pushes the cut-off up.

• Negative marking: Heavy MSQ and MCQ guessing across the candidate pool lowers the mean.

• Candidate pool: Because the cut-off depends on everyone's marks, it reflects how well-prepared that year's candidates were.

Exam Cut-off Versus Institute Cut-off

Clearing the Part A cut-off only gets you a CEED rank. Each institute then shortlists from the rank list for its own M.Des or PhD process, which may include a design test, portfolio review or interview. Institute closing ranks are usually far tighter than the exam cut-off, and they vary by programme, category and year.

How to Set Your Target Score

Cut-offs change every year with difficulty and candidate performance. Treat recent figures as a benchmark only, and aim for a clear margin above them rather than a bare pass.

• Part A target: Aim for about 70 to 80 out of 150 in practice tests. That gives a safe buffer over recent general cut-offs and adds to your final score.

• Part B focus: Part B carries 75% of the final score, so once Part A is safely above the cut-off, extra Part B marks move your rank more.

• Accuracy over attempts: Track how many marks you lose to MSQ and MCQ penalties in each mock, and cut them before you try to attempt more questions.

To see where your Part A score stands against these benchmarks, take timed CEED mock tests on Testkart and review the section-wise analysis after each one. The CEED exam pattern page explains the marking rules that drive these scores.