Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design

UCEED, the Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design, is the national entrance test for the Bachelor of Design (B.Des) programmes at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Indore, IIT Roorkee and IIITDM Jabalpur. IIT Bombay conducts it once a year on behalf of the UCEED-CEED Implementation Committee. The UCEED 2027 exam is scheduled for Sunday, 17 January 2027, from 9:00 am to 12:00 noon.

Registration for UCEED 2027 opened on 1 October 2026. The regular-fee window closes on 31 October 2026, and registration with a late fee is open until 5:00 pm on 6 November 2026. This guide covers everything a Class XII student needs before applying: dates, eligibility, fees, the three-hour exam pattern, the syllabus, how ranks are worked out, previous cut-offs and closing ranks, seat allotment and a practical preparation plan.

Table of Contents

UCEED 2027 at a Glance

The table below collects the key facts from the official UCEED 2027 information brochure and website.

UCEED 2027 Important Dates

All dates below are from the official important dates page. Seat allotment dates are marked tentative by the organisers.

Dates can change through addenda. Track the announcements section of the official website at https://www.uceed.iitb.ac.in/ and your registered email. Requests to change the exam date or time are not considered.

Participating Institutes and B.Des Seats

Seven institutes admit B.Des students through the joint UCEED seat allotment run by IIT Bombay. The 2027-28 seat matrix will be published later on the official website, so the figures below are from the previous (2026-27) matrix and are indicative only.

The stream rule matters when you plan your choices. A student with Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics in Class XII can apply to all seven institutes. A Commerce, Humanities or non-PCM Science student can apply only to IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Hyderabad and IIT Indore, which together offered 103 seats in the last matrix.

Many private and state design colleges also accept UCEED scores through their own admission processes. These are not part of the joint IIT Bombay process, so check each college's own website for its rules.

UCEED 2027 Eligibility Criteria

To appear in UCEED 2027, a candidate must satisfy all three conditions below at the same time. The full rules, with examples, are on our UCEED eligibility criteria page.

Age limit

Class XII (qualifying examination)

• Year of first appearance: You must have appeared for Class XII or an equivalent exam for the first time in 2026, or be appearing in 2027.

• Earlier appearance: Students who first appeared in 2025 or earlier are not eligible, with one exception for boards that declared their 2024-25 results on or after 30 September 2025.

• Stream: Science, Commerce, and Arts and Humanities students are all eligible to take the exam.

Attempts

You can take UCEED a maximum of two times, and the two attempts must be in consecutive years. The score is valid for one year, for admission in that academic year only.

Application Fee and How to Register

Registration happens only online through the UCEED candidate portal linked from the official website. The fee is neither refundable nor transferable.

OCI/PIO card holders whose cards were issued before 4 March 2021 pay the same fees as Indian nationals (Rs. 2,000 for female and PwD candidates, Rs. 4,000 for others). Bank and service charges are extra.

Steps to apply

1. Check eligibility first: Registration is cancelled later if any of the three criteria is not met.

2. Register on the candidate portal: Create your login and fill in personal, qualifying exam and category details exactly as in your documents.

3. Choose exam cities: Pick three cities in order of preference from the list on the website.

4. Upload documents: A recent colour photograph and signature in .jpg format; proof of age, Class XII certificate or the principal's certificate (for 2027 appearers) and category certificates in .pdf format.

5. Pay and submit: Pay online and submit before the deadline. Incomplete forms are rejected.

UCEED 2027 Exam Pattern

UCEED is a single three-hour paper with two compulsory parts, each with its own time limit. See the full breakdown and strategy on the UCEED exam pattern and marking scheme page.

• NAT: 4 marks each, no negative marking. You type a number on an on-screen keypad.

• MSQ: Up to 4 marks each with partial credit; a wrong selection costs 1 mark.

• MCQ: 3 marks for a correct answer, 0.71 marks deducted for a wrong answer.

• Part B: One sketching question and one design aptitude question, 50 marks each, answered on paper.

UCEED Syllabus Summary

The official syllabus lists broad areas rather than chapter-wise topics, and it states that a given year's paper may not cover every area. Our detailed UCEED syllabus page turns these areas into a working checklist built from previous papers.

How UCEED Scores and Ranks Are Worked Out

UCEED does not simply add up everyone's marks. It uses a two-step filter, and understanding it helps you plan where to spend effort.

1. Part A shortlisting: IIT Bombay calculates a cut-off equal to the mean Part A score of all candidates plus half the standard deviation. OPEN candidates need this score; OBC-NCL and EWS candidates need 90 per cent of it; SC, ST and PwD candidates need 50 per cent of it. If more than 6,400 candidates clear it, only the top 6,400 are shortlisted, keeping category ratios.

2. Part B evaluation: Only shortlisted candidates have their Part B answers checked. Each booklet is graded independently by two examiners, and more examiners are added if their marks differ by more than 10.

3. Part B qualifying marks: You must score at least 15 out of 100 (OPEN), 13.5 (OBC-NCL and EWS) or 7.5 (SC, ST and PwD) in Part B.

4. Total and rank: For qualified candidates, the total is Part A marks plus Part B marks, out of 300. Ties are broken by higher Part B marks, then higher Part A Section 2 marks, then higher Part A Section 1 marks.

The practical lesson: a weak Part A ends your attempt before anyone looks at your drawing, while Part B decides ties and often separates the top ranks.

Previous Year Cut-off and Closing Ranks

For UCEED 2026, IIT Bombay announced a Part A mean of 70.86 and a standard deviation of 25.77. Applying the published formula gives the shortlisting cut-offs below. These are previous-year benchmarks, not targets for 2027. More detail is on the UCEED cut-off and closing ranks page.

Cut-offs move every year with paper difficulty and the number of candidates. Aim for a clear margin above the last cut-off rather than a bare pass.

B.Des Admission and Seat Allotment

A UCEED rank does not give you a seat on its own. You must apply separately for B.Des admission between 15 March and 12 April 2027, fill your institute choices, and take part in up to five rounds of seat allotment.

The seat acceptance fee is Rs. 65,000 for GEN, EWS and OBC-NCL candidates and Rs. 20,000 for SC, ST and PwD candidates, of which Rs. 5,000 is a non-refundable processing charge. Reservation follows central norms: 10 per cent EWS, 27 per cent OBC-NCL, 15 per cent SC, 7.5 per cent ST, and 5 per cent horizontal reservation for PwD.

How to Prepare for UCEED 2027

With the exam in mid-January, most students have about 10 weeks after registration closes. Class XII board preparation runs alongside, so a focused plan matters more than long hours.

Start with previous papers

The official downloads page carries UCEED question papers and answer keys from 2015 to 2026. Attempt one recent paper untimed in your first week. It will show you the question style, the mix of visual and verbal questions and the areas where you are weakest.

Build Part A skills daily

• Spatial reasoning: Practise paper folding, cube views, sections and mirror images every day. This area rewards regular practice more than theory.

• Observation: Study everyday objects, logos, packaging and buildings. Ask why each looks and works the way it does.

• Practical knowledge: Revise basic Class X science concepts such as levers, gears, light, sound and material properties through real objects.

• Language and reasoning: Read one long editorial or article a day and solve a short set of logical puzzles.

Sketch every day for Part B

Spend 30 to 45 minutes a day drawing from observation: objects at different angles, people in action and simple scenes. Once a week, attempt a timed design aptitude question from a previous paper and write a short explanation of your idea.

Practise in the real format

From December onwards, take full-length timed tests that follow the current 57-question Part A structure. The official sample exam on the UCEED website shows the computer-based interface, so try it at least once. For extra timed practice, you can attempt UCEED online tests on Testkart and use the section-wise analysis to find where marks are slipping, then revisit those areas with previous papers.

Keep an error log of every wrong or slow question, and revise it weekly. In the final two weeks, cut new material, focus on mocks and sketching under time, and keep your exam-day documents ready.