Pearl Academy M. Des 2025
No. 1 Design & Fashion Institute by ASSOCHAM, India Today, Outlook and The Week rankings | Last Date to Apply: 31st August
CEED Exam Date:18 Jan' 26 - 18 Jan' 26
With numerous online resources available, finding the right study material for CEED can be overwhelming. Students are left wondering where to begin because so many materials are repetitious or untrustworthy. Careers360 provides a carefully chosen collection of the best CEED Exam study materials. The tentative date for the CEED 2026 is January 2026. This article offers a thorough summary of the syllabus, test structure, and top preparation resources to help you prepare effectively.
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Students must solve CEED Question Papers to analyze and understand the CEED exam pattern thoroughly to select CEED exam preparation material. This becomes their reliable foundation for CEED Preparation. The CEED exam consists of 2 parts, for a total of 200 marks It is divided into the following categories:
Part A: NAT, MSQs, and MCQs for 100 marks
Part B: Drawing and sketching abilities 100 marks
Students must have a comprehensive understanding of the CEED Syllabus 2026 in order to crack the CEED exam. Questions are similar to those that appear in UCEED but are complicated and at a slightly more advanced level. Only 10% of the students qualifying for the CEED 2026 exam are selected for the interview-portfolio round. It is hence important to have a vast understanding of the syllabus so as to not concentrate on only one of the aspects of the examination.
Part A:
Visualization and spatial reasoning: Ability to visualize and transform 2D shapes and 3D objects and their spatial relationships.
Practical and scientific knowledge: Know-how of scientific principles and everyday objects.
Observation and design sensitivity: Capacity to detect concealed properties in day-to-day life and think critically about them. Attention to detail, classification, analysis, inference, and prediction.
Environment and society: General awareness of environmental, social, and cultural connections with design.
Analytical and logical reasoning: Ability to analyze qualitative and quantitative information.
Language: Proficiency in reading and comprehending Standard English.
Creativity: Grasp of verbal and non-verbal analogies, metaphors, signs, and symbols.
Art and Design knowledge: Awareness about art/artifact/product, artists/designers, art/design history, and trends.
Design methods and practices: Knowledge of media, materials, production processes, and ergonomics
Part B:
Drawing: Ability to draw products, people, or scenes in proportion with good line quality, composition, proportion, perspective, and shading.
Creativity: Capacity to think out-of-the-box and come up with unique as well as diverse solutions.
Communication: Skills to communicate concepts and ideas clearly with the help of text and visuals.
Problem identification: Capability to understand the user and the context, knowledge of properties of materials, and their appropriate use in design.
Students must pick the latest up-to-date versions of the books that they take.
They must make sure that the books are comprehensive and teach with multiple examples of the application of topics.
The books must offer challenging question banks and problem-solving methods.
Students must choose books based on their pace and must slowly increase their difficulty level.
Check if the material chosen has online resources and supplementary help, like videos, solutions etc.
Books must also have a variety of sample and question papers with increasing difficulty
Pick out books written by well-known authors and recommended by students who have cleared CEED to gain a clear perspective of the CEED preparation strategy.
Students must remember that content in the material must be explained in great detail and systematically, so as to help students remember better.
It is better to find study materials with CEED previous year question papers with solutions book.
Since, CEED exam comprises two parts A and B, here is a section-wise recommendation of the best books for CEED exam preparation 2026.
Part A of CEED exam comprises three sections (NAT+MSQ+MCQ). However, the sections and the methodology to solve the questions are different but the topics are similar. Hence, the books for CEED part A are as follows.
Books | Author |
Cracking CEED & UCEED (with Previous Years' Papers and Mock Tests) | Ashok Goel and Arjun Kamal |
CEED 2020 Exam Preparation - Advanced Course Study Material | ICR Education |
CEED & NID M.Des Entrance Books and Test Series | Ashish Popli, Pradosh Swain, Rishabh Rhode |
Verbal and Non-Verbal Reasoning | RS Aggarwal |
Quantitative Aptitude | RS Aggarwal |
Analytical Reasoning | M. K. Pandey |
CEED (M. Des) Test Series | TRENDZ ACADEMY |
CEED + NID | AVANDIA |
Comprehensive English for NID, NIFT, UCEED, CEED, NATA, B.Arch & Other Design Entrance Exams | Designologue |
Sketching Abilities and Detailing. This section tests perspective drawing skills and concept visualization. Students must practice and learn to have a deft hand at sketching and improve perspective and 3d visualization skills.
Books | Author |
Design Drawing | Francis DK Ching |
Perspective Drawing Handbook | Joseph D'Amelio |
Art perception | David Cycleback |
Drawing made easy | Subodh Narvekar |
For CEED preparation, you may find a bundle of CEED study material free of cost in the market or an online site that claims 100% success. However, choosing the best CEED preparation material may not be an easy task. Get the CEED Study Material and start your journey towards success in the CEED 2026 exam. So, Careers360 compiles here the most effective CEED preparation material, which will help you during the CEED preparation. You can also check the CEED syllabus study material to know the topics and subtopics that you need to study for the exam.
All the best!!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Students can refer to previous years' question papers and see how it has evolved over the years. They must hence prepare accordingly, with appropriate books for CEED 2026. Practice multiple mock tests and try to solve at least 3-4 question papers a week to get the hang of the examination and time management.
Since there is no prescribed book, students cannot rely only on the past 10 years' question papers. It has undergone significant changes over the years and it is hence important for students to be updated with present-time knowledge and application.
Verbal and non-verbal reasoning by R.S.Aggarwal
Analytical and Logical Reasoning by Arihant Publications
Logical and Analytical Reasoning by R.S Gupta
Design Drawing by Francis DK Ching
Perspective Drawing Handbook by Joseph D'Amelio
Art Perception by David Cycleback
To prepare for CEED, you should do the following:
Review the CEED syllabus and exam pattern carefully.
Plan your study schedule for each month, week, and day.
Use the best CEED study material available.
Take mock tests and solve previous year’s papers regularly.
Devise a clear exam strategy and stick to it.
Focus on the important topics for CEED preparation.
On Question asked by student community
Hii
Common Entrance Examination for Design is a test includes design aptitude, your creativity, visualisation, problem-solving, and also analytical ability.
CEED exam structure is divided in 2 parts (PART A & PART B) and you can check what to study and syllabus of CEED on career360 https://design.careers360.com/articles/ceed-syllabus-2025
CEED syllabus includes:
Visualization and spatial ability
Design thinking and problem solving
Drawing skills
Creativity
Communication skills
Analytical and logical reasoning
Environmental and social awareness
Observation and design sensitivity Also includes topics on form, function, aesthetics, and technical drawing.
Hello Anushka,
Thanks for reaching out!
You can definitely prepare for CEED to pursue UI/UX design.since you're not from design background you'll need 4-6 months of focused prepration.
Focus on:
Sketching
Visual communication
Design concepts
User experience basics
Problem - solving skills
Past CEED papers.
Practice drawings, story boarding, Idea generation daily.
You can also take online courses to learn design fundamentals and tools.
Consistency and practice matter most!
get all the detailed info here:
https://design.careers360.com/articles/ceed-syllabus
All the best!
Hello sir,
Thanks for reaching out!
Yes, you still have a good chance even with a mid CEED score, if the rest of your profile is strong. While the CEED score is important, most of the institutes use full selection process that includes your CEED score(Part A and B), Portfolio and often an interview or studio tests.Your 6 years of experience, strong portfolio and relevant coursera certificates can add significant value during admission in IITDM, Srishti etc which consider the overall profile not just the rank.
You can get free study material for the CEED (Common Entrance Exam for Design) from several reliable sources. Here's a simple list of where to find it:
Official CEED Website
Go to the
CEED official site (ceed.iitb.ac.in)
for previous year question papers and sample papers. They are the best for understanding the exam pattern.
NID and CEED Prep YouTube Channels
Many educators and toppers upload free tutorials, sketching tips, design aptitude tricks, and analysis of previous papers.
Telegram Groups
Search for “CEED preparation” on Telegram. Many groups share PDFs, notes, sketching practice sheets, and mock tests.
Free Blogs and Websites
Look for blogs like Pahal Design, BRDS, and Design Aspirants. They often post free reading material, tips, and past year questions.
Reddit and Quora
On platforms like Reddit or Quora, search for CEED preparation threads. Toppers often share their notes and resources.
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