CEED Exam Date:18 Jan' 26 - 18 Jan' 26
The national CEED Exam is administered by IIT Bombay, which also grants postgraduate M.Des degrees to design students and accepts applicants to the top IITs in the country. Since there is no predetermined study guide for the CEED Exam, students mostly rely on mock exams and CEED question papers for preparation. Completing this is essential to meeting exam requirements and understanding the syllabus and paper style. CEED 2026 will tentatively be conducted in the month of January 2026. This is a synopsis of the CEED Exam Pattern and Syllabus:
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Since there is no compulsory or go-to study material prescribed specifically for CEED, students preparing for M.Des, and CEED examination must analyze and pick out the best CEED exam books. This CEED study material will serve as a resource for strategies on how to prepare for CEED and help students immensely. While choosing books, students must take the most updated books and study materials that offer a variety of questions and example problems to understand and gauge the requirements of the exam better.
PART A: This section aims to check a student’s practical spontaneous abilities, like Logical reasoning, Quantitative abilities, etc.
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 |
PART B: This section tests a student’s sketching abilities perspective skills etc. Here is the CEED study material for the same:
Books | Author |
Design Drawing | Francis DK Ching |
Perspective Drawing Handbook | Joseph D'Amelio |
Art perception | David Cycleback |
Drawing made easy | Subodh Narvekar |
In addition to study material and books, students must solve as many CEED Question papers as possible. This gives students a detailed analysis of the CEED exam pattern and Syllabus. Timing and solving these questions will help students crack CEED exam 2026. These papers also formulate an important aspect of how to prepare for CEED strategy and can help immensely.
Here are some collated CEED question papers for students:
Practicing the mock CEED tests is one of the best preparation strategies suggested by toppers and experts to help students crack the exam with a good score. Solving the CEED mock test pdf will help candidates identify the areas they need to work on. Find out more about the important guidelines CEED Mock Test Guidelines to attempt them for betterment.
Why is it important to solve the CEED free Mock test?
It is important that students solve mock test questions and understand the requirements of the exam.
Upon familiarization with concepts, students must make it a practice to solve mock tests
This helps them understand their weak points and most importantly, how to manage time while writing the exam.
It serves as an excellent base for study strategies where students solve questions that are relatively challenging, and unlike sample papers where the focus is on the method of solving, here it becomes about the time constraints of the examination.
Solving these mock tests over time will help students develop pace and solve questions with shortcuts and tricks.
The CEED 2025 exam was conducted with a focus on both Part-A and Part-B, emphasizing visual skills, logical reasoning, and creativity. The exam also featured diverse question types such as Multiple Select Questions (MSQs), Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), and Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions. The Part-B section had a heavy emphasis on sketching and design interpretation. Below is a breakdown of the key elements of the exam:
There was an increased emphasis on visual problem-solving in Part-A, especially in the MSQ and NAT sections, which tested spatial awareness and the ability to visualize abstract ideas.
Part-B continued to test drawing proficiency but also placed more importance on storytelling and design communication, making the ability to convey ideas visually a crucial skill.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
The CEED 2026 syllabus covers topics such as Visualization and Spatial Ability, Environmental and Social Awareness, Analytical and Logical Reasoning, Language and Creativity, Design Thinking and Problem Solving, Drawing, and Communication Skills.
Some study materials for CEED 2026 to learn sketching are:
As there is no single compulsory or recommended study material specifically for CEED exam, students must solve multiple question papers to understand the exam requirements.
Yes, there is a negative marking in CEED Exam. -0.2 for every wrong answer in MSQs and -0.5 for MCQ questions.
A total of 100 marks is allotted for this section.
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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