What is Difference Between UCEED and CEED?

What is Difference Between UCEED and CEED?

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UCEED Exam Date:18 Jan' 26 - 18 Jan' 26

Team Careers360Updated on 03 Jan 2025, 11:27 AM IST

Both UCEED and CEED exams are conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay to select the best design students. However, one major difference between the two is that the UCEED exam grants admission into undergraduate design courses, while the CEED exam allows students to join postgraduate design courses. Here in this article, aspirants can check the difference between the UCEED and CEED exam, based on eligibility, counselling process, fee, and more.

This Story also Contains

  1. UCEED vs CEED: Overview
  2. CEED vs UCEED: Registration
  3. UCEED vs CEED: Eligibility Criteria
  4. CEED vs UCEED: Counselling
  5. UCEED vs CEED: Participating Colleges:
  6. CEED vs UCEED: Courses
  7. CEED vs UCEED: Fees
What is Difference Between UCEED and CEED?
Difference Between UCEED and CEED

UCEED vs CEED: Overview

The table below gives an overview of the difference between CEED and UCEED exam.

Particulars

UCEED

CEED

Full form

Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design

Common Entrance Examination for Design

Conducting Authority

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Official Website

uceed.ittb.ac.in

ceed.iitb.ac.in

Application Form Start Dates

October 1, 2024

October 1, 2024

Application Form Fee

Rs. 4000

Rs. 4000

Exam Pattern

Part A- NAT, MCQ, MSQ

Part B- Drawing skills

Part A: NAT, MSQ, MCQ

Part B: Drawing

Course Offered

Undergraduate

Postgraduate and PhD

Eligibility Criteria

Under the age of 25

Can appear the exam maximum twice

Qualified 10+2 or equivalent

No Age Limit

Must have completed under graduation

No limitation in attempt

Participating Colleges

IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay, IIT Hyderabad, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIT Guwahati and IIT Roorkee

IISc Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIITDM Kancheepuram

Fees

Rs. 6-10 Lakhs

Rs. 30K- Rs. 3.75 Lakhs per annum

Courses Offered

Product design, user experience design, interaction design, visual design, communication design

M.Des in Product Design and Engineering, Industrial Design, Communication Design, Animation, Interaction Design, Mobility and Vehicle Design, Visual Design, XR Design, Industrial Design, PhD in Design

CEED vs UCEED: Registration

The registration process for both the exams are similar. There is hardly any difference between UCEED and CEED registration process as both of them are conducted by IIT Bombay. However, the difference between UCEED and CEED registration is that the students need to visit the designated website for the specific exam.

For UCEED registration the application forms were released in October on the official website - uceed.iitb.ac.in. The candidates need to pay a fee of Rs 4000 as the UCEED application form fee.

Similarly the CEED application form was released at ceed.iitb.ac.in and the students need to pay the application form fee Rs. 4000.

UCEED vs CEED: Eligibility Criteria

The students in order to get into the top design colleges such as IITs need to fulfil certain eligibility criteria as offered by the various colleges. Another difference between UCEED and CEED is that for admissions through UCEED, aspirants need to meet UCEED age eligibility. However, there is no age restriction for CEED aspirants. The difference between CEED and UCEED eligibility criteria are given below.

UCEED Eligibility Criteria

The students seeking admission into the BDes courses in IITs and other UCEED colleges must know the following UCEED eligibility criteria that needs to be fulfilled.

  • The students who are appearing for the UCEED exam must be under the age of 25 on the year of application.

  • The students can only attempt the UCEED exam twice in consecutive years.

  • The students must have completed the 10 + 2 level of education or equivalent. The stream of the students might be restricted according to the college rules. The students check the eligibility criteria of the college that they are applying to.

CEED Eligibility Criteria

The MDes aspirants of IITs should fulfil these CEED eligibility criteria to join the Institution.

  • The students must have completed their degree / diploma / postgraduate degree of minimum 3 years after 10 + 2.

  • The students can be from any age group there are no age limits in appearing the CEED exam.

  • There are no restrictions on the number of attempts the students give in this exam.

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CEED vs UCEED: Counselling

The UCEED counselling will be conducted after the declaration of the results of UCEED entrance exam. The students need to register themselves in the UCEED exam portal through the official website. The students need to fill out their preferences of college and upload the necessary documents which also includes a valid UCEED result. Followed by this the candidates need to make a payment of Rs. 4000 as registration fee. The candidates who will be allotted seats in the counselling session will be informed about the same and they need to pay a seat acceptance fee of Rs. 60,000 to ensure that they will take the seat.

The CEED counselling on the other hand is done by each participating institution individually. The candidates need to fill in the application form on each institution’s website and they need to pay for each college individually. The candidates also need to appear for an entrance exam and a personal interview for further selection. The results of the colleges will be declared individually and a list of selected candidates will be published on the website. These candidates need to pay a seat acceptance fee before the deadline to secure their seat.

UCEED vs CEED: Participating Colleges:

The top IITs take part in the UCEED and CEED are as follows:


CEED vs UCEED: Courses

Various courses are available at undergraduate and postgraduate level at various IITs. The students can refer to the difference between UCEED and CEED courses from the table given below.

UCEED Courses

Institution

BDes Courses offered

IIT Bombay

Industrial design, communication design, animation design, interaction design, mobility and vehicle design

IIT Delhi

Product design, visual design

IIT Guwahati

Industrial design, communication design, ergonomics, usability engineering, design management

IIT Hyderabad

Product design, visual design, spatial design, interaction design, user experience design

IIT Roorkee

Product design, material and manufacturing, ergonomics, user experience design, interaction design, visual design

IIITDM Jabalpur

Product design, visual design, interaction design, communication design, craft design

CEED Courses

Institution

MDes Courses offered

IIT Bombay

MDes in Industrial Design, Communication Design, Animation, Interaction Design, Mobility and Vehicle Design , PhD in Design

IIT Delhi

MDes in Industrial Design

IIT Guwahati

MDes in Design, PhD in Design

IIT Hyderabad

MDes in Visual Design, PhD in Design

IIT Roorkee

MDes in Industrial Design

IIITDM Jabalpur

MDes in Design

IIT Kanpur

MDes in Design, PhD in Design

IISc Bangalore

MDes in Product Design and Engineering , PhD in Design

IIITDM Kancheepuram

MDes in Integrated Product Design

IIT Jodhpur

MDes in XR Design

CEED vs UCEED: Fees

The fees for the various IITs are different and the students can join the courses under UCEED with an estimate of 6-8 Lakhs. The CEED courses have a fee of Rs. 30K- Rs. 3.75 Lakhs per annum.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Who is eligible for the CEED exam?
A:

Anybody who has completed under-graduation course were eligible apply for the CEED exam.

Q: What's the entrance fees for CEED?
A:

The application fee for CEED is Rs. 4000. 

Q: What happens after you qualify for UCEED ?
A:

Students who qualify for the UCEED exam and have fulfilled all the eligibility criteria mentioned can join the BDes program.

Q: How many times can I give CEED?
A:

Students can appear in CEED as many times as they want.

Q: Can I get into IIT with UCEED?
A:

Yes, if a candidate has a good UCEED rank and he/she fulfils all the required eligibility for UCEED they can get into IIT.

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Questions related to UCEED

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to UCEED ?

Hello,

NIFT 2026 admission - Applications release around November–December 2025.

UCEED 2026- Registrations open around September–October 2025.

Pearl Academy - They have multiple admission cycles (Jan, April, June). Applications usually open by October 2025 for Jan cycle.

Keep checking official sites regularly since dates shift slightly every year.

Thank you!

Hello!

UCEED is a competitive exam for design aspirants, testing design aptitude, logical thinking, creativity, and visualisation skills. To improve your score out of 300, start by understanding the exam pattern—Part A (objective) and Part B (subjective). For Part A, practice reasoning, numerical aptitude, and environmental & social awareness questions. For Part B, focus on drawing, sketching, and presenting your ideas clearly. Solve past year UCEED papers and join online mock test series. Spend at least 2–3 hours daily practising creative problem-solving and sketching. Also, work on time management because the exam requires quick thinking.

Thank you for reading, and I wish you the best


Hello Akanksha,

For NID DAT 2026, your eligibility is established based on your born date as you are born on or after July 1st 2005. For UCEED 2026, your eligibility is dependent on your born date by category. You are eligible if you are OPEN/EWS/OBC-NCL category and born on or after October 1, 2001. If you are SC/ST/PwD category you must be born on or after October 1, 1996 in order to be eligible. Based on your born date of December 20th, 2006 for both NID DAT 2026 and UCEED 2026; you will be eligible.

The UCEED exam is conducted by IIT Bombay, and the previous year’s question papers  you can download the papers along with answer keys directly from the link given below :

https://design.careers360.com/articles/uceed-previous-year-question-papers

Thank you and all the best!


Currently, NSUT does not offer a B.Des. program. However, other institutes like IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, and IIITDM Jabalpur offer B.Des. through UCEED.

Expected UCEED Cutoffs (General Category):

IIT Bombay: Around Rank 14

IIT Delhi: Around Rank 35

IIITDM Jabalpur: Around Rank 165