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What is CEED Full Form, CEED Exam is for What Purpose

What is CEED Full Form, CEED Exam is for What Purpose

Edited By Sumeet Sudarshan | Updated on Jul 18, 2025 11:11 AM IST | #CEED
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CEED full form is the Common Entrance Exam for Design. IIT Bombay conducts CEED for admissions into PG design and PhD programmes of participating IITs and other institutes. It is a national-level entrance examination conducted to select students into M.Des programmes with different design specialisation options. The CEED entrance exam is conducted once a year. As per past trends seen in the CEED 2026 schedule, IIT Bombay will tentatively conduct CEED 2026 in January 2026. Read on to get all the details of the Common Entrance Exam for Design.

This Story also Contains
  1. What is the CEED Exam: Overview
  2. CEED Full Form
  3. CEED Conducting Body
  4. CEED Official Website
  5. CEED Exam is for What Purpose?
  6. CEED Exam Eligibility Criteria
  7. What is CEED Exam?
  8. CEED Exam Participating Institutions
  9. Courses Offered under CEED
What is CEED Full Form, CEED Exam is for What Purpose
what is ceed

What is the CEED Exam: Overview

Particulars

CEED

CEED exam Full form

Common Entrance Examination for Design

Conducting Authority

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Official Website

ceed.iitb.ac.in

Application Form Start Date

October 2025 (tentative)

CEED Exam Fees

Rs. 3800

Exam Pattern

Part A: NAT, MSQ, MCQ

Part B: Drawing

Course Offered

Postgraduate and PhD

CEED Exam Eligibility Criteria

No Age Limit

Must have completed graduation

No limit on the number of attempts

Participating CEED Colleges

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

Fees

Rs. 30K- Rs. 3.75 Lakhs per annum

CEED Courses Offered

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 Full Form

The CEED full form is Common Entrance Examination for Design. As the CEED full form suggests, the exam is conducted at a national level by the IIT Bombay every year to select design students. To understand the CEED exam for what purpose, read below.

CEED Conducting Body

The CEED conducting body is the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, which sets the rules and regulations of the exam and also releases the notification on the official website regarding the entrance and other updates.

CEED Official Website

The students should know about the CEED official website, which is ceed.iitb.ac.in. Candidates can check the updates regarding the exam, from the application to the results, on the official website. The students can also find the official brochure for reference here.

CEED Exam is for What Purpose?

CEED is a national-level entrance exam for students who want to join MDes courses. The purpose of the CEED exam is to select the best candidates for the MDes and PhD course admission. Various IITs and other CEED colleges accepting CEED results offer courses specialised in design studies. These are the subjects offered in the top colleges at MDes level.

CEED Exam Eligibility Criteria

The Common Entrance Examination for Design has some set CEED exam eligibility criteria that the students’ need to fulfil. Not fulfilling the CEED exam eligibility criteria might mean that the students will not be able to take admission into the desired college. All the CEED colleges participating in this exam have different sets of eligibility criteria. However, the most common ones that are required as the CEED exam eligibility criteria are listed below.

  • The student must have completed and graduated from any recognized institution. He/she must have completed the degree/diploma / postgraduate degree of a minimum of 3 years after 10 + 2.

  • There is no upper age limit of the student who is appearing for the exam.

  • The number of attempts in this exam also does not have a restriction.

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What is CEED Exam?

The duration of this exam is 3 hours, and the total marks is 250. Within the three hours the students need to attempt two parts of the exam. Part A of the exam is 1 hour and duration and is conducted online. Part B of the exam is conducted offline and has a duration of 2 hours. The details of the pattern of the exam are discussed below.

CEED Exam Pattern: Part A

As per CEED exam pattern, part A has a duration of 1 hour in which the students need to attempt online questions which consist of Numerical Answer Type, Multiple Select Questions and Multiple-Choice Questions. The CEED total mark for part A is 150. The number of questions that the students need to attempt in part a of CEED exam is 44. Each type of question in Part A has a different marking pattern to it and it also has negative markings. The marking scheme of part A has been explained below.

CEED Exam Pattern for Part A:

Type of Question

Number of Questions

Question Number

CEED Marking of Correct Answer

CEED Negative Marking

CEED Marking if Question Not Attempted

Total Marks

NAT

8

1-8

4

-0

0

32

MSQ

10

9-18

Partial Marking

-1

0

40

MCQ

26

18-44

3

-0.5

0

78

Total

44

1-44




150

CEED Exam Pattern - Part B

The CEED Part B has 5 questions for 20 marks each. This part is conducted offline, and the students need to draw the answers on sheets of paper. The total mark of this part is 100. The students need to show their creativity and drawing skills.

Section

Number of Questions

Question Number

Partial Marks

Negative Marks

Marks

Sketching

1

1

Yes

No

20

Creativity

1

2

Yes

No

20

Form Sensitivity

1

3

Yes

No

20

Visual Sensitivity

1

4

Yes

No

20

Problem Identification

1

5

Yes

No

20

Total

5

1-5



100

To score well in the exam, it is suggested that the students refer to the CEED previous year question papers which can help them understand the questions better. The CEED's previous year question papers are available on the official website.

CEED Exam Participating Institutions

The full form of the CEED exam reveals that the exam is for Design courses. It is a national-level exam in which top CEED colleges offering Master of Design courses take part. The students who want to take admission into the top IITs must appear for this exam. Many top institutions in India that offer M.Des, who are a part of this exam, are - IISc Bangalore, IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIITDM Kancheepuram.

Courses Offered under CEED

Institution

MDes CEED 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, Product Design, Interaction Design, Design Studies, 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

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Which institutes accept the CEED score?

The institutes that accept the CEED 2026 score are Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design & Technology, Jain (Deemed-to-be-University), JK Lakshmipat University, etc.

2. Who conducts the CEED exam?

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IITB) conducts the CEED entrance exam.

3. What is the use of a CEED exam?

CEED exam is an entrance exam conducted nationally to screen out the MDes and PhD aspirants of IITs and other top colleges.

4. Who is eligible for the CEED exam?

Students who have an undergraduate degree of minimum 3 years can apply.

5. What happens after qualifying the CEED exam?

After qualifying the CEED exam candidates need to apply for MDes and PhD in various IITs. They need to appear in another written test and an interview and finally if they qualify all the rounds, they get a seat and need to pay a seat acceptance fee and admission fee.

6. What is the degree of the CEED exam?

CEED exam is for MDes and PhD aspirants.

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Questions related to CEED

Have a question related to CEED ?

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.

Actually You'll be eligible for both years CEED 2025 & CEED 2026.


You can give CEED 2025 because during that time you'll be in your last year of graduation and you're eligible to give CEED EXAM while you're in your final year of graduation.


BUT remember one thing that if you are applying in 2026 you will be eligible for year 2027 session which will be loss of your one precious year so be careful and decide what you want.


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