If you are dreaming of a career in design, you’ve likely come across two of India’s most prestigious design entrance exams — UCEED and CEED. Both of the exams are conducted by IIT Bombay, but they serve different purposes at different academic levels. Whether you are aiming to pursue a Bachelor of Design (B.Des) or a Master of Design (M.Des), understanding the key differences between these two exams is crucial for planning your academic path effectively. Here is the every aspect of UCEED vs CEED, from eligibility to exam pattern—to help you make the right choice.

UCEED vs CEED: Overview

UCEED and CEED are one of the top entrance exams in the field of design across the country, however many are often confused between these two design exams. The obvious difference between UCEED and CEED entrance exams is that UCEED is conducted to offer admissions to a bachelor’s course in design whereas, the CEED is conducted for admission to the master’s program in design.

The differences between these two entrance exam is listed below:

Particulars	UCEED Entrance Exam	CEED Entrance Exam
Name of the Exam	Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design	Common Entrance Exam for Design
Conducted By	IIT Bombay	IIT Bombay
Programs	Bachelor’s courses (B.Des, B.Des+M.Des)	Master’s course (M.Des)
Level of Exam	National Level Exam	National Level Exam
Language	English	English
Frequency of Exam	Once a year	Once a year
Mode of Exam	Online	Online
Mode of Counselling	Online/Offline	Online

UCEED vs CEED: Eligibility Criteria

The students in order to get into the top design colleges in India such as IITs need to fulfil certain criteria by various colleges. The difference between UCEED and CEED eligibility criteria are given below.

UCEED Eligibility Criteria

The candidates seeking admission into the B.Des programs in IITs and other UCEED accepting colleges must know the know the eligibility criteria that needs to be fulfilled.

• Candidates who are appearing for the UCEED exam must be under the age of 25 on the year of application.
• Candidates can only attempt the UCEED exam twice in a consecutive years.
• The candidates must have completed 10+2 or equivalent in any stream.

CEED Eligibility Criteria

The design aspirants of IITs should fulfil following CEED eligibility criteria.

• Candidates must hold a bachelor’s degree/diploma/postgraduate degree of 3 years after 10+2.
• There is no age limit for appearing the CEED exam.
• There is no restrictions on the number of attempts.

UCEED vs CEED: Participating Colleges

The participating colleges for both UCEED and CEED are mentioned below. UCEED accepting colleges is for undergraduate design programs, offering B.Des courses. On the other hand, CEED participating colleges is for postgraduate design programs and offer M.Des courses.

UCEED Participating Colleges	CEED Participating Colleges
IIT Bombay	IIT Bombay
IIT Guwahati	IIT Delhi
IIT Hyderabad	IIT Guwahati
IIITDM Jabalpur	IIT Hyderabad
IIT Roorkee	IIT Roorkee
IIT Delhi	IIT Kanpur
	IITDM Kancheepuram
	IISc Bangalore

UCEED vs CEED: Courses Offered

Various courses are offered by IITs and other CEED and UCEED participating colleges. The following table showcase the UCEED and CEED courses offered.

UCEED		CEED
Institutions	B.Des Courses Offered	Institutions	M.Des Courses Offered
IIT Bombay	Industrial Design, Communication Design, Animation Design, Interaction Design, Mobility and Vechile Design	IIT Bombay	Industrial Design, Communication Design, Animation Design, Interaction Design, Mobility and Vechile Design, PhD in Design
IIT Guwahati	Industrial Design, Communication Design, Ergonomics, Usability Engineering, Design Management	IIT Delhi	M.Des in Industrial Design
IIT Hyderabad	Product Design, Visual Design, Spatial Design, Interaction Design, User-experience Design	IIT Guwahati	M.Des in Design, PhD in Design
IIITDM Jabalpur	Product Design, Visual Design, Interaction Design, Communication Design, Craft Design	IIT Hyderabad	M.Des in Visual Design, PhD in Design
IIT Roorkee	Product Design, Material & Manufacturing, Ergonomics, User-experience Design, Interaction Design, Visual Design	IIT Roorkee	M.Des in Industrial Design
IIT Delhi	Product Design, Visual Design	IITDM Kancheepuram	M.Des in Integrated Product Design
		IISc Bangalore	M.Des in Product Design and Engineering, PhD in Design
		IIT Kanpur	M.Des in Design, PhD in Design
		IIITDM Jabalpur	M.Des in Design

UCEED vs CEED: Counselling

The UCEED counselling will be conducted after the result declaration of the 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 a 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 also need to appear for an entrance 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: Exam Pattern

The differentiation between exam pattern of UCEED and exam pattern of CEED is mentioned below.

UCEED Exam pattern

• The Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design (UCEED) is divided into two parts: Part A, which has 3 sections namely—Numerical Answer Type (NAT), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ), and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ); Part B, which test the ability to draw products, people, or scenes in proportion with good line quality, composition, proportion, perspective, and shading.
• There will be ONE question paper of a total of 3 hours duration (Part A—2 hours + Part B–1 hours).
• The UCEED exam paper will be in English language and of total 300 marks.
• It is compulsory to attempt both Part A and Part B.
• Marks distribution is tabulated below:

Parts	Type of Questions	No. of Questions	Correct Answer Marks	Wrong Answer Marks	Total Marks for Section
PART A (Online)	NAT	18	4	0	72
	MSQ	18	Partial Marking	-1	72
	MCQ	32	3	-0.71	96
PART B (Offline)	Sketching	1	–	–	60
Total Marks					300

CEED Exam Pattern

• The Common Entrance Exam for Design (CEED) is consists of two parts: Part A and Part B.
• Part A includes Numerical Aptitude Test (NAT), Multiple Select Questions (MSQ), and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ). Part B includes drawing-based question.
• The exam pattern for CEED is quite similar to UCEED exam, however the UCEED syllabus is different from CEED syllabus.
• There will be ONE question paper of a total of 3 hours duration. (Part A—1 hours + Part B–2 hours).
• The marks distribution is tabulated below:

Parts	Type of Questions	No. of Questions	Correct Answer Marks	Wrong Answer Marks	Total Marks for Section
PART A (Online)	NAT	8	3	0	24
	MSQ	10	3	-0.25	30
	MCQ	23	2	-0.5	46
PART B (Offline)	Drawing	1	–	–	100
Total Marks					200

Both UCEED and CEED are your tickets into India’s top design institutes, but they cater to different stages of your academi journey. UCEED is the starting point for young aspirants wanting to dive into design straight after schooling. CEED, on the other hand, is meant for individuals with a design foundation or those seeking a higher level of design thinking and research. Aspiring designers are encouraged to consider their career goals, academic backgrounds, and CEED preparation strategies and UCEED entrance exam guide  in light of these differences.

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