CEED 2026 Cutoff for IITs: Year-wise Cutoff, Formula for Cutoff Calculation and Part B Evaluation

Formula to determine CEED shortlisting criteria is µ + (σ 2) = δ, where µ and σ are average marks and standard deviation of distribution of marks obtained by all candidates in Part-A of CEED. 

µ and σ will be rounded off after first decimal place. 

Candidates belonging to reserved categories shall have to fulfill a relaxed cut-off mark. It will be

0.9 for EWS

0.5 for SC/ST

0.5 for PwD

IIT Bombay released the qualifying marks for CEED 2023 - Part A on February 9, 2023. The qualifying cut-off was released in the form of Standard and Mean Deviations.

Note that the cut-off marks for Part A are the minimum marks the candidate needs to secure in the paper to get shortlisted. Further, Part B answer booklets of only shortlisted candidates will be evaluated. To be included in the CEED 2024 merit list, the candidate also must qualify Part A.

IIT Bombay will release the qualifying cut-off for Part A in the first week of February 2026. Cut-off is released in the form of mean and standard deviation. 

The mean and standard deviation for Part-A (CEED 2025) are 45.48 and 16.98, respectively and for Part A (CEED 2024) were 41.90 and 16.72, respectively.

The qualifying cut-off is the minimum marks a candidate needs to score in the paper to get shortlisted. Part B answer booklets will only be evaluated if the candidate gets shortlisted.

So, if you don’t meet Part A cut-off marks, you will not get shortlisted and you Part B answer booklets will not be evaluated. Also, note that only shortlisted candidates will be assigned a merit rank in CEED 2026.

The participating institute of CEED 2026 will consider the following points for determining the admission cut-off:

• The number of candidates appearing in CEED 2026

• The performance of candidates in the exam

• The merit ranks of applicants seeking admission to the college

• Total seat intake

• Category under which admission is sought

• Previous years’ cutoff trends

Note that the above factors are variables; so, if any of these factors change, the cut-off would also change.

IIT Bombay will not release any admission cut-offs for CEED 2026. Note that unlike UCEED, IIT Bombay doesn't conduct any Joint Seat Allotment.

In fact, IIT Bombay is only responsible for conduct of the CEED exam and declaration of results.

Candidates will have to apply to the participating institute themselves based on their CEED 2026 scores. These participating institutes will then prepare admission cut-off based on parameters like number of applicants, seat intake, category under which admission is sought, etc.

The CEED 2026 exam will have two mandatory parts - Part A and Part B. Interestingly, Part B answer booklet will be evaluated only if the candidate qualifies Part A. If the candidate fails to qualify Part A or doesn’t meet the qualifying cut-off, then his or her Part A answer booklet will not be evaluated. 

The scorecards of candidates who fails to meet Part A cut-off would only include Part A marks. Part B and Total marks, along with merit rank, will only be issued to those candidates who meet the cut-off.

IIT Bombay declares the names of the CEED participating institutes at the time of the release of the admission notification or sometime thereabout. Also, the number of participating instittutes may change from one year to another. So, we can’t say that the number of participating institutes is fixed.

In fact, IIT Bomaby in consultation with the member institutes decides the list of participating institutes. Note that the IIT Bombay conducts a Joint Seat Allotment Process for the participating institutes. Also, participating institutes can only use CEED scores for admission purposes.

Master of Design (MDes) programs is offered at IDC School of Design at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Bombay). combined seat intake for theprogrammestands at 31. Check category-wise and specializatio-wise seat intake in table below. 

candidate can apply to CEED 2026 participating institutes after CEED 2026 results. Candidates will be shortlisted for admission based on their merit ranks.

Note that candidates belonging to reserved categories will be considered for admission under both open and reserved category. So, if you are not included in the merit list for open category, you needn’t worry. You will be considered for admission under your reserved category. That being said the candidate needs to note that the seat alloted in the open category and reserved category may not match, just in case you meet cut-off for both categories.

In that case you need to decide which seat to accept and which seat to decline. 

IIT Roorkee doesn't offer PhD in Design course through CEED. It only offers a MDes in Industrial Design. Admission to the M.Des programme will be based on CEED 2026 merit rank. The candidate will have to apply directly to the participating college once results are declared.

Seats available for CEED admission vary from one institute to the other (that accept the exam scores for admission). For e. g, IIT Hyderabad has 30 seats, while IISc Bangalore has 18 seats. Candidates are informed that CEED is just a qualifying exam. Thus, any aspirant who clears CEED exam may have to appear in further admission rounds that may be conducted by the participating college. The application process at the participating colleges typically open once the CEED entrance exam results are announced.

Qualifying cutoff for CEED 2026 will be calculated categorywise. Formula used to calculate cutoff is given below.

 

It is a good idea for candidate to have an idea about the cut-off marks for participating institutes. For one, this will help candidate check the cut-off trends across the years. Candidate will also provide insights into details, which institute has highest cut-off. By gaining insights into the cut-off, the candidate will be able to prepare for the CEED exam accordingly.

If candidate is eying one of the top exams, cut-off would be going to be high. So, candidate must check cut-off for their category and check out what rank range is a safe bet for admission.

Yes, IIT Kanpur will offer a PhD in Design course through CEED 2026. Candidates seeking admission to the program need to take the CEED 2025 entrance exam. The application forms for CEED will open in October 2025.

Note that IIT Bombay will not consult any joint counselling for PhD candidates. As such, shortlisted candidates will have to apply directly to the participating institute.

The CEED 2026 exam has two parts - Part A and Part B. The Part B answer booklet will be evaluated only if the candidate qualifies Part A. The minimum marks needed to qualify Part A is the qualifying cut-off for CEED 2026 - Part A. 

On the other hand, the admission cut-off would be released by the CEED 2026 participating institutes. It is the minimum score one needs to score for admission to the M.Des programmein their chosen category.