UCEED Marks vs Rank: What is UCEED Marks and Rank, Cutoff and Seat Intake

Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design 2026 ( UCEED )

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UCEED 2027 Exam DATE

17 Jan '27

Sayeba
Sayeba Naushad
Assistant Manager
Updated on Jul 22, 2026 09:57 IST
The difference between UCEED Marks and UCEED Rank is that Marks refer to the raw numerical value obtained by a candidate in each part of the exam (Part A and Part B) and UCEED Rank is the position of the candidate in the national merit list based on the final score. UCEED Exam is to be conducted on January 18, 2026.

Are you confused between UCEED marks and rank? If yes, then there is no need to worry because in this article, we will see what the difference is between these two and how they work. Read on to know in detail.

UCEED Marks Vs Rank

UCEED Marks Vs Rank

Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design (UCEED) is a national level entrance exam conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay for admission to Bachelor of Design (BDes) programs across various IITs and participating institutes. UCEED checks a candidate’s design aptitude, including visual perception abilitycreativitylogical reasoningdrawing skills and communication skills.

Table of contents
  • What is the difference between UCEED Marks and UCEED Score?
  • What is UCEED Marks or Score?
  • UCEED Exam Pattern and Marks
  • What is UCEED Rank?
  • UCEED Topper List
  • UCEED 2026 Cut-off Formula
  • UCEED 2026 Joint Counseling Cutoff
  • UCEED 2026 Participating Institutes - Category-wise seats
View More

What is the difference between UCEED Marks and UCEED Score?

The difference between UCEED Marks and UCEED Rank is that Marks refer to the raw numerical value obtained by a candidate in each part of the exam (Part A and Part B) and UCEED Rank is the position of the candidate in the national merit list based on the final score.

In other words, we can say that

  • Marks = What you got in UCEED paper
  • Rank = What is your position
Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   What will be the mode of UCEED counseling?
A: 

The counseling for UCEED 2026 will be conducted online as a Joint Seat Allocation process. The counseling will be conducted in a centralized manner.

Q:   Is the UCEED application the same for the B. Des and M.Des courses?
A: 

The UCEED application form is to be filled by candidates seeking admission to the B. Des programme. Also, UCEED scores are not considered for admission to the M.Des programme. So, the candidates must instead fill out the application form for CEED . Note that both the CEED and UCEED exams are conducted by IIT Bombay.

Q:   Can I download candidate responses for UCEED Part A after results are declared?
A: 

You can download candidate responses for Part-A of UCEED only till the declaration of the UCEED result. The download option will be disabled once the UCEED results are declared. No further requests will be entertained in this regard.

Q:   When will UCEED cutoff released for Round I?
A: 

The admission cut-off for Round I of UCEED 2026 was released on April 21, 2026.

This will be followed by the 2nd allotment on May 19, 2026. UCEED 3rd round of allotment will be declared on June 10, 2026.

What is UCEED Marks or Score?

The marks obtained by a candidate in the UCEED 2026 Entrance Exam in Part A and Part B will be known as UCEED Marks. UCEED 2026 question paper will carry 300 Marks. UCEED Part A is of 200 marks and Part B is of 100 marks. Students must attempt both parts of the question paper. For example, Alex got 210 out of 300 in UCEED Entrance Exam. So, 210 will be Marks.

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UCEED Exam Pattern and Marks

The following table shows the Exam parts, sections, number of questions and marks for UCEED Exam.

UCEED Exam Parts

Sections

No. of Questions

Marks for every correct answer 

Marks for every wrong answer

Total Marks

Part A

NAT

14

4

0

56

MSQ

15

Partial marking

- 1

60

MCQ

28

3

- 0.71

84

 

Total

57

 

 

200

Part B

 

Sketching

1

-

-

50

Design Aptitude

1

-

-

50

Total

2

 

 

100

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   What is the category-wise seat intake for the B. Des programme at IIT Bombay through UCEED?
A: 
IIT Bombay is among the top design colleges in the country. So, most candidates appearing in the UCEED exam will want to know about the category-wise seat matrix at the institute: Open category - 15 seats EWS - 3 seats OBC-NCL - 10 seats SC - 5 seats ST - 2 seats ST-PwD - 1 seat Note that candidates belonging to open category will not be considered for admission under other categories. However, candidates belonging to reserved categories will also be considered for admission under open category.
Q:   Will I be considered for admission to the B. Des programme at UCEED participating colleges if I do not get a merit rank?
A: 

The seat allotment to UCEED participating colleges will be through the Joint Admission Process conducted by IIT Bombay. Note that only such candidates who have been allocated a merit rank in UCEED are eligible to participate in the seat allotment process.

The allotment of seats will be on the basis of merit rank of the candidate in UCEED and the college option opted at the time of counseling registration. 

Q:   What is the criteria for admission to B.Des programme offered by a UCEED participating institute?
A: 

Admission to the B. Des programme at UCEED participating colleges will be on the basis of UCEED merit rank. So, candidates with a higher rank will get preference in the seat allotment process. The admission committee will also consider the college option opted by the candidate and their order of priority. 

Q:   Will UCEED 2026 exam analysis also include the expected cut-off?
A: 

On the day of the UCEED 2026 exam, shikha.com correspondents did a live coverage of the exam. Our correspondents spoke to the exam takers once they came out of the exam hall and tried to extract all the key information about the exam and corresponding events.

This student interaction includes insights on the expected cut-off as well. The student were also asked to explain why they believe the cut-off would be what they think. The candidate by consulting the exam analysis would be able to access their performance.

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What is UCEED Rank?

All shortlisted candidates will be allotted a common merit rank (All India Rank). All shortlisted candidates are considered qualified candidates in UCEED 2026. Rank list will be prepared based on the total marks (Part-A marks and Part-B marks combined) in UCEED 2026. For example, Alex who got 210 marks is allotted a merit rank of 2 , then 2 will be his UCEED rank.

In case of a tie, the following tie-break policy will be applied.

  1. Higher marks in Part-B will be given preference.
  2. If the tie is still there, higher marks in Section 2 of Part-A will be considered.
  3. If the tie still exists, higher marks in Section 1 of Part-A will determine the rank.
  4. If there’s still a tie, candidates will be assigned the same rank.

All shortlisted candidates will be assigned a Common Merit Rank (CMR).

UCEED Topper List

Names of UCEED Toppers are given below.

Rank

UCEED 2026 Topper Name

Marks

AIR 9 Yuvraj 218.37/300
AIR 42 Dhriti 205.16/300

Rank

UCEED 2025 Topper Name

Marks

AIR 1 Shreyansh Agarwal 230.16
AIR 9 Manasvi Saratchandar 201.53
Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   What is the UCEED cut-off for admission to B. Des programme at IIT Bombay?
A: 

IIT Bombay is among the most popular institutes to pursue a design course in India. So, it is no surprise that cut-off for admission to the institute is pretty high. 

Q:   How can I select a UCEED 2026 participating institute for admission to the B.Des programme?
A: 

The candidate has to select a participating institute at the time of filling the UCEED 2026 counseling application form. The allotment of seats will be based on the merit rank of the candidate in UCEED 2026 and college option opted for at the time of registration. The admission committee will given preference to the higher ranked candidate in the allotment process. So, to give oneself a better chance of getting admission to ones preferred college, one must try to get a higher rank.

Q:   When will cut-off marks be released for UCEED 2026 Part A?
A: 

The cut off marks for UCEED 2026 Part A were released on February 05, 2026.

Q:   Can I get admission in IIT Hyderabad with 100 merit rank in UCEED 2026?
A: 

The closing rank for IIT Hyderabad was 42 for the General AI category. So, if you secure a merit rank of 100 in the UCEED 2026 exam, you chances of admission to the BDes might be very low. To have a good chance of admission into the institute, you must target a UCEED merit rank within the top 40. However, note that if you belong to reserved categories, in that case the cut-off would be lower.

UCEED 2026 Cut-off Formula

UCEED Cut off is calculated as General/Open Category: Mean + (Z × Standard Deviation) = 61.50 + (0.2 × 25.69) = 66.63 (Rounded to 100 for the final cut-off)

Category Minimum % in Each Section Overall Qualifying Score
Open/General 10% 100
OBC-NCL/EWS 9% 90
SC/ST/PwD 5% 50

UCEED 2026 Joint Counseling Cutoff

The cutoff for UCEED 2026 conducted by IIT Bombay is given below.

UCEED Seat Allotment Rounds UCEED 2026 Cutoff PDF
UCEED Seat Allotment Round I Download Here 
UCEED Seat Allotment Round II Download Here 
UCEED Seat Allotment Round III Download Here 
UCEED Seat Allotment Round IV Download Here 
UCEED Seat Allotment Round V Download Here 

Expected Cut-off Percentage for Different Categories

The expected cutoff for different categories is as follows.

Category Minimum % in Each Section Overall Qualifying Score
Open/General 10% 100
OBC-NCL/EWS 9% 90
SC/ST/PwD 5% 50
Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   Can students from Commerce/ Arts or Humanities apply for admission to IIT Guwahati through UCEED 2027?
A: 

Yes, candidates from all streams can fill the application form of UCEED. Also, note that Biology will not be considered in place of Mathematics. The application form for UCEED 2027 must be filled out by candidates after ascertaining their eligibility. IIT Roorkee has the same eligibility criteria as IIT Guwahati.

 

Q:   When will admission through UCEED 2027 begin at IITs?
A: 

Application to BDes Programmes at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Indore, IIT Roorkee and IIITDM Jabalpur (Participating Institutes) will begin from March 14, 2027(Tentatively), 10:00 Hrs. 

Q:   Will UCEED cut-off be round specific?
A: 

Yes, UCEED Cutoff will be round specific. It will be released separately for each round of seat allotment. Candidates who meet cut-off criteria in their categories will be considered for admission to the B. Des programme.

Cut-off for each round will be different for various categories like OPEN, OBC-NCL, SC, ST, etc. 

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UCEED 2026 Participating Institutes - Category-wise seats

Admission to these seats will be based on UCEED 2026 merit ranks.

Institute Open Open-PwD EWS EWS-PwD OBC-NCL OBC-NCL-PwD SC SC-PwD ST ST-PwD Total
IIT Bombay 14 0 4 1 9 0 5 1 3 0 37
IIT Delhi 8 1 2 0 5 0 3 0 1 0 20
IIT Guwahati 22 1 6 0 15 0 7 1 3 1 56
IIT Hyderabad 11 1 3 0 8 0 4 1 2 0 30
IIT Roorkee 8 0 2 0 4 1 3 0 2 0 20
IIITDM Jabalpur 25 1 6 1 18 0 10 0 4 1 66
IIT Indore 6 1 2 0 4 0 2 0 1 0 16
Total 94 5 25 2 63 1 34 3 16 2 245

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About the Author
author-image
Sayeba Naushad
Assistant Manager

Sayeba Naushad is a commerce postgraduate from Banaras Hindu University. She has over five years of experience in content writing and editing. She has a nose for current events in design field. At Shiksha.com, she s

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Student Forum

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Write here...

Answered 3 days ago

MIT-WPU, Pune offers scholarships to BDes students based on their UCEED rank. Below is the UCEED score requirement to get the scholarship:

Scholarship for AY 2026-27

UCEED Rank

Dr. Vishwanath Karad Scholarship (100%)

Upto 800 All India Rank

MIT-WPU Scholarship I (50%)

801-2000 All India Rank

MIT-WPU Scholarship II (25%)

2001 to 2500 All India Rank

N

Nishtha Shukla

Guide-Level 15

Answered 5 days ago

 IIT Bombay UCEED cutoff 2026 was 16 for the General AI category in the last round. Hence, this category of students need a rank of at least 16 or lower to be qualified for admission. To know the IIT Bombay branch-wise cutoff 2026, students can check the table below. 

CategoryIIT Bombay UCEED cutoff 2026
General16
OBC16
SC8
ST5
EWS5
OBC Non-Creamy PWD1

 

N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered a week ago

Yes, 20 might be an excellent rank for gaining admission to the IIT Delhi BDes course if you belong to the General or OBC AI category. For both these categories, the last round closing ranks were 28 and 32, respectively.

Students can check the table below to know the highest rank accepted by differe

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered a month ago

UCEED is one of the accepting exams for admission in BDes programme of MIT-WPU, Pune. However, it is not mandatory. Aspirants with scores in NATA, NIFT Entrance Exam or NID or MIT-WPU CET can also get admission in BDes provided they also pass the selection rounds.

R

Rashmi Karan

Contributor-Level 9

Answered a month ago

Yes, UCEED Exam score is accepted for NMIMS DAT Admission. Such candidates have to submit their portfolios and appear for a Personal interview. 

S

Sayeba Naushad

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 months ago

Yes, 30 could be considered a good enough rank for admission to the BDes course at IIT Hyderabad.

For the General AI category, the highest rank acceptable was 42. So, the attained rank of 30 might get you admitted at IIT Hyderabad.

It also worth knowing if you belong to any reservered category, its no

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 months ago

Both institutions offer the BDes course but with completely different admission processes. IIT Indore accepts admission based on the UCEED entrance exam, while BITS Pilani considers the NID Entrance exam/ BITSAT exam result. 

See the table below to compare both insttutions on different factors: 

InstitutionNIRF RankingTuition Fee
BITS Pilani11₹ 30.8L
IIT Indore12₹ 8.5L

 

N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 months ago

To get a seat at this institution, students have to first attempt the UCEED entrance exam and then appear for the counselling process to be considered eligible for admission to the UG-level course.

The IIITDM Jabalpur BDes cutoff 2026 was published till round 3 for various All India categories, like

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 months ago

To get a seat at IIT Hyderabad for the BDes course, students have to first attempt the UCEED entrance exam and then appear for the counselling process. Only those who have appeared in the counselling process are considered eligible for the UG-level course.

The IIT Hyderabad cutoff 2026 has been publi

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10

Answered 2 months ago

Yes, you can get into IIT Delhi with a rank of 30 if you belong to the OBC AI quota. As per the IIT Delhi BDes cutoff 2026 for the third round, the cutoff for this category was 32

Hence, getting admission with a rank of 30 is possible for the OBC AI category. Other categories, rounds, etc., will ha

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

Contributor-Level 10