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.
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 ability, creativity, logical reasoning, drawing skills and communication skills.
- 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 Participating Institutes - Category-wise seats
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
Commonly asked questions
The counseling for UCEED 2026 will be conducted online as a Joint Seat Allocation process. The counseling will be conducted in a centralized manner.
You should bring pens, pencils, sketch pens and colours for UCEED examination. You are not allowed to bring any electronic devices like mobile phones, smart phones, digital/smart watches, calculators, and tablets.
The UCEED 2026 application form is to be filled by candidates seeking admission to the B. Des programme. Also, UCEED 2026 scores is not considered for admission to the M.Des programme. So, the candidates must instead fill out the application form for CEED 2026. Note that both the CEED and UCEED exams are conducted by IIT Bombay.
The application form for UCEED 2026 was open from October 1-31, 2025 (regular fees). Note that the CEED 2026 application form was also open and had the same schedule.
You can download candidate responses for Part-A of UCEED 2026 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.
Using the candidate responses, the candidate can check their answers with those given in the answer key. This will help to calculate probable scores and thus chances of admission.
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.
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 |
|
Commonly asked questions
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.
The seat allotment to UCEED 2026 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 2026 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 2026 and college option opted at the time of counseling registration. Also, to be included in the UCEED 2026 merit list, the candidate needs to have qualified Part A. Note that Part B answer booklets will be evaluated if the candidate qualifies Part A.
Admission to the B. Des programme at UCEED 2026 participating colleges will be on the basis of UCEED 2026 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. Note that to get a merit rank in UCEED 2026, candidates must have qualified Part A. In case the candidate fails to qualify Part A, his or her Part B answer booklet will not be evaluated.
Explore colleges based on UCEED
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.
- Higher marks in Part-B will be given preference.
- If the tie is still there, higher marks in Section 2 of Part-A will be considered.
- If the tie still exists, higher marks in Section 1 of Part-A will determine the rank.
- 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 2025 Topper Name |
Marks |
|---|---|---|
| AIR 1 | Shreyansh Agarwal | 230.16 |
| AIR 9 | Manasvi Saratchandar | 201.53 |
Commonly asked questions
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.
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.
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.
The cut off marks for UCEED 2026 Part A were released on February 05, 2026.
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 |
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 |
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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Student Forum
Answered 6 days ago
No, students can not get admission in Symbiosis Institute of Design Nagpur with UCEED scores. The institute conducts its own entrance exam. Students must appear for the Symbiosis Entrance Exam for Design - SEEED instead.
B
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
Yes, Arch College of Design and Business accepts UCEED scores for admission to BDes course. Students with a valid UCEED rank may be exempt from parts of the AIEED exam, though they still have to complete the interview and situation test rounds. This provides an alternative path for students who have
R
Contributor-Level 9
Answered a month ago
UCEED Exam analysis will provide insights into exam, including sectional and overall difficulty level, types of questions asked, and expected cut-off. Analysis also informs candidate if there were any technical or other issues during the exam. Candidate, thus by consulting UCEED exam analysis, will
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
Yes, you need to fill the ADEPT Application form even if you have scored rank under 2500 in UCEED. Only one step will be eliminated, which is ADEPT written exam.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Ecole Intuit Lab, New Delhi offers both merit and entrance based admission to its BVoc programme. The students may get selected without a valid UCEED score as well. However, the candidates may have to go through other selection rounds.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
Yes, the UCEED Result was out. It was showing 502 Bad Gateway initially, due to heavy traffic on the website.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
To fill the Common application form for B.Des released by IIT Bombay,
- Digital copies of relevant supporting documents, and the signed copy of the completed application form.
- Supporting documents required for the application are digital copies of photograph, signature, UCEED Score Card, qualifying e
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
The qualifying cut-off for UCEED 2026 will be prepared based on the following formulae: 𝜇 + (𝜎⁄2) = 𝛿, where 𝜇 and 𝜎 are the average marks and standard deviation of distribution of marks obtained by all the candidates in Part-A of UCEED 2026.
- 𝜇, 𝜎, and 𝛿 will be rounded-off to two decimal p
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
UCEED 2026 question paper will have two parts, Part A and Part B. Part B answer booklet will be checked only if a candidate qualifies Part A or meets cut-off. The qualifying cut-off for Part A will be determined by admission committee. It will be used to shortlist candidates for Part A. All candidat
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 months ago
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-
S
Contributor-Level 10

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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