4 Time Management Tips to Crack the UCEED Exam 2026
Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design 2026 ( UCEED )
Exam On - 18 Jan '26
UCEED 2026 question paper has two parts - Part A and B. Part A will include 57 objective questions that have to be attempted in 2 hours; Part B will include a sketching-based and aptitude-based question that has to be completed in i hour. Here we bring you easy but effective tips to manage time better in the UCEED entrance exam.
UCEED Time Management Tips
UCEED is one of the most competitive entrance exams for B.Des admission in the country. So, if you intend to do well in the exam and get a good score, you must learn time management, among other things. It is because while many candidates do develop the skill to solve a problem, they find themselves high and dry on exam day because of their tortoise-esque speed. Many times, they also lack time-management tricks. So, here we bring some useful UCEED 2026 time-management tips to help you ride the tide!
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Latest Update:
UCEED 2026 question paper included a total of 59 questions. The section-wise questions asked in Part A was: NAT (14), MSQs (15), and MCQs (28). Part B included a solitary Drawing-based question. The section-wise difficulty level of UCEED 2026 is given below.
Part A | Number of questions | Total marks | Difficulty level |
NAT | 14 | 56 | Moderate |
MSQ | 15 | 60 | Moderate to difficult |
MCQ | 28 | 84 | Easy to moderate |
Part B of the question paper included a sketching-based question of moderate difficulty level. The question will carry100 marks.
The important topics for UCEED 2026 Part B are given below.
- Drawing: Ability to draw products, people or scenes in proportion with good line quality, composition, proportion, perspective and shading.
- Design Aptitude Capability to practically and appropriately respond to problems/situations with ingenuity and empathy.
UCEED 2026 question paper will have two Parts - A and B. Part A will be conducted in a computer-based mode and comprise 57 questions that candidates need to answer in two hours. Meanwhile, Part B will include a sketching-based and an aptitude-based question, which have to be attempted in 60 minutes. The total mark for the UCEED exam is 300. Part A of the UCEED exam will be further divided into three sections. The first section would consist of Numerical Answer Type (NAT) questions and the second and third sections would have Multiple Select Questions (MSQ) and Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ), respectively.
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- Question Paper Pattern of UCEED 2026
- Updates on the UCEED 2026 Exam
- 4 Time Management Tips for UCEED 2026
Question Paper Pattern of UCEED 2026
Check out the exam patten of UCEED Question paper.
| Particulars | Part A | Part B |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum Time | 2 hours | 1 hour |
| Mode of Exam | Online as a Computer-Based Test (CBT) | Offline |
| Medium of Instruction | English | English |
| Sections and number of questions |
|
Sketching-based - 1 Design Aptitude-based - 1 |
| Number of Questions | 57 | 2 |
| Total Marks | 200 | 100 |
Updates on the UCEED 2026 Exam
IIT Bombay will conduct the UCEED exam 2026 on January 18, 2026. The exam will be held in 27 cities. The UCEED 2026 admit card is available for download on the website. Candidates must carry the Admit card to the UCEED Exam centre. The exam is from 9 AM to 1 PM. The reporting time is 7 AM.
4 Time Management Tips for UCEED 2026
Here are the tips that will help you complete the UCEED 2026 question paper on time. So, go through them carefully.
1) Allot time for each question
UCEED 2026 will comprise 59 questions that aspirants need to attempt in a 3-hour duration. There is a further bifurcation in the time allotted to solve each section of the exam. There are 57 questions in Part A, which need to be solved in 2 hours, and 2 questions (one drawing and one aptitude-based question) in Part B, which need to be solved in 1 hour. This means the candidate has very limited time to solve the paper. However, aspirants are advised to keep two minutes for solving each question and save the remaining time for re-visiting the questions that they couldn't complete in the first attempt.
Since Part A of UCEED 2026 will be a computer-based test, the candidate can easily navigate to questions that they mark for re-checking or questions that they do not answer in the first go. So, it is quite easy for aspirants to go back and solve the questions that they did not attempt initially.
There is no specific number as such that you need to solve. But that being said, you must try to solve as many sample papers as possible for UCEED 2026. Note that at the initial stage, when you are starting of you exam preparation, you will not be able to solve the complete sample paper. It is only in the last few months, or may be weeks, that you can solve all the questions given in the sample papers. So, if you are able to solve may be say 10 odd sample papers before the exam, you will be in a good place to do well. There are multiple benefits of solving sample papers. The prime being, it will help you develop problem-solving and time-management skills.
IIT Bombay usually doesn’t conduct any mock tests for the UCEED exam. So, the candidate may take mock tests conducted for other entrance exams to prepare for UCEED 2026 exam. The candidate may note that in this case the mocks will help them understand how an online exam is administered and the navigation process. However, it is not an exact replica of how the UCEED 2026 exam will be conducted.
The mock tests are to be taken in the last few weeks before the UCEED exam. Avoid taking mock tests when you are starting preparation for the exam.
Given that UCEED is one of the most important and the toughest design entrance exams in the country, one should not wait till the last moments to prepare for the exam. Ideally, the candidate should have at least an year to prepare for the exam. That being said, if the candidate has above average understand of the basics, he or she can easily prepare for the exam in six months. When preparing for the exam, it is important to have a target in mind. For example, the merit rank the candidate wants to achieve. Note that the cut-off rank varies from one institute to another.
2) Concentrate on picture-type questions
There are many time-consuming questions in UCEED, such as aptitude questions and puzzles. However, there are some picture-based questions as well, which are quite easy and quick to solve. Also, as soon as you solve these questions you are confident of having solved them correctly. So, we advise that you practice as many picture-based questions as you possibly can (during UCEED preparation time) to score well in UCEED 2026.
3) Prioritize exam sections
Every candidate has some strong and weak points. Start attempting questions that reflect your strength first. This will not only improve your speed in solving the paper but also build up your confidence level in attempting the UCEED 2026 test paper.
As per the test pattern of UCEED, there is a negative marking in Part A; so every aspirant should refrain from making wild guesses and concentrate on minimizing the effect of negative marking as much as possible.
4) Time for revision
Candidates should manage their time in a way that they have at least 15-20 minutes at the end to check for the unsolved questions. This is extremely necessary because such an initiative can help improve the score of a candidate tremendously.
One of the best ways to perform well in the UCEED exam is to practice as many previous years' UCEED question papers along with UCEED sample questions. Such a task will not only help aspirants understand their speed in solving the UCEED test paper but also help them understand their strengths and weaknesses. Apart from this, aspirants should also go through some UCEED preparation tips in order to ensure that they have covered all the critical topics necessary to score well in the exam.
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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
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a week ago
Yes, candidates who applied through the scores of the UCEED are required to appear for the Drawing Test for further evaluation. This rule applies to all candidates who applied through non MIT-WPU CET scores. These candidates are also required to appear for the Portfolio Review as well as the persona
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
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, 2026 (Saturday), 10:00 Hrs. The application portal will be closed on April 10, 2026 (Friday), at 5:30 PM.
S
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
UCEED 2026 Counselling will start on April 21, 2026 and will end on April 29, 2026; 6:00 PM for Round 1.
| Seat Allotment Round | Date of Announcement | Payment of Seat Acceptance Fees | Withdrawal of seat/exit from seat allocation process | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start Date | End Date / Time | Start Date | End Date / Time | ||
| I | April 21, 2026 | April 21, 2026 | April 29, 2026; 6:00 PM | April 30, 2026 | May 11, 2026; 6:00 PM |
S
Contributor-Level 10
If you consider the question paper of UCEED 2026, then the exam can be considered to be moderately difficult. For instance, of the 68 questions asked, around 18 questions fall in the moderate category, 18 in the moderate to difficult category, while the rest can be tagged easy to moderate.
In contrast, NIFT and NID DAT are considered to be tougher. This is because in NID DAT, more weightage is given to subjective and drawing-related questions. Consequently, the candidate needs to be very creative and have strong fundamentals to answer the questions. In NID DAT for the B. Des programme, DAT Prelims carries 40% weightage, while DAT Mains carries 60% weightage.