UCEED Preparation 2026: Quick and Easy Tips to ace the design exam

To do well in UCEED 2025 exam, improve these skills: Improve your drawing skills - Practice free-hand drawing. Use 2 grades of pencil - H-grade to do rough work and B to do quick sketch and shading. Work on improving your creativity and be innovative Solve previous years question papers to improve problem-solving and time-management skills. Understand the basic concept of drawing, and learn various forms of drawing - composition, proportion, line drawing, etc. Taking mock tests will help the candidate get an idea as to how much time it takes to solve a section or question.

IIT Bombay had released a notification on its official website notifying that the UCEED exam starting in 2024 will be conducted following a revised syllabus. As per the revised syllabus, there has also been some changes to the UCEED exam pattern. For instance, the Part B question paper will now include two questions - 1) one question will be on Drawing and 2) the other question will be on Design Aptitude. Note that previously, Part B included a solitary, drawing-based question. Also, the time duration for Part B has been increased to 60 minutes from 30 minutes.

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.

If the candidate has an year in their hands to prepare for the UCEED exam, then they need to follow these steps: Make a study plan Carefully go though the syllabus and exam pattern; note that the syllabus has been revised for UCEED. Make sure that you get the book combination right. When studying, make it a point to take notes. Side by side with reading books, solve problem Sets. Solve sample paper and take mock tests. Considering you have one year in your hands, if need be, you can tweak your preparation strategy midway to meet requirements.

Three months is not a lot of time to prepare for an exam of the magnitude of UCEED. But the silver lining is it could be done, provided your fundamentals are strong. Here is how you prepare for UCEED 2025 in three months: Follow the official UCEED syllabus and exam pattern. Make a time table. To start with focus on the topics that are easy but carry decent weightage. Once you are done with the easy topics, move on to the moderately difficult and difficult topics. It is important for you to not get stuck with a difficult problem and burn up all your time. Instead move on to the next topic. Solve sample papers and take mock tests.

The question paper for the UCEED 2026 exam will be 3 hours long and have two parts. Part A - It will be a computer-based section 2) Part B - It will be a sketching-based and aptitude-based test. The candidate needs to appear in both papers to be included in the merit list. Further, the candidate has to qualify Part A, or else his or else Part B paper answer booklets will only be evaluated. The qualifying marks for Part A will be released before the declaration of results. Part A will include the three types of questions - Numerical Answer Type NAT Multiple Select Question (MSQ), and Multiple Choice Question (MCQ).

In the last few months leading up to the UCEED 2025 exam, the candidate needs to follow this routine: If you have maintained a note, ensure you regularly go through the important points. Do timely revision of all the topics, especially the sticky concepts. Solve as many sample papers you can. Also take mock tests to get into the exam mood. Mocks will help you get an exam like ambience and you can get an idea as to how the question paper would be look like, the sections you need to attempt first, etc. Pay close attention to your health - sleep the full quote of hours, stay hydrated, do light exercise, and stay happy. It is also a good idea to not start any new topic at this stage of exam preparation.

The UCEED 2026 question paper for Part A will include three sections.

It will include 28 Multiple Select Questions (MSQs). Each MSQ may have one or more than one correct choice (s) out of the four given.

The following marking scheme will be followed for MSQ-type questions:

• Full Marks: + 4 If only (all) the correct option (s) is (are) chosen and None of the incorrect options is chosen.
•  Partial Marks: + 3 If all four options are correct but ONLY three options are chosen, and None of the incorrect options is chosen.
• Partial Marks: + 2 If three or more options are correct but ONLY two options are chosen, both of which are correct and None of the incorrect options is chosen. 
• Partial Marks: + 1 If two or more options are correct but ONLY one option is chosen and it is a correct option and None of the incorrect options is chosen.
• Zero Marks: 0 If None of the options is chosen (i.e., the question is unanswered). Negative Marks: -1 In all other cases.

The last few days are very crucial in the context of UCEED 2025 exam preparation. It is because if you mess up these last few days, all your efforts in the last few months and years could go down the drain: Here are a few tips to follow in the last few weeks leading up to the UCEED exam: Focus these last few days on revision Solve sample papers. Try to solve at least one sample paper a day. Take mock tests. Do quick revision of important topics. After taking the mock or solving the sample papers, do a quick analysis and SEE if there are any quick remedies to costly errors. Don't start any new topic. It is because it will eat into crucial revision or practice time. Also, note that starting a new topic so late in the day can only add to the anxiety, something you need to avoid.

The candidate needs to remember the following points about the Part B question paper of UCEED 2026:

• Part B will include around TWO questions. The question for the section will be shown on the computer monitor.
•  The candidate, after reading the question, has to write/ draw the answer option in the answer booklet provided by the invigilator.
• Part B test will evaluate the drawing ability and Design Aptitude of the candidate.
• Part B is mandatory and will only be evaluated if the candidate qualifies for Part A.
• The cut-off marks for Part A will be declared by IIT Bombay before the declaration of results.