CEED 2026: Admit Card (Jan 2), Exam Date (Jan 18), Syllabus, Preparation, Previous Year Question Papers

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.

The result of CEED 2026 will be prepared by giving weightage to CEED Part A and Part B. Part A will carry 25% weightage, whereas Part B will carry 75% weightage. Final score is calculated using formula

CEED Final Score = 0.25 x Marks obtained in Part A + 0.75 x Marks obtained in Part B.

 The CEED score is valid for a period of one year from the date of declaration of the result. This means you can use CEED 2026 scores for admission in the current academic session only. You can't use for admission in the next year.

Likewise, you can't use CEED 2025 scores for admission in the upcoming session.

IIT Bombay is exam conducting body for CEED 2026. The institute, however, doesn’t prescribed any study material for the exam. 

So, in a bid to help the candidate, we bring you a list of recommended books for CEED 2026 after consulting previous years’ CEED question papers. The names suggested by toppers and experts have also been taken into account when compiling this list.

CEED ENTRANCE by Academy of Fashion & Art	Academy of Fashion & Art
CEED Common Entrance Exam for Design Pattern & Scheme Preparation Book 2022	Examinspect
CEED & NID M.Des Entrance Books and Test Series	Ashish Popli, Pradosh Swain, Rishabh Rhode
Question Bank for NID, NIFT, CEED & UCEED (Revised 2024 edition)	Ashok Goel and Arjun Kamal
Introduction to Design UCEED | CEED | NID | NIFT	Sanjay Reddy, Mukti Masih, et al.

The best books for CEED 2026 preparation are:

• Cracking CEED & UCEED (2022 Edition) by Ashok Goel and Arjun Kamal
• CEED+NID (M.DES) [Paperback] Academy of Fashion & Art Preparation Kit
• CEED Common Entrance Exam for Design Pattern & Scheme Preparation Book 2022 [Paperback] Examinspect
• CEED ENTRANCE by Academy of Fashion & Art
• Ceed & Nid (M.Des) Entrance Books And Test Series by TRENDZ ACADEMY 

To improve your English language skills, you should

• Develop a habit of reading English newspapers daily. 
• Learn 20 new words daily
• Solve reading comprehension passage
• Read synonyms, antonyms, idioms, etc.
• Watch animated movies or English movies with subtitles.

The CEED syllabus can be daunting for some candidates. So, if you are not able to complete it, don't panic. The trick in these situations is to first focus on the easy topics and complete the first. If you manage that your anxiety levels will automatically come down. Next move on the moderate difficult topics. If you are able to tackle them, you can start working on the difficult ones. If you get stuck with a topic or problem, it is best to not spend prodigious time trying to master it. Instead move on to the next topic. You can revisit the difficult topic, if you have time.

The topics listed in the CEED syllabus is indicative in nature. Also, the syllabus is exhaustive in the sense that questions may be asked from all or some of the topics. So, the candidate can’t skip any topics when preparing for CEED. 

The candidate is urged to go through the previous years' question papers to get an idea about the paper structure and types of questions asked. That being said, keep in mind that the syllabus has been revised for CEED.

IIT Bombay has released the syllabus for CEED 2026. When preparing for the exam, the candidate had to also pay special attention to the important topics as they carry more weightage and also have a higher chance of being asked in the exam.

Here are important topics of CEED:

The weightage of CEED Part A is 25%. Candidates have to attempt 44 questions in CEED Part A. It includes MSQs, MCQs, and NAT questions. Total marks for CEED Part A is 150.

You can develop drawing skills for CEED 2026 by sketching more and more. The sketching part of CEED will include stages like representation, in the form of geometric figures like lines, squares, and triangles, outline drawing, detailing, and shading. Practice more on outline drawing, representation, shape of the figure, proportion, line quality, etc.

Yes, there is negative marking in CEED 2026 in Part A. Part A will include NAT, MSQ, and MCQ questions. There is -1 for each question if answered wrong in Part A under MSQ and - 0.5 for each wrong answer in MCQ. There is no negative marking for NAT. Meanwhile, Part B will be a subjective paper and will have no negative marking.

Yes, CEED 2026 participating colleges may conduct further admission rounds. Each participating institute can have its own eligibility criteria and admission rounds. So, candidates should check the institute portal for the latest updates. 

Since CEED is a general aptitude test, you can benefit greatly by practicing previous year question papers. Also, after practicing the papers, it is highly important to analyse your strong and weak areas for the exam and then work on them accordingly. 

But that being said, you can’t prepare for the CEED only on the strength of solving the sample papers. You need to read the text books to learn the concepts, understand the various dynamic. Note that unless your theoretical knowledge is sound, you won’t be able to feel truly confident. 

The best books for CEED 2026 preparation are:

• Cracking CEED & UCEED (2022 Edition) by Ashok Goel and Arjun Kamal
• CEED+NID (M.DES) [Paperback] Academy of Fashion & Art Preparation Kit
• CEED Common Entrance Exam for Design Pattern & Scheme Preparation Book 2022 [Paperback] Examinspect
• CEED ENTRANCE by Academy of Fashion & Art
• Ceed & Nid (M.Des) Entrance Books And Test Series by TRENDZ ACADEMY 

Both CEED and UCEED exams are conducted by IIT Bombay. However, CEED scores are used to shortlist candidates for admission to the M.Des courses, whereas UCEED is an entrance exam for admission to the B. Des course. IIT Bombay also conducts a Joint Admission Process (or counseling) for UCEED qualified candidates. However, IIT Bombay doesn't conduct any joint counseling for CEED qualified candidates. Instead, candidates who have been assigned CEED merit ranks will have to apply directly to the participating college.

Rohit Ravindra Waghmare topped the CEED topper list 2025 with 82.38 marks out of 100.

CEED 2023 exam was topped by Khyati Rathor, who secured the AIR 1. She secured 68.85 marks in the exam, out of 100 marks. Simon George Cherian got the second position and scored 66.63 marks.

To take admission to the PhD through CEED, candidate needs to first qualify in the CEED 2026 entrance exam. Then he needs to apply directly to the participating college. The participating college may conduct further admission rounds, including interviews. The institute's admission portal will have the detailed admission process and requirements. 

Candidates should solve around 30-40 sample papers and question papers before the CEED Exam. Try to solve one sample paper or question paper daily in the last month of preparation.

You can start solving sample papers for CEED very early on in your exam preparation. For instance, you can do the exercise after completing a chapter. All you have to do is find the relevant questions in the sample papers and start solving. As you move on in your CEED 2026 exam preparation, you the sample papers will be more useful. In fact, as you complete the syllabus, you can attempt the complete sample paper.

By solving the sample papers you can improve your problem-solving and time-management skills. Also, you can solve sample papers right up to the exam-day. 

Yes, you can download the answers for CEED question paper. IIT Bombay releases the answer keys of the CEED exam along with the question paper. The answer keys contain the answers to the questions asked in the entrance exam. 

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 2025 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.

Note that the Part A cut-off for CEED 2026 will be released tentatively in the 2nd week of February 2026.

The CEED 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 - Part A.

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

IIT Delhi will release the list of provisionally selected candidates on its admission portal - https://design.iitd.ac.in/latest-news.html. The list will include the names and application reference numbers of candidates selected for admission. Shortlisted candidates will have to complete the remaining formalities to confirm their admission. 

The design task/interview for admission to the M. Des. in Department of Design, IIT Delhi will be held in May 2026 (tentative).

As part of the design task/interview, the candidate is required to upload your digital portfolio. The portfolio must include five best projects (maximum size 10 MB) of the candidate.

The official site reads" To merge and compress your works in a single PDF, you may use online tools such as (https://smallpdf.com/compress-pdf)".

The filename of the pdf must be your IIT Delhi application number. The candidate may carry their physical portfolio on the day of the interview as well, but it is not mandatory.   

The counseling process for CEED 2026 will start within a few days of the declaration of results. CEED 2026 results are scheduled to be declared on March 4, 2026.

Candidates who have been shortlisted and allocated a merit rank can participate in the counseling. The counseling application form will open at individual participating colleges. 

IIT Bombay will not conduct any Joint Counseling for CEED 2026. Instead, the participating colleges will conduct the counseling at an institute level. The candidate will have to go to the admission portal of the institute and fill in the counseling registration form. The counseling admission portal will have all the relevant details pertaining to the admission process, seat matrix, eligibility, etc. 

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.

Part A of the CEED 2026 question paper will have three types of questions:

• NAT (Numerical Answer Type): 8 questions
• MSQ (Multiple Select Question): 10 questions
• MCQ (Multiple Choice Question): 26 questions 

The MSQ and MCQ type questions will have partical scoring.

For instance, each NAT question carries 4 marks. Also, each MSQ may have one or more than one correct choice(s) out of the four given. 

If you get all the correct options, you will be awarded 4 marks. However, if all four options are correct, and you select only three correct options, you will get 3 marks.

IIT Bombay conducts the CEED entrance exam for M.Des and PhD courses. So, yes, you can take the CEED 2026 exam if you plan to get admission to the PhD program offered by participating colleges. 

Fill out the CEED 2026 application form before the last date. Applications will open in the first week of October 2025.

If you qualify in the CEED exam, you will have to apply directly to the participaiting institute. The institute may have additional admission rounds or eligibility criteria.

CEED Entrance Examination 2026 will be conduced on January 18, 2026. The exam timing will be 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. 

The candidate can download the previous years’ question papers for the CEED exam from the CEED 2026 - IIT Bombay admission portal - ceed.iitb.ac.in. Alternatively, the candidate can also download the question papers from this page.

The candidate can download the question papers along with the answer keys. 

However, note that the question paper and answer keys for the current academic session (or CEED 2026) will only be available after the exam has been conducted. 

The previous years’ question papers can be used by the candidate to improve their problem-solving ability and improve conceptual understanding.

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.

IIT Bombay will release the admission schedule for the CEED 2026 exam, including the application start and last dates, at the time of the release of the application form. The CEED application form is expected to open in the first week of October 2025.

The candidate will also has the option to apply with late fees of INR 500 in the first week of November 2025. IIT Bombay may also extend the last dates for submission of the form.

To appear in the CEED 2026 exam, the candidate must have passed a degree, Diploma, or postgraduate degree exam of minimum three years. There is no limit on the upper age limit or number of attempts for appearing in CEED.

The eligibility criteria that candidates need to meet for appearing in the CEED have been explained below.

• Qualifying exam: The candidate must have completed a degree, Diploma, or postgraduate programme of a minimum of THREE years (after 10+2). Or, Appearing for the final exam of such a programme by July 2026 or, Must have passed the GD Arts Diploma programme (10+5) level by July 2025.
• Age limit - No upper age limit.
• Number of Attempts - The CEED exam can be attempted any number of times.

It is incumbent on the candidate to carefully go through the eligibility criteria before filling out the CEED application form. It is because if the candidate doesn't meet any of the criteria, then he or she can be disqualified at any stage of the admission process.

Candidates can know the status of their CEED 2026 application form on the official registration portals of the exam. In a situation wherein any more information or document is required then the CEED office gets in touch with aspirants through their registered email. It may be note that complete applications will be rejected.

The application form for CEED 2026 will open tentatively in October 2025. The candidate must carefully go through the step-wise process to fill out the form.

IIT Bombay is exam conducting body for CEED 2026. The institute, however, doesn’t prescribed any study material for the exam. 

So, in a bid to help the candidate, we bring you a list of recommended books for CEED 2026 after consulting previous years’ CEED question papers. The names suggested by toppers and experts have also been taken into account when compiling this list.

CEED ENTRANCE by Academy of Fashion & Art	Academy of Fashion & Art
CEED Common Entrance Exam for Design Pattern & Scheme Preparation Book 2022	Examinspect
CEED & NID M.Des Entrance Books and Test Series	Ashish Popli, Pradosh Swain, Rishabh Rhode
Question Bank for NID, NIFT, CEED & UCEED (Revised 2024 edition)	Ashok Goel and Arjun Kamal
Introduction to Design UCEED | CEED | NID | NIFT	Sanjay Reddy, Mukti Masih, et al.

To improve your English language skills, you should

• Develop a habit of reading English newspapers daily. 
• Learn 20 new words daily
• Solve reading comprehension passage
• Read synonyms, antonyms, idioms, etc.
• Watch animated movies or English movies with subtitles.

The candidate can download the previous years’ question papers for the CEED exam from the CEED 2026 - IIT Bombay admission portal - ceed.iitb.ac.in. Alternatively, the candidate can also download the question papers from this page.

The candidate can download the question papers along with the answer keys. 

However, note that the question paper and answer keys for the current academic session (or CEED 2026) will only be available after the exam has been conducted. 

The previous years’ question papers can be used by the candidate to improve their problem-solving ability and improve conceptual understanding.

The difficulty level of CEED exam has been maintained by authorities over the years. However, most design aspirants share that if difficulty level of all design entrance exams conducted for PG level courses is compared then CEED is slightly easier than NID Entrance Exam. This is primarily because the drawing questions asked in NID that are considered to be tougher than those put forth in CEED exam. Note that CEED exam is for admission to the M.Des courses offered by the eight participating colleges. Meanwhile, the NID that for the M.Des programme has three participating colleges.

The updated application fee that candidates have to pay an application fee when applying for the CEED exam is shown below.

Women candidates - INR 2000

SC, ST, PwD candidates - INR 2000

All other candidates - INR 4000

The candidate will have to pay a fee as per the category they belong. If the candidate selects the wrong category and pay the wrong feels, he or she may be disqualified. So, care must be taken when selecting ones category.

CEED Entrance Examination 2026 will be conduced on January 18, 2026. The exam timing will be 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM. 

The CEED admission portal has many useful resources including previous years’ question papers and answer keys. 

To download the question papers and keys:

1. Go to CEED admission portal

2. Click on the “Download” .

3. The screen containing the question papers and answer keys will open

4. Click on the question paper or answer key you want to download.

5. You can download the document in PDF format.

The CEED admission portal has question banks starting from 2010 onward. 

Yes, candidates from engineering, architecture, arts, science, or commerce backgrounds can apply. Candidates must have completed a graduate degree/diploma/postgraduate degree program of a minimum of THREE years (after 10+2 level).

No, mock tests are not the same as CEED question or sample papers. 

It is because the main purpose of the mock tests is to help the candidate get acquainted with the exam pattern and system, especially if the exam is conducted in an online mode. The mocks will allow the candidate get accustomed with the exam mode, navigation, scoring, and answering patterns. To some extent it also may help the candidate improve problem-solving and time-managment skills, which are typically the exclusive domain of CEED sample papers.

Additionally, mock tests are meant to be taken in the last few days of the exam. On the other hand, sample papers are typically solved even in the early stages of exam preparation.

The candidate must note that IIT Bombay is only responsible for conducting the CEED Entrance exam. Unlike UCEED, it will not conduct any Joint Seat Allotment.  

This means the eligibility criteria prescribed by IIT Bombay is limited to appearing in the CEED 2026 exam. Further, the participating institutes of CEED 2026 will individually determine the eligibility criteria for the M.Des courses. The eligibility criteria will be uploaded on the admission portals of these institutes.

A total of 5090 candidates registered for CEED 2025, out of which 4371 candidates appeared, and 1848 candidates qualified in the exam. 

CEED 2026 application is expected to start in the first week of October 2025. The official notification will be out by October 1, 2025. 

Yes, CEED is a national-level exam for admission to M.Des and PhD courses offered by participating colleges. The exam is conducted by IIT Bombay.

In addition to the participating colleges, a number of other institutes, known as result-sharing institutes, will also use CEED scores for admission purposes. The CEED 2026 exam will be conducted on Janaury 18, 2026. The application form the exam is currently open.