In just two years, UCEED application numbers have risen by more than 13%, while CEED has seen a 23% jump, underscoring growing competition and aspirational value of top design exams.
Image source: Jain University
IIT Bombay has recent announced UCEED 2026 and CEED 2026 exam dates, syllabus, reservation policy and other details. The increasing number of application for these two national level exam also highlight a growing trend, tough competition for design courses across India’s top institutes.
Both exam has seen steady rise in applicants in past three years, reflecting increased interest in design education among students. UCEED offers admission to B.Des programmes, has seen over 15,400 applicants in 2025 for just 245 seats across seven institutes. CEED, for postgraduate design programmes, attracted over 6,000 applicants for around 300 seats in 2025. Lets take a look at application number and seats across institutes.
UCEED & CEED 2024-2026 Seats, Applicants & Participating Institutes
| Year | Exam | No. of Applications | Seats | Course & Institute |
| 2024 | UCEED | 13,549 | 225 | B.Des at IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Roorkee, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIT Indore (B.Des) and IIT Delhi (B.Des Industrial Design) |
| 2025 | UCEED | 15,408 | 245 | B.Des at IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Roorkee, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIT Indore (B.Des) and IIT Delhi (B.Des Industrial Design) |
| 2024 | CEED | 4910 | 300 | M.Des, Ph.D. at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIITDM Kancheepuram, IISc Bengaluru |
| 2025 | CEED | 6037 | 300 | M.Des, Ph.D. at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, IIT Jodhpur, IIT Kanpur, IIT Roorkee, IIITDM Jabalpur, IIITDM Kancheepuram, IISc Bengaluru |
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Abhay Anand is an experienced education journalist with over 15 years in print and digital media. Currently serving as Manager- Editorial at Shiksha.com, he specializes in higher education policy, student mobility,
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