Design Entrance Exam

The  Indian Institute of Design (NID) and the Undergraduate Common Entrance Examination for Design (UCEED) are both design courses that can allow admission to BDes courses. Candidates can choose between UCEED and NID as per their suitability.

NID is one of India's most esteemed design schools. It is well-known and has a track record of turning forth talented designers. NID has campuses spread around India and provides a Bachelor of Design (BDes) programme. The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay administers the UCEED entrance exam to candidates seeking admission to the BDes programme at IITs and select other institutions. Although UCEED is a relatively recent entrance exam for design courses, the IITs are well known for their engineering programmes.

Design Aptitude Test (DAT) is a popular design entrance test organised by the renowned National Institute of Design (NID). NID is renowned for its creative approach to design education, rigorous academic standards, and contributions to the design community. Gaining admission to NID might lead to a variety of job options in the design sector. 

The purpose of the test is to evaluate a candidate's ability for design, creativity, aesthetic sensibility, and problem-solving abilities. It consists of phases such as DAT Prelims and DAT Mains, offering a thorough assessment of a candidate's skills. Click to learn more about DAT preparation.

The participating institutes of CEED 2026 are colleges that will offer admission to the M.Des and PhD courses solely on the basis of CEED 2026 scores. These institutes not consider scores of other entrance exams, like NIFT and NID DAT, for admission purposes. The list of CEED 2026 participating institutes will be published on the admission portal - ceed.iitb.ac.in.

The online application form for admission to CEED participating institutes will open tentatively in the last week of September 2024. Note that unlike UCEED 2026, IIT Bombay will not conduct any Joint Seat Allotment process for CEED 2026.

Such candidates who qualify CEED 2026 will have to apply directly to a participating college.

In the previous edition of the exam, there were the following eight participating institutes of CEED:

1. IISc Bangalore

2. IIT Bombay

3. IIT Delhi

4. IIT Guwahati

5. IIT Hyderabad

6. IIT Kanpur

7. IIT Roorkee

8. IIT Jodhpur

In addition to participating institutes, there are also CEED result-sharing institutes. 

1. VIT School of Design (V-SIGN), Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore

2. Delhi Technological University, Delhi (formerly Delhi College of Engineering)

3. World University of Design (WUD), Sonepat, Haryana

4. RV University, Bengaluru

5. JK Lakshmipat University Logo JK Lakshmipat University, Jaipur

6. Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology, Bengaluru

7. MIT ID Indore - Avantika University

8. CEPT University Ahmedabad, Gujarat

9. School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal

10. University of Petroleum and Energy Studies Dehradun
11. Dr Vishwanath Karad MIT World Peace University Pune

Result-sharing institutes will fill up some of the UG seats based on CEED scores. However, they may also consider scores of other top ecams to fill in rest of the seats.

The participating institutes of CEED 2026 will offer admission to the M.Des courses based on CEED 2026 scores only. They will not accept scores of other entrance exams for admission process. Also, IIT Bombay will conduct a Joint Seat Allotment Process or Counseling for the participating institutes.

On the other hand, result-sharing institutes will not participate in the Joint Seat Allotment Process. Instead, these institutes will conduct counseling at an institute-level. This means, the candidate has to apply directly to these institutes based on their CEED 2026 scores. Another thing is result-sharing institutes will allocate only a fraction of the seats for CEED 2026 qualified candidates. The remaining seats will be filled by considering scores of other entrance exams.

Candidates who have been assigned a merit rank in CEED 2025 are eligible for admission to the M.Des course offered by participating institutes. Note that in the case of CEED 2025, there will be no Joint Seat Allotment process conducted by IIT Bombay. Instead, the counseling process will be held at an institute-level by the participating institutes.

The counseling application will open soon after the CEED 2025 results are announced. Eligible candidates will have to go to the admission portal of the institute and fill in the application form. The participating institute will then shortlist applications based on the merit rank of the candidate in the CEED 2025 exam.

IIT Bombay will not conduct any Joint Seat Allotment process for CEED 2026 qualified candidates. Instead, the candidate will have to apply directly to any or all of the eight participating institutes for admission. Note that IIT Bombay conducts a Joint Seat Allotment process for UCEED.

To get admission to a CEED 2026 participating institute, the candidate needs to go to the admission portal of the institute and fill in the counseling registration form. The registration form will open soon after the CEED 2026 results are declared.

Note that the participating institutes may conduct further admission rounds, like interview, before publishing the merit list for admission.