10 Dos and Don’ts for UCEED Prep 2025

UCEED 2025 exam will be conducted on January 19, 2025. The application form for the exam will open online at uceed.iitb.ac.in. Here we bring tips for UCEED preparation tips that can help you crack the exam. 

UCEED is among the top design entrance exams in the country. This means, competition is high and the exam is also tough. So, to get a good score in the exam and have a chance at admission to the UCEED 2025 participating college of your choice, your preparation needs to be first-rate. Note that preparation for the UCEED 2025 will demand a slightly different strategy as compared to NID or any other traditional design entrance exam. This is mainly because UCEED is a mix of computer-based (Part A) and offline-based (Part B) tests. Further, it does not have a second round of testing (studio, material handling, interviews, or portfolios) like other design entrance exams have. UCEED test paper is divided into Part A and Part B. Please note that IIT Bombay had revised the syllabus and exam pattern for the exam in the previous edition.

Updates on the UCEED 2025 exam

The application form for UCEED 2025 is closed. IIT Bombay will release UCEED 2025 admit cards on January 3, 2025. Candidates who complete the application process will be issued admit cards for the exam. The candidate has to download the admit card using their candidate credentials. On the day of the UICEED 2025 exam, the candidate needs to bring the admit card and a valid photo-ID proof. Note that without these documents, the candidate will not be allowed to sit in the entrance exam. The admit card will contain details like the name and address of the UCEED 2025 exam center allocated, exam timings, reporting time, and roll number. 

UCEED Syllabus 2025  

The candidate needs to carefully consult the UCEED 2024 exam syllabus. Then they need to make a study plan accordingly. You can also divide the topics into different heads - difficult, easy, and moderate.

In some cases, it may also happen that some topics may end up more time than you anticipated, whereas some other topics may turn out to be a walk in the park. 

UCEED 2025 Part A Syllabus

Topics	Description
Visualization and spatial reasoning	Ability to visualize and transform 2D shapes and 3D objects and their spatial relationships.
Practical and scientific knowledge	Capacity to detect concealed properties in day-to-day life and think critically about them. Attention to details, classification, analysis, inference and prediction.
Observation and design sensitivity	General awareness of environmental, social and cultural connections with design.
Environment and society	General awareness of environmental, social and cultural connections with design.
Analytical and logical reasoning	Ability to analyse qualitative and quantitative information.
Language	Proficiency in reading and comprehending Standard English
Creativity	Grasp of verbal and non-verbal analogies, metaphors, signs and symbols.

UCEED 2025 Part B Syllabus

Topics	Description
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.

The questions asked in UCEED Part A are of three types:

• Numerical answer type (you have to enter a numerical value as the answer)
• Multiple select questions (one or more than one answer can be correct) 
• Multiple choice questions (you have to choose only one as the correct answer). 

Revised UCEED 2025 exam pattern 

Aspirants can go through the revised UCEED exam pattern for UCEED 2024 in the table below.

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	Numerical Answer Type (NAT) - 14 Multiple Select Question (MSQ) - 15 Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) - 28	Sketching-based - 1 Design Aptitude-based - 1
Number of Questions	57	2
Total Marks	200	100

Listed below are the Do’s and dont's that act as a guide for your preparation for UCEED:

Dos for UCEED 2025

Here are a few exercises that you need to fo llow as part of your UCEED 2025 exam preparation. Read on.

1. Go through the UCEED Brochure for 2025 to get insights into the exam pattern and syllabus. Practice previous years’ question papers to improve problem-solving ability.

2. Understand concepts and theories of drawing like perspective, human figure and proportion, shade, shadows, and textures. Questions will be based on the fundamentals of drawing, even though the UCEED exam does not have a drawing section.

3. Understand elements and basic principles of design, like color theory, typography, and animation techniques. For example: Walk cycles etc. 

4. Improve your vocabulary, and GK & current affairs by reading newspapers and general knowledge books like Manorama. Also, research on the internet, or watch youtube videos related to these topics.

5. Brush up on basic topics of science and math. For example Pulleys and gears, mensuration, geometry theory, and statistics. Questions are also asked on computer science basics such as-How many kilobytes are there in 1 gigabyte? What is the full form of CD ROM ?, What is Hex Codes? What does USB stand for? etc. 

6. Familiarise yourself with important UCEED topics listed below:

• Famous designers and iconic products
• General knowledge and current affairs
• Art history and movements (including literature and sculpture)
• Architectural history, monuments, elements, terminology
• Verbal and non-verbal reasoning
• English vocabulary and comprehension skills
• Logical reasoning
• Basic maths like mensuration, geometry theory, statistics etc. 
• Basic science fundamentals, mechanisms like gears and pulleys 
• Biomechanics
• Colour theory
• Typography
• Popular logos - automobiles, companies or organizations
• Animation techniques like walk cycle, etc.
• Photography terms and techniques
• Mirroring, tessellations, sciography, lights and shadows
• Globally recognised Indians in the corporate or technology sector, sports or Olympics, Performing and fine arts, and also any famous international personalities.eep in mind, UCEED is an open-ended exam, therefore topics need not be limited to the above. 

7. Strike a balance between studying smart and trying to cover everything in a topic. For example: If you are studying logos for cars, first give priority to the top 20 fastest, most expensive, highest-selling brands by volume, etc., before you attempt to study every car logo ever manufactured. 

8. Plan yourself with the time available such that you can cover as many topics as possible rather than focusing on mastery over fewer topics.

9. Start your studying well in advance because the range of knowledge and aptitude tested for UCEED is vast.

10. Understand that this exam will test you for thorough knowledge gained over a period of time. General knowledge is not a topic that can be studied at the last minute. You are required to make research and reading a part of your everyday mental marathon.

Don’ts for UCEED 2025

1. Do not limit yourself to the topics mentioned above, cover as many topics as you can.

2. Do not underestimate the amount of practice and time required for this exam. The only way to crack UCEED is by starting as early as you can.

Read More:

Colleges Accepting UCEED Scores for Admission	10 Tips to Crack UCEED 2025
4 Time Management Tips for UCEED	UCEED Sample Questions

About the Author:

Shaun D’Sa has a Master’s degree in Industrial Design from IIT Delhi. He is Director at Design Quotient Labs (DQ Labs), a coaching platform for Architecture and Design entrance exams. He began his career with General Motors Advanced Design Center at Bangalore, where he had the opportunity to work with design teams for car brands like Hummer, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Holden, Buick to name a few. Shaun has also been a part of many teams of International and Indian designers for design-centric ethnographic studies across India and abroad. Due to his passion for Design and Architecture, he has travelled extensively abroad and has been a part of many design workshops in many countries across Europe.