Admissions to the Bachelor of Design (B.Des.) programmes at IIT Bombay, IIT Guwahati, IIT Hyderabad, and IIITDM Jabalpur are done through the Undergraduate Common Entrance Exam for Design (UCEED). Students who have passed Class XII (or equivalent) in 2019 or appearing in 2020 in ANY STREAM (Science, Commerce, or Arts & Humanities), are eligible to appear for UCEED 2020.

What UCEED mainly tests is your verbal and nonverbal logic, observational skills, attention to detail, basic knowledge about photography, a pretty good knowledge on Indian art and architecture and general awareness of design-related topics. You could do the MCQs, a part of NIDs’ question paper to know how the exam works. It goes without saying that you should practice last year’s question papers to get a flavour of the exam.

Time Management and Reading the Instructions given on the question paper,

are the two major contributing factors to doing well in the exams. Answering smartly and dividing time accordingly is the key.

Train yourself with some brain twisters to develop your own approach towards solving a problem because you will need it during the exam.

 UCEED EXAM 2020

UCEED 2020 score is valid only for admission to the academic year 2020-2021.

UCEED is a test centre based examination and has two parts:

Part A is computer-based and Part B contains question-related to sketching that needs to be attempted on the provided sheet. It is compulsory to attempt both the parts in the given time. The total time for the examination (that includes both Part A and Part B) is 3 hours duration and it will be held as per the following schedule: Date Saturday, January 18, 2020, Session 10:00 to 13:00 Candidates appearing for UCEED 2020 are therefore advised to make their travel arrangements accordingly.

EXAM CENTERS

UCEED 2020 will be held in the following 24 cities in India: Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Dehradun, Delhi, Ernakulum, Panaji, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kolkata, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Visakhapatnam.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

A candidate, including a foreign national, must fulfil each and every one of the following three criteria to appear in UCEED 2020.

Criterion 1 – Age limit: The candidate should have been born on or after October 1, 1995if belonging to the OPEN/EWS/OBC-NCL category and on or after October 1, 1990, if belonging to the SC, ST or PwD category.

Criterion 2 – Number of attempts: A candidate can attempt UCEED for a maximum of two times and that too in consecutive years. Note that UCEED score is valid for one year, and only for admissions in the corresponding academic year.

Criterion 3 – Qualifying examination: The candidate should have passed the qualifying examination (Class XII or equivalent) in 2019, OR appearing in 2020. Students from ALL STREAMS (Science, Commerce, and Arts & Humanities) are eligible. Those who appeared for the first time in their qualifying examination in 2018 or earlier are NOT eligible.

Detailed instructions for the online registration are provided on the registration portal. Online registration portal (www.uceed.iitb.ac.in) 

IMPORTANT DATES

Start Date 9th October 2019 End Date (with regular fee) 9th November 2019 End Date (with Rs.500 late fee) 16th November 2019.

Registration Fee for Examination Centres in India Indian Nationals (including PIO/OCI) Female Candidates (all categories) INR 1500 SC, ST, PwD Candidates INR 1500 All Other Candidates INR 3000.

QUESTION PAPER 

• There will be ONE question paper of total 3 hours duration. 
• The question paper will be in English. 
• The question paper will carry a total of 300 marks. 
• The question paper will consist of two parts: Part A and Part B. Questions from both parts are compulsory. Details from both the parts are given below: PART-A (Total marks: 240 marks; Maximum time: 2 hours 30 mins) 
• Part-A of the question paper will be administered through a computer-based test. 
• Part-A of the question paper will consist of 3 sections.

Section 1:NAT (Numerical Answer Type):18 questions (4 marks each; no negative marks). For these questions, an answer is a number that needs to be entered using a virtual keyboard in the computer screen. No choices will be shown for these questions.

Section 2: MSQ (Multiple Select Ques.): 18 questions (4 marks each; 0.19 negative marks). Each MSQ has one or more correct answer(s) out of the four given choices.

Section 3:MCQ (Multiple Choice Ques.): 32 questions(3 marks each; 0.71 negative marks). Each MCQ has four choices out of which only one is the correct answer. PART-B (Total marks: 60 marks; Maximum time: 30 mins) 

• Part-B consists of one question that is aimed at testing drawing skills which will require subjective evaluation. The question in Part-B will be displayed on the computer screen and the answer has to be written/drawn in the answer book provided by the invigilator only. 
• Part-B answer booklets will be collected at the end of the examination. 
• Part-B question is mandatory. The entire paper (both Part-A and Part-B) must be finished within overall time duration of 3 hours.

SYLLABUS UCEED 2020 will have two parts. Part-A will have questions from the following topics: 

• Visualization and spatial ability: Pictorial and diagrammatic questions to test, understanding of transformation and/or manipulation of 2D shapes and 3D objects and their spatial relationships, knowledge of practical and everyday mechanical and scientific concepts. 
• Observation and design sensitivity: Ability to detect concealed properties in ordinary things, people, situations, and events, and thinking critically about them. Applying attention to certain details, analyzing, reasoning, classifying, inferring and predicting. Ability to discern subtle differences in visual properties and aesthetic outcomes. 
• Environmental and social awareness: General awareness of environmental factors such as climate, population, water, vegetation, pollution, weather, natural resources etc., and their implications on the design of products, images, infrastructure and environment. Awareness of social and cultural connection with design, history of the designed artifact, and socially responsible and environmentally sustainable design responses. History of art, sculpture and literature.
• Analytical and logical reasoning: Ability to look at information, be it qualitative or quantitative in nature, and discern patterns within the information. Ability to weigh opinions, arguments or solutions against appropriate criteria. Ability to check for hidden bias or hidden assumptions and whether evidence and argument support conclusions. Ability to use logic and structured thinking to deduce from a short passage, which of a number of statements is the most accurate response to a posed question. Data Interpretation, brainteasers, and patterns. 
• Language and creativity: Ability to understand and use Standard English. Reading comprehension, knowledge of English grammar. Ability to think creatively in terms of alternatives, ability to distinguish innovative options and think out of the box. 
• Design thinking and problem-solving: Ability to use visual analogies, metaphors, signs and symbols. Ability to understand complexity, identify the problem, generate alternatives, evaluate options and select solutions. Part-B will have question from the following topic: 
• Drawing: Ability to draw products, people or scenes in proportion with good line quality, composition, proportion, perspective and shading.

 UCEED STUDY MATERIAL

There are a few books you can refer to:

Emotional Design, Don’t Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (3rd Edition), Universal Principles of Design, Revised and Updated: 125 Ways to Enhance Usability, Influence Perception, Increase Appeal, Make Better Design Decisions, and Teach through Design, etc.