UCEED Exam Pattern 2027

UCEED tests a candidate twice in one sitting: once on a computer, once on paper. Part A checks how you think using a mouse, a screen and a virtual keyboard. Part B checks how you draw and reason with an actual pencil in hand. Both happen back to back, inside the same three-hour slot, at the same test centre.

IIT Bombay sets this exact split fresh for every UCEED cycle. This includes the marks behind it and the marking rules that decide your score. Only one 2027 fact is confirmed so far: the exam falls on 17 January 2027. The full 2027 pattern is still pending. IIT Bombay's own site says complete details, including the pattern, will follow by 1 October 2026.

Everything below is built from the UCEED 2026 pattern instead, the most recently published cycle. It is marked as such wherever it appears. Treat it as your best working reference, not a locked guarantee. UCEED's structure has shifted before between cycles: in the question counts, the marking values, and even how Part B is answered. So UCEED 2027 need not repeat 2026 exactly.

The shape of UCEED 2026 comes down to four numbers. Between them, they cover the whole exam.

UCEED tests different things in Part A and Part B, using different formats, and grades them in different ways. The two parts are not simply two halves of the same kind of question. The next section walks through each part on its own.

In the UCEED 2027 pattern, Part A comes first. It runs for a maximum of 2 hours, carries 200 marks, and happens entirely on a computer screen. Its 57 questions split across three formats, not three subjects. Knowing that difference matters before you look at any numbers.

NAT stands for Numerical Answer Type. There are no options to pick from. You work out a number yourself and type it in, using a virtual keyboard on screen. Because there is nothing to choose between, NAT carries no negative marking. MSQ stands for Multiple Select Question. More than one of the four options can be correct. UCEED rewards you in proportion to how many correct options you pick, as long as you avoid a wrong one. MCQ is the familiar format: a single correct answer among four choices, marked right or wrong with no partial credit.

In Part B, UCEED changes mode entirely. Its two questions still display on your screen. But you answer them by hand, in a paper booklet the invigilator hands you at your desk. This is pencil on paper, not a tablet or a stylus exercise. It is the same way you would sketch in a notebook. Question 1 is Sketching, worth 50 marks. Question 2 is Design Aptitude, worth another 50 marks.

UCEED previous year question papers show exactly what a Part-A and a Part-B question each look like. That is a faster way to understand the split than any description here.

Here is the exact question and marks split for the UCEED 2026 cycle, the most recently published pattern.

The official UCEED 2026 brochure confirms this breakdown directly. An independent second pass verifies it again, so treat every number in this table as settled for 2026. Whether UCEED 2027 keeps this exact split is a separate question. The changes-over-years section below covers that.

UCEED scores each Part A format differently, and it scores Part B on a separate logic entirely. Knowing which rule applies to which question matters more than memorising one "+X/-Y" figure for the whole exam.

NAT questions carry no negative marking. You either type the right number and earn 4 marks, or you do not, at no extra cost for trying.

MSQ questions use a partial-credit scale instead, since more than one option can be correct.

MCQ questions carry +3 marks for a correct answer, one right choice among four. The penalty for an incorrect MCQ answer breaks from round numbers entirely.

Part B runs on a completely different logic, since Sketching and Design Aptitude cannot be machine-graded. Two examiners evaluate each answer sheet independently for UCEED. If their two scores land within 10 marks of each other, UCEED simply averages them. If the two scores differ by more than 10 marks, a third evaluator steps in to settle it. This way, one examiner's marking alone never decides the outcome.

UCEED's exam pattern tells you how questions are formatted and scored. It does not tell you what the questions are actually about. UCEED itself keeps this topic list broad, not exhaustive.

IIT Bombay's own brochure calls these topics "indicative of the nature of the questions." That means the list is not a closed boundary or a guarantee of full coverage. For the detailed weightage behind each topic and how to prioritise your prep, see the UCEED syllabus 2027 page.

IIT Bombay has changed UCEED's pattern before, more than once, and the changes have not been cosmetic. UCEED's pattern is not frozen in place. Question counts have moved, marking values have moved, and even Part B's mode of answering has changed across past cycles.