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Eligibility Criteria for appearing for the Exam

A candidate, including a foreign national, must simultaneously fulfil every one of the following three criteria to appear in UCEED 2026.

Criterion 1 – Age limit:
The candidate should have been born on or after October 1, 2001, if belonging to the OPEN/EWS/OBC-NCL category and born on or after October 1, 1996, if belonging to the SC, ST or PwD category.

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

Criterion 3 – Qualifying examination:
A candidate should have appeared for the Class XII (or equivalent) examination for the first time in either 2025 OR 2026 to be eligible for attempting UCEED 2026. Students from ALL STREAMS (Science, Commerce, and Arts & Humanities) are eligible.

Those who appeared for the first time in their qualifying examination (Class XII) in 2024 or earlier are NOT eligible to appear in UCEED 2026.

Candidates who have been allotted BDes seat, after the closure of seat allocation process, in any of the participating Institutes (See the list on Page #38, Section 21) are not eligible to appear for UCEED 2026 even if they are left with the second attempt.

Qualifying Examination

  • Final examination of the 10+2 system, conducted by a Central or State Board recognized by the Association of Indian Universities.
  • Intermediate or two-year Pre-University examination conducted by a Board or University recognized by the Association of Indian Universities (www.aiu.ac.in).
  • Final examination of the two-year course of the Joint Services Wing of the National Defence Academy.
  • Senior Secondary School Examination conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling with a minimum of five subjects.
  • Any Public School, Board or University examination in India or a foreign country recognized as equivalent to the 10+2 system by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU).
  • H.S.C. vocational examination.
  • General Certificate of Education (GCE) examination (London, Cambridge or Sri Lanka) at the Advanced (A) level.
  • High School Certificate Examination of the Cambridge University or International Baccalaureate Diploma of the International Baccalaureate Office, Geneva.
  • Candidates who have completed Class XII (or equivalent) examination outside India or from a Board not specified above should produce a certificate from the Association of Indian Universities to the effect that the examination they have passed is equivalent to the Class XII examination.
  • In case the Class XII examination is not a public examination, the candidate must have already passed at least one public (Board or Pre-University) examination before appearing for UCEED.
  • A Diploma recognized by the All-India Council for Technical Education (www.aicte-india.org) or a State Board of Technical Education of at least THREE years duration. It is important to note that the eligibility criteria of the participating Institutes may not consider candidates with a Diploma of three-year duration.

    • Note:
    These are the eligibility criteria for appearing in UCEED 2026. To know about the eligibility criteria for applying for BDes admission, visit this page: Eligibility for Admission