CEED 2025 Question Paper PDF Download Part A & Part B

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Download

CEED 2025 Question Paper PDF

CEED 2025 Answer Key

Component

Details

Exam Mode

Part A: Computer-Based Test (CBT)
Part B: Offline drawing and design response in answer booklet

Total Duration

3 Hours (Part A: 1 Hour + Part B: 2 Hours)

Total Marks

250 Marks

Part A Marks

150 Marks

Part B Marks

100 Marks

Part A Question Types

NAT (Numerical Answer Type), MSQ (Multiple Select Questions), MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions)

Part A Questions

44 Questions (8 NAT + 10 MSQ + 26 MCQ)

Part B Questions

5 Questions

Part B Sections

Sketching, Creativity, Form Sensitivity, Visual Sensitivity, Problem Identification

Skills Tested

Observation, Visual Reasoning, Spatial Ability, Design Aptitude, Creativity, Communication, Problem Solving, Sketching

Shortlisting Criteria

Only Part A marks are used for shortlisting candidates for Part B evaluation

Final Score Calculation

25% Part A + 75% Part B

Conducting Body

IIT Bombay

Area

Topics Asked (Actual Questions from CEED 2025)

Difficulty

Visual Reasoning

Cube folding (Q12), Object rotation (Q24), Mirror image (Q31), Transparent sheet folding (Q33), Tile arrangement (Q26), Perspective and profile views (Q30, Q38), 3D object visualization (Q07, Q10)

Moderate to Difficult

Logical Reasoning

Hero's journey graph interpretation (Q11), Pattern-based word analogy (Q22), Symbol equations (Q39), Sequence completion (Q27, Q28), Lip movement sequence (Q43)

Moderate

Design Aptitude

Mechanism and linkage movement (Q13), Chair manufacturing and stackability analysis (Q14), Scissors ergonomics and usability (Q15), Dispenser working principles (Q17), Traditional wooden artifact manufacturing processes (Q23), Cinematography 180° rule (Q37)

Moderate to Difficult

Observation & Spatial Ability

Identifying odd digit in a font family (Q01), Counting footwear pairs (Q04), Folded paper with pawns (Q03), Rotational symmetry (Q21), Black-and-white visual transformation (Q36), Shadow formation (Q29), Paper folding and cutting (Q40), Pyramid cut-out visualization (Q41)

Easy to Moderate

General Awareness & Visual Culture

Indian classical dance forms identification (Q32), Typography recognition (Q19), Understanding character animation and motion paths (Q20, Q34, Q35)

Easy to Moderate

Question Type

Actual Question Breakdown

Skills Tested

Difficulty

Sketching

Q1: Draw a scene where two children (Kaa and Kii) are being chased by a bear in a forest, viewed from the perspective of a fox watching the incident. Candidates had to depict emotions, action, environment, and an unusual viewpoint.

Perspective drawing, storytelling through visuals, character expressions, scene composition, environmental sketching

Moderate to Difficult

Storytelling / Creativity

Q2: Create a meaningful visual sequence using four frames containing a bulb, water tap, and mosquito. Additional characters and props could be added, and continuity had to be maintained across frames.

Storytelling, imagination, sequencing, narrative development, visual communication

Moderate

Visualization / Communication Design

Q3: Design four black-and-white zoo signage icons for Indian Grey Mongoose, Honey Badger, Indian Bison, and Indian Pangolin while maintaining a consistent visual language.

Icon design, abstraction, visual simplification, consistency, communication design

Moderate

Form Sensitivity

Q4: Reimagine a tea flask inspired by a character-based product shown in the question. Candidates had to translate the character's personality, form language, and details into a functional flask design.

Product design thinking, form exploration, aesthetics, rendering, usability integration

Difficult

Design Problem Solving

Q5: Identify five buyer problems and five seller problems related to a typical Indian vegetable cart. Then visually explain one buyer problem and one seller problem through sketches.

Observation, empathy, user-centered design, problem identification, communication through visuals

Difficult

Section

Difficulty

Remarks

Part A

Moderate to Difficult

Strong emphasis on visual reasoning, spatial ability, observation, paper folding, 3D visualization, product awareness, and design aptitude. Required careful analysis rather than rote knowledge.

Part B

Moderate to Difficult

Focused heavily on creativity, storytelling, sketching, form development, icon design, and real-world design problem solving. Strong design thinking skills were rewarded.

Visual Reasoning

Difficult

One of the most challenging areas, featuring cube folding, object rotation, top-view identification, paper folding, shadow analysis, profile views, and spatial visualization questions.

Drawing & Sketching

Moderate

The sketching task itself was manageable, but the unusual fox-eye perspective and emphasis on storytelling, composition, and expressions increased complexity.

Overall Paper

Moderate to Difficult

CEED 2025 balanced aptitude and creativity well. While Part A tested analytical and spatial thinking, Part B focused on design thinking, communication, and problem-solving, making it challenging for candidates with strengths in only one area.

Rank

Topic

Evidence from Actual Paper

1

Visual Reasoning

More than 15 questions involving folding, rotation, tiles, patterns and transformations

2

Observation Skills

Footwear pairs, dispensers, scissors, chairs, dance forms

3

Spatial Ability

Cross-sections, projections, solids, views and rotations

4

Problem Identification

Dedicated 20-mark Part B question

5

Design Thinking

Buyer-seller problem analysis for vegetable carts

6

Storytelling

Four-frame visual sequence task

7

Sketching

Perspective-based forest chase scene

8

Visual Communication

Visual explanation of identified problems

9

Product Understanding

Manufacturing methods, mechanisms and usability questions

10

Form Development

Character-inspired tea flask redesign

Factor

CEED 2025

CEED 2026

Overall Part A Difficulty

Moderate to Difficult

Difficult

NAT Questions

Mixed observation + geometry + counting + typography. Examples: footwear pairs, font identification, sphere contacts, paper folding.

More mathematical and puzzle-oriented. Examples: path length calculation, ice cream volume & mass, folded paper area, board-game optimization.

Visual Reasoning

Strong focus on rotations, cube folding, profile views, perspective transformations.

Even stronger. More advanced spatial manipulation, octahedron folding, distorted grids, object assembly, 3D matching.

Observation Questions

Relatively straightforward. Count footwear pairs, identify fonts, mirror images, profile views.

Observation became trickier. Hidden pattern counting, image fragment matching, visual overlap puzzles.

Design Thinking Questions

Product analysis dominated (chairs, dispensers, scissors, manufacturing processes).

Fewer direct product-design questions. More focus on mechanism understanding and structural reasoning (pruner, cardboard table, object assembly).

General Knowledge / Design Awareness

Present. Included Indian dance forms, traditional crafts, manufacturing operations.

Much stronger. Included art movements (De Stijl, Impressionism, Pop Art, Art Nouveau, Baroque), regional typography/font recognition, product-feature mapping.

Math Requirement

Low to Moderate. Mostly counting and geometry.

Significantly higher. Volume, area, optimization, path calculation, game strategy.

Animation-based Questions

Present but limited. Mouse path, bird animation.

More heavily used. Rotating spheres, planetary motion, cube assembly animations.

Pattern Recognition

Moderate. Tile arrangement, sequence puzzles, font identification.

Very high. Distorted grids, symbolic logic, image decomposition, pattern counting.

Mechanical Aptitude

Product usability-focused.

Mechanism-focused. Students needed to understand springs, hinges, assemblies, motion.

Time Pressure

Manageable for prepared students.

Higher. Several questions required multiple-step reasoning before solving.

Guessability

Relatively higher. Many questions could be eliminated through observation.

Lower. Wrong reasoning often led to completely different answers.

Most Challenging Area

MSQ product-design and spatial reasoning questions.

NAT and MSQ sections due to lengthy reasoning and calculations.

Most Scoring Area

Observation and design-awareness questions.

Visual reasoning and pattern recognition if well-practiced.

Factor

CEED 2022–2024

CEED 2025

Observation

Strong focus on counting, hidden patterns, shape identification, visual matching.

Much more sophisticated observation involving fonts, footwear pairing, sphere contacts, folded strips, manufacturing analysis.

Visualization

Mostly orthographic views, cube folding, rotations, shadow analysis, object reconstruction.

Higher-level spatial reasoning involving perspective interpretation, cross-sections, profile views, object reconstruction and transformations.

Design Thinking

Present but limited to usability, ergonomics, accessibility, mechanisms and basic UX scenarios.

Far more integrated into Part A through chairs, scissors, manufacturing methods, stackability, product analysis and design decisions.

Creativity

Creativity appeared indirectly through pattern generation and interpretation.

Creativity shifted toward visual reasoning rather than imaginative thinking.

Communication

Story interpretation and user-context questions appeared occasionally.

Narrative understanding appears through journey maps, information interpretation and visual communication questions.

Problem Solving

Logical puzzles and quantitative reasoning existed but were usually standalone questions.

Problem solving became the backbone of the paper, especially in NAT and MSQ sections.

Mathematics

Moderate. Mostly geometry, ratios, counting, simple calculations.

Noticeably higher. Geometry, surface calculations, combinatorics and multi-step reasoning increased.

Product Understanding

Limited.

One of the strongest themes in the paper.

Design Awareness

Present but scattered.

More structured and embedded into design-related contexts.

Difficulty

Moderate to Difficult.

Difficult. Particularly for Part A.

What To Do

Why It Helps

Timed Solving

Builds speed and helps you adapt to CEED’s time pressure, especially in Part A where 44 questions must be solved within 60 minutes.

Mock Simulation

Replicates actual exam conditions and improves decision-making, question selection, and time management.

Error Analysis

Identifies weak areas such as visual reasoning, observation, design aptitude, or spatial ability so you can improve systematically.

Sketching Practice

Strengthens Part B performance by improving visualization, communication, storytelling, perspective drawing, and design expression.

Compare with Recent Papers

Reveals evolving CEED trends and helps you understand how the exam has shifted from pure creativity toward observation, design thinking, and analytical reasoning.

Skill Area

Evidence from CEED 2025

Importance

Observation Skills

Footwear pairs, chair manufacturing, dispenser mechanisms, dance forms

Very High

Visual Reasoning

Cube folding, paper folding, rotations, tile arrangements, shadow questions

Very High

Spatial Ability

3D objects, cross-sections, projections, transformations

Very High

Design Thinking

Vegetable cart problem identification task

Very High

Creativity & Storytelling

Four-frame visual narrative involving bulb, tap and mosquito

High

Communication

Visual explanation of buyer and seller problems

High

Sketching

Forest chase scene from the fox's point of view

Moderate

Design Awareness

Manufacturing processes, ergonomics, product analysis

Moderate

Candidate Type

How the CEED 2025 Paper Helps

Beginners

Helps understand the CEED exam pattern, question types, difficulty level, and the skills expected in Part A and Part B.

CEED 2026 Aspirants

Provides one of the most recent benchmarks for understanding current CEED trends, visual reasoning questions, and design aptitude expectations.

CEED 2027 Aspirants

Helps identify recurring concepts, build foundational skills early, and understand how CEED has evolved in recent years.

Design Students

Strengthens observation, visualization, sketching, storytelling, product thinking, and design communication skills beyond exam preparation.

Self-Preparing Candidates

Serves as an effective self-assessment tool to evaluate strengths, weaknesses, and readiness without coaching support.

Repeat Aspirants

Helps compare performance against previous attempts, improve exam strategy, and address recurring mistakes in aptitude or sketching.