Take-offThe problem
- 01
Wrong content
Mentors from JEE and CET backgrounds taught applied maths. Part A tests something very different.
- 02
No exam strategy
Students started at question 1 and answered everything in order.
Taught for the wrong exam
I had prepared for my own design entrance exams at Gurumantra and cleared UCEED in the top 10%. Talking to current students and alumni pointed to two root causes.
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Gurumantra is a design entrance coaching institute with 3 branches in Pune and online programmes. In 2023 I interned there as a design researcher, building an NEP-aligned design curriculum for CBSE classes 7 to 10.
In April 2025 they called me back as a Design Education Consultant and Mentor, a role I held until April 2026. I taught and mentored 200+ students in classes 11 and 12, mainly for UCEED Part A (spatial and analytical ability), plus a small batch of undergraduates preparing for CEED.
I spoke to current students and alumni, and drew on my own time as a student there. Most mentors came from JEE and CET backgrounds, so students mostly learned applied maths, and mentors weren’t adapting content to what UCEED and CEED Part A actually test. And students treated UCEED like any other exam they had taken.
CruiseThe work
10 years of papers
Sorted by question type
Ten years of papers, sorted
I studied 10 years of past UCEED and CEED Part A papers and grouped the questions by type. A common approach for each group became the curriculum.
In printed order
Time runs out before the easy marks
Strengths first
Strong sections banked, risky ones left
- Strong section
- Workable
- Hard
- Not attempted
Stop answering in order
Each student got a strategy based on their own strengths. Start with your strongest sections, know which questions to leave, and take risks carefully because wrong answers cost marks.
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I taught students not to attempt the paper in order. They started with the sections they were strongest in, learned which questions to leave based on time, and learned where to take risks and where not to, given negative marking.
- Theory, then questionsbecameA real question, then the theory inside it
Puzzles and games
Spatial ability, learned by playing.
A team league
Teams competing on Part A questions.
Mock tests with feedback
Then solving doubts side by side.
Question first, theory after
Theory-first lessons lost the room. So I flipped it: solve a question, then show the theory through the solution.
- 01
Pre-work
Solve a few questions cold. See your mistakes and your time.
- 02
Video
A real UCEED question, solved aloud and annotated.
- 03
Post-work
Similar questions with the approach. Feel the difference.
The classroom, turned into a course
There are plenty of online courses for JEE and NEET and very few for design entrance exams. I turned the offline curriculum into a self-paced course, starting with Part A because it is measurable, and every chapter runs the same loop.
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Gurumantra wanted to enter the self-paced space, starting with Part A because it’s measurable and not subjective. I took charge of turning my offline curriculum into the course. Each chapter had three parts.
Pre-work: solve a few questions with no tips, to see your own mistakes and how long each question takes without an approach.
Video: I solved real UCEED questions live, thinking out loud and annotating as I went.
Post-work: solve similar questions using the approach, and see for yourself how much faster and more accurate you’ve become.
LandingThe result
+43%
UCEED qualification
60%
Less time to cover Part A
Estimated, against offline teaching
More students through
UCEED qualification went up 43%. The self-paced course is built, and covers Part A in an estimated 60% less time than teaching it offline, because every resource and approach sits in one place.
DebriefWhat I learned
- 01
Start from the real thing
A real question holds attention. A definition does not.
- 02
Strategy is personal
The best order of attempt depends on the student.
- 03
Begin where it can be measured
Part A came first because it is not subjective.
Attention decides the lesson plan
What surprised me was how quickly theory-first teaching lost students. Starting with a real question and pulling the theory out of it worked far better.