MLA: Admission Information 2026

National Applicants

For M.Arch.

B.Arch. degree recognized by the Council of Architecture. Minimum 50% aggregate marks for general category and 45% for reserved category.

For M.A.

A first professional undergraduate degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in Landscape Architecture, Interior Design or Urban design disciplines with at least four full-time academic years in duration offered by a UGC recognized University or Institution. Minimum 50% aggregate marks for general category and 45% for reserved category.

International Applicants

For M.Arch.

B.Arch. or equivalent degree in Architecture with minimum 50% aggregate marks.

Provided that the Architecture program is considered equivalent to the B.Arch. degree program by the Equivalence Committee of CEPT University.

For M.A.

A first professional undergraduate degree (Bachelor’s Degree) in Landscape Architecture, Interior Design or Urban design disciplines with at least four full-time academic years in duration offered by a recognized University or Institution, with a minimum of 50% aggregate marks.

Sponsored Candidates

Same as for national applicants + Minimum 5 years [on the last date of application] of experience in relevant field, of which at Least two years in service of the organization sponsoring his/her study.

Disqualification / scrutiny

Incomplete application documents, evidence of providing false information, plagiarism in portfolio/report [zero tolerance policy towards plagiarism], not meeting eligibility criteria will result in disqualification of the application.

Application Information & Requirements

The application shall consist of the following:

1. A completed application form.
   

2. CEPT PG Test / GATE Scores for Indian nationals. The candidates who have appeared for the GATE exam are not required to appear for CEPT PG Test. It is compulsory to give CEPT PG test if you have not appeared for GATE. CEPT PG Test will be online from your home.

   GRE scores for international candidates (GRE scores shall be considered valid if taken within the last 2 years). International candidates can appear for CEPT PG Test, if they have not taken GRE. CEPT PG Test will be online from your home. 
   

3. Self-attested Degree certificates, and mark sheets for all semesters. Applicants receiving grades as GPA/CGPA need to send a document indicating the equivalent percentage marks or relationship of GPA/CGPA with percentage marks as per their university/ institute along with all the mark sheets. Applicants studying in the final semester need to submit all the mark sheets till the penultimate semester.
   
4. Curriculum Vitae.
   
5. Academic and/ or Professional experience certificates. The referee should be able to upload the reference letters till 3 days after the last date to apply.
   
6. References from two referees who know you well. Referees must be your professional superiors or academic instructors / tutors. References from peers, colleagues, friends and family will be disqualified. (Online reference letters to be filled and sent directly by the referee)
   
7. Portfolio: Attach a maximum of 10 pages of A4 size in landscape format as a single PDF file. File size should not exceed 20 MB and 150 dpi maximum. Please note that pages after the first 10 pages in your portfolio, as specified, may not be considered for evaluation. Bear in mind that portfolio reviewers will not be zooming in to review your portfolios and arrange your pages accordingly. (See below for details)
   
8. Online interview with the shortlisted candidates.
   
9. GATE cut off: Applicants who have received the score below cutoff score as published by the relevant authority, he/she needs to appear for online CEPT PG Test.

Refer Evaluation Procedure for details on all the above requirements.

National Students

The entire evaluation process is online. It is mandatory to appear for all the stages of evaluation for the admission process. Evaluation shall be done in two stages.

Stage 1 – 

All applications will be screened at this stage in the following manner:

1. Check eligibility of the candidate from the uploaded documents.
2. An expert evaluation committee will be set up by the program to assess documents and portfolios to shortlist eligible candidates for the program.
3. Documents required and the assessment criteria for this stage are follows:

Documents Required

A. Curriculum vitae, work experience, and last qualifying exam marks
Assessment Criteria

• Relevance and Quality of Experience in a work environment
• Relevance and quality of engagement in an academic environment (workshops, seminars, conferences, extra classes, short courses)
• Relevance and quality of extra-curricular activities.

B. Last Qualifying Exam 
Assessment Criteria
Performance in the last qualifying exam of your undergraduate program will be noted

C. References
Assessment Criteria
Please share the link provided in the application form with the referees. (Referees are kindly required to submit the online reference form, including a reference letter, to assist the University in making a full assessment of each applicant’s academic record and abilities)

It is necessary to have one academic and one professional reference. In case the applicant has not graduated, provide two academic references.

The reference shall be evaluated for:

1. Relevance of the Reference (and the Referee) with the subject matter

2. Nature of Reference received

3. Authenticity of the Reference

4. Content of the reference

5. Evaluation of referee

D. Portfolio
The portfolio is a synopsis of one's creative work. As a visual essay, it tells the story of a person's interests, skills, and development over time. It should include projects that best express one's visual, spatial, and constructional abilities.

The portfolio must conform to following :

1. Contain a maximum of 10 pages in A4 landscape format

2. The portfolio should be a single pdf

3. Maximum size of portfolio shall be 20MB with 150 dpi resolution

4. All drawings and text should be of optimum size and legible for screen viewing  without zooming in.

5. Pages after the first 10 pages in your portfolio (including cover), will not be considered for evaluation

6. The portfolio should have a three parts:

• Cover page- with name, name of institution, year of graduation and portfolio content
• Academic work
• Professional and other works section

7. Academic work

This section should include three fully developed individual design projects that best represent the candidate’s aptitude, communication and design skills.

Thesis - This should include thesis project. If thesis is in progress currently - include a 500 word synopsis and process drawings.  Please provide contact details of the thesis guide in the index.

Internship - It is not mandatory to include internship work.   If including work done during this period, it will be a part of the academic section. This should preferably be restricted to one spread and should mention office name, project name, duration of work, and nature of involvement. Please provide contact details of the office in the index.

Group work - If including group work it needs to be specified with due credits to the team. It should mention the nature of involvement of the candidate.  Names of all group members should be mentioned in the index.

Professional / other works section

The first preference should be to individual projects, if any. In office work, give priority to a project which you were involved in for a longer duration.  It should mention office name, duration, and project name, status of completion, year, and nature of involvement / role. Please provide contact details of the office in the index.

This section can also include works that show specific skills and interests like writing, sketching, workshops attended and other related areas.

The portfolio will be evaluated for:

1. Competence to coherently demonstrate visual and spatial abilities expressed through a basic understanding of material and construction at the minimum.

2. The ability of a candidate to demonstrate spatial fluency and intellectual depth in contemporary research questions and critical areas of inquiry

3. Authenticity of the Portfolio (signed and stamped by the institution/ office/ organization)

4. Proper credits and references

5. Plagiarism (zero tolerance)

6. Legible and clean format

7. Judicious use of space

8. Communication of information

E. Test Scores (CEPT PG / GATE)

It is mandatory to appear for all the evaluation criteria. If a candidate is absent from any of the evaluation criteria, he/she is not qualified to be considered for the merit list.

"Experience" is one of the evaluation criteria. If an applicant has a continuing position at the workplace, at the time of application, his/her experience will be accounted for till the date of application deadline irrespective of the date of submission of application.

Stage 2
108 candidates (three times the intake capacity) will be invited for stage 2. The assessment process for this stage will be completely through an online interview.

Online Interview - All qualified applications for stage 2 will be screened by an expert evaluation committee. This will be set up by the program to conduct online interviews and assess the academic and professional experience/ motivation, skills, understanding of current issues and communication skills.

Overall Evaluation Criteria for Stage 1 and 2 
Evaluation shall be done by the Admission Committee appointed by the Faculty of Architecture. Each applicant will be evaluated for the following parameters. The break up for both stages is as mentioned in the table below.

The various criteria of evaluation is as mentioned in the tables below:

Stage 1

Evaluation Criteria

• Work experience**
• Recommendation letters
• Portfolio Review (for clarity, neatness, and parsimony)
• CEPT PG test / GATE

Stage 2

Evaluation Criteria

• Online interviews

*Note: In case the final semester results are pending then percentages till the penultimate semester will be considered.

** This complete proportion of the marks shall only be given to applicants with a minimum of 12 months of domain related work experience supported by a certificate. This experience shall be excluding the period of mandatory academic internship. The cut off for counting work experience shall be considered as the last date of submission of applications.

The consolidated common merit order of the applicants tested shall be displayed on the CEPT admission portal.

Based on the number of available seats, CEPT University will offer admission to candidates as per the merit order in the merit list. The candidate will be asked to deposit the fee and secure the admission by the date given in the offer letter. After this date CEPT University at its discretion may offer the admission to candidates in the waitlists in the order of merit as per the availability of seats.

International Students

The admission procedure and assessment criteria is the same for national, international, and sponsored candidates unless specifically mentioned otherwise. GRE scores for international candidates (GRE score shall be considered valid if taken within the last 2 years).

The mode of teaching for the program is in English. The proficiency in English language should be good. The International candidates should rate their proficiency in English language at the scale of 1 to 5 in the application form.

Sponsored Candidates

The admission procedure and assessment criteria are the same for national, international, and sponsored candidates unless specifically mentioned otherwise.

The candidates will be required to submit the following in addition to other documents:

• Sponsorship Certificate and/or No Objection certificate from the last employer
  
• Proof of Employment that may include the

1. Appointment letter
   
2. Form No. 16 for the last two years from the last employer
   
3. Experience certificate(s) indicating minimum experience of 5 years
   
4. Any other proof as deemed necessary by the committee

Separate merit list will be prepared for seats of sponsored candidates. In absence of enough eligible applications or applicants qualified in the admission procedure, the seats will be filled with the other eligible and qualified candidates.

For candidates with B.Arch. the degree awarded - Master of Architecture (Landscape Design)

For candidates with other than B.Arch. the degree awarded - Master of Arts (Landscape Design)

Last date to Apply:  21st June 2026

Online CEPT PG Test
27 June 2026 | 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM

Total Intake: 36

Government Seats: 9

University Seats: 27

The admissions for Government Seats shall be conducted by the respective Admission Committee constituted in accordance with the provisions of the said Act. These seats shall be offered to the students who have passed the qualifying examination from an eligible Board or University located in the State of Gujarat. The students who qualify as per the eligibility criteria and possess domicile of the State of Gujarat shall also be eligible for admission.

Information will be updated soon

CEPT University offers a number of Merit and Means based scholarships. Merit-based scholarships are offered to applicants along with their admission offer letter based on their standing in the admissions merit list. Applicants can apply for means-based scholarships on the online admissions portal after they have submitted their admission application. Apart from these, students can access several work-based financial aids during the course of their studies. For more information, please see this link.