Exam On - 4 Jan '26
The XAT exam has some unique aspects to it, like the Decision Making section, which checks your management aptitude. Read here some key XAT 2026 preparation tips by MBA expert Sidharth Balakrishna.
XAT preparation 2026
How to prepare for XAT exam 2026?- The Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is the top MBA entrance exam after CAT. Conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur, XAT scores are accepted by a number of MBA colleges including XIMB, GIM, XIME, SPJIMR, Mumbai, etc. It is conducted annually in online mode like the CAT and has the same difficulty level. One needs to follow an exhaustive plan for XAT preparation so that they meet the XLRI cut off of 95 percentile. In this article, our expert Sidharth Balakrishna has shared tips on how to prepare for XAT exam 2026.
The XAT exam has some unique aspects, such as a section on ‘Decision Making’, which is a test of your management aptitude. In XAT decision making, different situations and cases are present asking aspirants to identify the correct course of action in these situations. While this introduces an element of subjectivity, the paper setters perhaps believe that such questions help pick out a person with adequate management capabilities.
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Candidates should also note that the XAT 2026 exam pattern includes a section on General Knowledge. While the score for this section is not considered for calculating the XAT percentile (considered only in the second phase of the admission process by a few B-Schools accepting the XAT score), it is nevertheless important enough to warrant careful preparation. So, how to prepare for XAT 2026 exam? Let's take a look.
If you are planning to prepare for XAT exam by self study, you need to start early. At least six months before. XAT exam is conducted on the first Sunday of January every year. So, if you start preparing for the XAT in June or July, you will have good six months to prepare. Make a preparation plan that includes XAT syllabus coverage, problem solving sessions, mock tests and revision. Get hold of best books for XAT. Consult mentors or previous year toppers for selecting the best books for preparation. Join online study groups where you can get the help of mentors and peers for problem solving and clearing of doubts in topics. Work in tough topics first and then move to easier topics.
Solve a large number and variety of XAT mock tests to master the syllabus. You will need to do a rigorous work on XAT mock tests as for candidates who opt for self study, have to rely on practice.
Ideally, XAT preparation takes six to nine months, but if candidates have prepared for CAT too, XAT preparation can be done in lesser time as one will have to only work on Decision Making and General Knowledge topics. Those who are weak in English Comprehension must start reading practice early on. The ideal time to start XAT preparation is May, so you can cover the whole syllabus by October and dedicate two months to mock test practice.
If you start studying for XAT late, by July or so, make sure you complete the syllabus by October only. Remember that XAT syllabus is tough, so you’ll need to study at least 6-8 hours daily from start until the end. Give ample time to yourself to complete the XAT syllabus.
Just like other MBA entrance exams, there is negative marking for wrong answers in XAT too but another unique aspect is that 0.10 marks is conducted for 8 consecutive unanswered questions. This makes it a difficult exam to navigate on the day of the test.
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General Knowledge: Most of the questions in this section of XAT pertain to economics and business. Make sure you are up-to-date with current events by reading a newspaper daily and a business magazine. For static GK, refer to popular year books recommended for competitive exams. But you need to do this for at least a few months before the exam, not just for a few days!
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About the Author
Sidharth Balakrishna is the author of several Pearson books, such as, ‘An Introduction to CAT-Tips from an IIM Alumnus', ‘Reading Comprehension for the CAT- A Winning Approach by an IIM Alumnus', ‘Case Studies in Marketing’-part of the Pearson Case Book series and ‘Vocabulary for the CAT: A Winning Approach by an IIM Alumnus’.
Shiksha has created an online XAT mock test for aspirants to attempt and assess their preparation level. The mock test has been created on the basis of questions asked in previous years’ XAT exams. Click on the link below to take the free XAT mock test by Shiksha.
| XAT_Mock_Test_1 | XAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions |
| XAT_Mock_Test_2 | XAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions |
Ideally, candidates should start preparing for XAT from March onwards so that they have ample time to cover the syllabus and practicea good number of mock tests. However, starting preparation in June-July is also fine. About a minimum of six are required to prepare well for the XAT exam as it is one of the tougher MBA entrance tests. Candidates can also opt for coaching classes for XAT as per their convenience. Candidates must study for about six to eight hours daily to be able to cover the syllabus and have enough time for practicing mock tests. Yes, they will need to strike a balance between exam coverage and mock test practice.
However, the capacity of every student is different so, they must decide upon hours of study according to their own capacity and their control over the main topics of XAT. Making a workable plan is very important for XAT preparation, no matter when they start it.
XAT 2025 exam was of moderate difficulty level. The students who had appeared for the exam last year, said the XAT 2025 question paper was not much different. Section wise, Quantitative Aptitude questions were on the tougher side, Verbal Ability and Decision Making were easy to moderate and GK was easy.
There was one poem for RC as always. Quantitative Aptitude section was dominated by Arithmetic and GK had questions on very recent events.
Vipra Shrivastava is MA in English Literature from Delhi University with extensive experience in content writing of over 14 years. She has been handling content for Management, Accounting and Commerce streams for 8
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Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 23 hours ago
Every question of XAT carries 1 mark and a score of 38 to 42 usually covert into 99 percentile, so candidates should aim for the same number of correct attempts in the exam. XAT has negative marking so they should not attempt any question, if they are not sure of, otherwise it will affect the overal
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Contributor-Level 6
Answered Yesterday
The CCSU MBA Cutoff 2025 has been released for admission to the MBA programme via the XAT, MAT and CAT entrance examinations. The CCSU XAT Cutoff 2025 was 50 for the Gender-Neutral Candidates under the All India quota. In the case of CCSU MAT Cutoff 2025, the qualfying cutoff percentile was 75 for t
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 days ago
GIBS accepts scores from all major management entrance exams, including:
CAT
XAT
MAT
CMAT
GMAT
ATMA
State CET
This gives students multiple options to apply. Along with entrance exam scores, GIBS also looks at the overall profile, communication skills, and interest in management, which makes the admission pr
A
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a week ago
Yes, apart from CAT/XAT/MAT/CMAT/ATMA, PIBM conducts its own entrance exam called PMAT (PIBM's Online Aptitude Test). Shortlisted candidates from PMAT then appear for the Written Test, Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI) as part of the selection process.
R
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a week ago
Yes, if you have secured an 82nd percentile in XAT, you can get the scholarships for pursuing an MBA course at FOSSTIMA Business School. The concessions on fees that the school provides are:
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
No. Scores in CAT/XAT/GMAT is not mandatory for admission into BITS Pilani MBA in Business Analytics. However, those who have appeared for these entrance exams will get their score considered in the selection criteria. Appearing for BAAT exam is mandatory for MBA Business Analytics admission.
D
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 2 weeks ago
The XAT Cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the MBA/ PGDM programme for Gender-Neutral candidates belonging to the All India quota. The Rajagiri Business School XAT Cutoff 2025 was 15 percentile for admission to the PGDM course. Candidates needed to secure at least 15 percentile to avail admis
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
XAT VARC is moderately tough and requires adequate practice. This section has about 27 questions and some are based on RC passages including a poem. To be able to understand and attempt RC questions, good control on English comprehension is required. Verbal Ability, Grammar and Vocabulary questions
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 weeks ago
There is no change in the XAT exam pattern 2026. The structure of XAT 2026 question paper will be same as XAT 2025 question paper. There will be no essay writing this year. Candidates will get 180 minutes to solve about 95 questions in MCQ format.
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 weeks ago
Rajagiri Business School XAT Cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the MBA/PGDM courses. In 2024, the XAT cutoff was 70 percentile for admission to the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) course for the General category candidates under the All India quota.
As in the case for the OBC AI c
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Contributor-Level 10
Yes, XAT is slightly tougher for candidates with non-Engineering background as the Quantitative Aptitude section is of higher difficulty level. However, they can crack it if they work on the fundamentals of Math and practice questions of all difficulty levels. It will take time but they will be able to crack XAT's quant section if they dedicate extra hours to it. Aspirants can find XAT study material online in various online study groups. Students’ groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. share study material with each other. One can also download MBA exam preparation apps to get relevant and useful study material.
The good part about XAT is that, it has different cut offs for candidates belonging to different academic backgrounds. As part of its commitment to academic diversity, the institute has lower cut offs for candidates from non-engineering background than candidates from engineering background.