Registration - 10 Jul '25 - 5 Dec '25
XAT 2026 preparation plan has to be concept driven, practice intensive and time sensitive. The difficulty level of XAT is high and its pattern is slightly different from other MBA entrance exams. You need to have complete knowledge of XAT syllabus and be able to solve all types of questions. Know here some topper tips to prepare for XAT 2026.
XAT preparation 2026 - Xavier Aptitude Test or XAT is considered one of the toughest MBA entrance exams in India, on par with CAT. It can be described as a mix of concept driven, practice intensive and environment sensitive questions. The unconventionality of the XAT question paper, its unique marking scheme and the number of applicants make it a tough exam to crack. The key to excel in the XAT exam is not only studying from XAT preparation books but also thoroughly understanding the question paper and choosing questions wisely during the test. The most important part of XAT preparation is timely completion of the syllabus and practice of mock tests. Read this article for toppers tips for XAT 2026 preparation.
- How to Prepare for XAT 2026?
- How to prepare for XAT Exam 2026: Tips from Toppers
- XAT Exam Preparation 2026: Section Wise Tips
- Best Books for XAT Preparation 2026
- Take XAT Mock Test by Shiksha
How to Prepare for XAT 2026?
XAT 2026 exam will be held on January 4, 2026 so now is the time to speed up. For cracking XAT exam, it is important to know the fundamentals. By now, you must have completed the XAT 2026 syllabus and must already be practicing questions. This year, candidates may find it easier to perform in XAT as the exam pattern has been simplified. There are a few changes in the XAT exam pattern. There is no essay writing.The time duration of XAT has also been reduced from 210 minutes to 180 minutes. Check the sectional break up and marking scheme of XAT below:
| XAT sections |
Number of questions |
Marking Scheme |
|---|---|---|
| Decision Making |
21 |
1 for each right answer -0.25 for each wrong answer -0.10 marks will be deducted for more than 8 unanswered questions. |
| Verbal & Logical Ability |
26 |
|
| Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation |
27 |
|
| General Knowledge |
20 |
|
| Total |
95 |
Know complete XAT syllabus 2026
How to prepare for XAT Exam 2026: Tips from Toppers
Let’s first understand what is the difference between XAT and other MBA entrance exams?
XAT is more inclined towards application than rote learning. XAT exam has a section which is not there in other management exams – Decision Making. This section brings in a measure of creativity and test the knowledge one has built over time and not by cramming. The Verbal Ability section too, has unique type of Reading Comprehension passages including a poem.
Now, let's look at key tips from previous years' XAT toppers.
Siddharth Lilani, XAT 2023, 99.64 percentile
"I believe that every candidate is different and there is no formula to crack any exam or interview. Working hard is definitely essential and so is consistency. But in the end, results matter and how they come becomes less relevant (unless they come from unfair means). So, every candidate must work on developing a process that works well for them - physically, psychologically, and intellectually." Read full interview
Farzan Shaikh, XAT 2021, 99.95 percentile
"I started preparing on my own (thought NITians don’t need help), quants from books like Arun Sharma, Sarvesh Sharma. I solved DM questions in XAT using past year papers. I Solved 3-4 DILR sets daily. Actively read and summarised articles, books and essays from Aeon, The Economist, WSJ, etc. in my own language to improve my reading comprehension." Read full interview
Suresh Jadia, XAT 2020, 99.31 percentile
"I started XAT preparation seriously by mid-August or September and realised that there wasn’t enough time to go through the entire syllabus thoroughly … so I went for the mock analysis approach which means I gave as many mock as I could and invested even more time in analysing those mock."
"I focused more on Verbal Ability and Decision Making for which I developed more of an intuitive approach where in, in RC passages and Decision Making the answers should come from one’s own inference."
Sarthak Kumar, XAT 2019, 99.95 percentile
"My strategy was to solve as many questions as possible and give as many mocks as possible. One thing I always believed was to stick to my strength which was Quantitative Ability. So I focused more on that but at the same time made sure not to neglect the decision making and verbal sections."
"To prepare for Decision Making section, my strategy was to focus on previous years’ XAT questions, I would match the answers with their answer keys and understand the rationale behind those answers."
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Aditya Ganesh, XAT 2018, 99.4 percentile
"I decided to take the test quite late so I had two months to prepare, so I decided that I really have to focus on my strengths. I first strategised and covered all the concepts that were necessary for the examination. After that, I focused mainly on practicing as many questions as I could. I created a conducive environment at my home so that I could take a lot of XAT mock tests and using this I could figure out my strengths and weaknesses."
"In decision making you need to think of solutions which are practical from business sense and ethical," he added.
"On exam day strategy, Aditya said, "In a competitive exam like XAT, you need to ensure that you convert all the questions that you know. By maximising all the questions that you know, you can ensure that you can get a good percentile."
Neha Jaggannath, XAT 2017, 98.76 percentile
Verbal Ability section
"For Verbal Ability section, you need to acquaint yourself with reading of variety of articles. Secondly, you could familiarise yourself with basics of Grammar like figures of speech, root words etc. Apart from that solving questions from sample papers or mock tests will suffice."
Decision Making
"Since you don’t have any precedent to follow viz. this section, the key to crack this section of XAT exam is solve as many previous years papers and mock test series as you can, because these will help you familiarise yourself with the kind of questions that are asked which are mostly common sense based."
Quantitative Ability
"Improving your calculation speed is always the key, because it helps in the examination and also improves you mental agility in general. Other than that, keep a note of the important formulae. During the exam, it is important to know which formula to use for which question."
General Knowledge
"I brushed up on my current affairs knowledge. I made sure to keep reading newspapers and apps on a regular basis. Apart from this, there are certain key points about our nation or international world that aren’t really current affairs but topics you should be knowing. So brushing up on some static GK also helps."
Also Read:
Rajas Yotikar, XAT 2017, 99.98 percentile
“In the last month, there is not much left to prepare. You just have to get in the zone and keep solving the mocks. You don’t have to do anything special in the last one month. In the last month, I stopped solving questions on subjects and switched to mock tests.”
Priyadarshi Dasgupta, XAT 2017, 99.72 percentile
“For the Quant section, my strategy was to read through all the questions once and figure out which questions will take a larger amount of time and which questions I could do quickly. So I would target the questions that I could do quickly first, because that would give me a chance to maximise my score and I would come to questions that required more time.”
“My strategy for Verbal Ability section was to attempt the questions as quickly as possible after one reading then re-read my questions. I found this useful as there were many details that I might have missed in my first reading. So I read them a number of times to catch these details."
"Decision Making is unique to the XAT exam and there isn’t a lot of material to prepare from, so I gave a lot of mock tests in which they would give him sectional cut offs so that he would know my strong and weak areas."
"Keeping in touch with current affairs helped me a lot in GK section as most of the questions were from current affairs."
Also Read:
XAT Exam Preparation 2026: Section Wise Tips
Given below is the brief description of every section of XAT question paper for candidates to have a basic understanding of each. To make a XAT 2026 preparation plan, it is important that they know the basics first.
- XAT 2026 preparation: Decision Making
Decision making section is the most unique section of XAT. It is practise intensive and requires business aptitude for solving ethical dilemmas, financial issues, general management scenarios, company management issues, etc. To prepare for this section, one needs to practice a variety of sample questions. One needs to know that this sections requires application of logic to determine the correct option.
Also read: How to Prepare for XAT Decision Making
- XAT 2026 preparation: Verbal & Logical Ability
Reading Comprehension has historically dominated the Verbal section of XAT. The major part of this section is about reasoning skills, RC and vocabulary-based questions, thus requires quick reading and ample mock-test practice to keep up with time and speed. There's always one poem in XAT as RC.
Also read: How to prepare for XAT Verbal & Logical Ability
- XAT 2026 preparation: Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation
Focus areas in Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation section of XAT syllabus are Arithmetic, Geometry, Number Systems, P&C, Probability and Functions. The key here is getting the concepts right, building upon it and applying them accurately. Practice of mental calculation will come in handy while attempting this section.
Also read: How to prepare for XAT Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation
- XAT 2026 preparation: General Knowledge
A lot of stress is on Current Affairs. The questions range from economics and politics to sports and literature. Reading newspaper regularly and a brushing up of Static GK will help you sail through this section of XAT 2026 exam.
Also Read:
Best Books for XAT Preparation 2026
Below listed are some of the best books for XAT exam preparation:
| XAT Books |
Author Name |
|---|---|
| XAT XLRI – MBA Entrance exam A/4 |
Chandresh Agarwal |
| Target XAT Simplified |
Disha Experts |
| Jabbing the XAT with Solved Papers |
RK Jha |
| Koncepts of Numbers in Quantitative Aptitude for XAT and Other Quantitative Exams |
Gajendra Kumar |
| Solved Papers for XAT |
Gautam Puri |
| Data Interpretation and Data Sufficiency |
Ananta Ashisha, Arihant Expert (Author) |
Also Read: Best Books for XAT Preparation
Take XAT Mock Test by Shiksha
Shiksha has created a free 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. Take the free XAT mock test by Shiksha, below.
| XAT_Mock_Test_1 | XAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions |
| XAT_Mock_Test_2 | XAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions |
Read More:
XAT topper quotes courtesy XLRI, Jamshedpur and xatonline.
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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, 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.
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.
XAT is one of the tougher MBA entrance exams. The difficulty level of the XAT question paper is usually moderate to high. The XAT 2024 question paper was of moderate difficulty level. The Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation section is usually tougher than other sections. Verbal and Logical Reasoning section is usually moderate. However, some candidates find the Verbal Ability section tough as it has questions based on Reading Comprehension passages and poem. Decision Making and General Knowledge sections are moderate to easy.
Out of 100 questions, about 70-75 attempts with 70 to 80 per cent accuracy is considered a good attempt in the XAT exam. The test takers must strive to attempt 2/3 rd of the total questions in each section for a decent overall score. If a candidate scores 95 percentile, they will be in a position to get a good college.
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.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 4 days ago
GIBS Business School, therefore, accepts 'all national-level entrance examination' scores that include the major management exams like CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, GMAT, and in some cases State CET exams for admissions to PGDM and MBA programs. These scores will determine a candidate's eligibility for
M
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 months ago
XLRI Jamshedpur considers XAT scores for admission to PGDM programmes. Those who are seeking admission in PGDM BM, PGDM HRM and Double Masters Degree in Supply Chain Management and logistics (PGDM & MS) requires XAT scores. Aspirants can also apply for admission to General Management programme (PGDM
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 months ago
Candidates who are applying for XAT have to pay an application fee. Aspirants have to pay INR 2,200 to apply for XAT. Candidates can pay the fee via any of the online payment modes. Aspirants have to pay INR 200 each for every additional programme of XLRI.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 months ago
XLRI Delhi accepts XAT scores for admission to PGDM programme. Aspirants seeking admission in PGDM Business Management are offered seat only via their XAT scores. For PGDM IEV, candidates can also take admission without XAT based on their scores in CAT, MAT, GMAT, etc. Candidates have to register on
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 months ago
No, you cannot use the score of XAT 2025 for admission to 2026 batch at XLRI as the validity of exam score is one year only. Thus, you will have to appear for XAT 2026 exam if you plan to pursue MBA from XLRI in 2026. The registration process for XAT 2026 is open and the last date to apply is Decemb
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 months ago
The total course fee of full time MBA at XLRI is INR 28 Lacs according to Shiksha. The fee is to be paid semester wise. The first installment is to be paid at the time of admission. The XLRI course fee includes tuition fees, hostel and mess charges, caution money, library chargers and other miscella
N
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 months ago
There is no process of applying for multiple XAT accepting colleges through one form because there is no common counselling for XAT. Candidates have to apply to the colleges of their choice individually. They must keep in mind the application last date so they don't miss out on it. Also, they must c
A
Contributor-Level 6
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.