Key Difference Between XAT Quant vs CAT Quant: Syllabus, Questions, Difficulty Level
CAT and XAT entrance examinations are conducted for admission to B-Schools in India. Candidates preparing for CAT 2025 or XAT 2026 can check the key difference between XAT quant and CAT quant sections. Check detailed comparison of syllabus, type of questions, nature of questions and other features here.
Difference Between CAT and XAT Quant Sections
MBA aspirants preparing for XAT 2026 or CAT 2025 often wonder which has the tougher Quantitative Ability (QA) Section and how this section differ in both exams? With the syllabys overlaps, the difficulty level, type of questions and pattern vary significantly between two exams. CAT QA and XAT QA sections requires understanding of Mathematical concepts. CAT Quant section focuses on pure mathematics including Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Number Systems etc. Whereas, QA section in XAT exam is a combined section called Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, which includes quant questions along with charts, graphs, tables, caselets and logical DI problems.
Read this article below to know the difference between XAT Quant and CAT Quant. Check syllabus, exam pattern and type of questions here.
- CAT Quant Vs XAT Quant- Key Differences
- CAT Quant Vs XAT Quant Syllabus
- XAT Quant Vs CAT Quant Questions
CAT Quant Vs XAT Quant- Key Differences
Candidates preparing for CAT quant and XAT quant sections can check the key differences between both exam in the table below:
| Features |
CAT Quant |
XAT Quant |
|---|---|---|
| Section |
Standalone |
Combined QA and DI |
| Difficulty |
Moderate |
Moderate to tough |
| Question Type |
MCQ and Non-MCQ |
MCQ |
| Sectional Time duration |
40 minutes |
Not fixed |
| Negative marking |
Yes |
Yes |
| Number of questions |
22 |
28 |
| Number of options |
Four |
Five |
It is difficult but not impossible. If you give yourself a good enough time to improve English comprehension, grammar and vocabulary, you will be able to do it. Yes, a non- English medium student will require longer time for CAT preparation as they will have to start reading and improving English comprehension. So, may be they need to start English preparation for CAT in the second year of graduation, instead of final year (much earlier than English medium students). They may also need two attempts to crack CAT with high percentile. But that's not true for all. If you work hard and study smartly, you will be able to crack it.
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.
CAT Quant Vs XAT Quant Syllabus
Candidates preparing for CAT exam 2025 or XAT 2026 must check the detailed syllabus of CAT quant and XAT quant below:
CAT Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus
CAT Quantitative Aptitude sylabus includes following topics:
| CAT Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus |
||
|---|---|---|
| Ratios and Proportion |
Inequalities |
|
| In-equations Quadratic and linear equations |
Work and Time |
|
| Surds and Indices |
||
| Time-Speed-Distance |
Logarithms |
|
| Partnership (Accounts) |
||
| Profit & Loss |
Geometric Progression |
|
XAT Quantitative Aptitude Syllabus
XAT Quantitative Aptitude syllabus also includes Data Interpretation questions. The important topics in this section are:
| XAT syllabus for Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation |
||
|---|---|---|
| Percentage |
Tables and Caselets |
Linear and Quadratics Equations |
| Profit and Loss |
Probability |
Surds and Indices |
| Ratio and Proportion |
Critical Path |
Inequalities |
| Variation |
Averages and Partnerships |
Logarithms |
| Time and Work |
Alligations and Mixtures |
Numbers |
| Time, Speed and Distance |
Algebra |
Mensuration |
| LCM and HCF |
Simple and Compound Interest |
Geometry |
| Pure Maths |
Venn Diagram |
Trigonometry |
| Data Tables |
Data Charts |
Bar Diagrams |
| Graphs |
Pie Charts |
Data Analysis |
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The best way to prepare for DILR section is through practice. Before starting the preparation, aspirants should check previous years’ question papers. Since there is not much conceptual understanding required in this section, practice is important.
Some of the most popular books on DILR section that you can refer are How to Prepare for Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning for CAT by Arun Sharma, Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation for the CAT by Nishit Sinha, Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning for CAT by Pearson, to name a few.
CAT is a speed-based test of analytical aptitude, logical reasoning skills, data interpretation and English comprehension. Now, it may sound tough, but these are the skills which we are taught in school so there is nothing new to learn. What is required is to learn these subjects at advanced level. If you are an average student but have studied Science or Commerce in Class-12 and graduation, you will find a lot of familiar topics in Data Interpretation, Quantitative Aptitude and Logical Reasoning. All you will need is brush up the basics and practice the concepts on advanced-level problems.
However, since the competition is so high in CAT and less than 95 percentile can break your dream of joining a top college like IIM, the preparation for CAT requires a lot of focus, dedication, discipline and diligence. If you can do that, despite being an average student, you can crack the CAT exam.
Hope it was helpful!!!
CAT Quantitative Aptitude has the potential of 100 percentile if you prepare well. The Quantitative Aptitude topics of CAT are advance level Mathematic topics from Class 9 and 10. So, for any candidate, the foundation is already there, they only need to work on it further.
The important topics of CAT Quantitative Aptitude include Geometry, Ratios and Proportion, Inequalities, Trigonometry, In-equations, Quadratic and Linear Equations, Work and Time, Algebra, Surds and Indices, Percentages, Mensuration, Time-Speed-Distance, Logarithms, Partnership (Accounts), Number System, Square Root and Cube Root, Profit & Loss, Geometric Progression, Probability, Mean-Mode-Median, Binomial theorem, Simple interest and compound interest.
Maximum questions are asked from Arithmetic and Geometry so keep the main focus on these two topic. Understand and memorise the formulas and theorems well, and practice enough questions to be thorough with their application.
XAT Quant Vs CAT Quant Questions
CAT quantitative aptitude section includes mathematical concept questions, whereas, XAT quantitative aptitude section is a mix of mathematical concepts of Data Interprepatation. Check the type of questions asked in CAT and XAT exam below:
CAT Quantitative Aptitude Questions
CAT Quantitative Aptitude section will include 22 questions. Check below to know the type of questions asked in CAT exam:
Question: In a group of 250 students, the percentage of girls was atleast 44% and at most 60%. The rest of the students were boys. Each student opted for either swimming or running both. If 50% of the boys and 80% if the girls opted for swimming while 70% of the boys and 60% of the girls opted for running, then the minimum and maximum possible number of students who opted for both swimming and running are?
Options:
- 72 and 88 respectively
- 72 and 80 respectively
- 75 and 90 respectively
- 75 and 96 respectively
Question: A certain amount of water was poured into a 300 litre container and the remaining portion of the container was filled with milk. Then an amount of this solution was taken out from the container which was twice the volume of water that was earlier poured into it, and water was poured to refill the container again. If the resulting solution contains 72% milk, then the amount of water, in litres, that was initially poured into the container was?
Question: Aman invests INR 4000 in a bank at a certain rayte of interest, compounded annually. If the ratio of the value of the investment after 3 years to the value of the investment after 5 years is 25:36, then the minimum number of years required for the value of the investment to exceed INR 20000 is?
Question: The number of distinct integer solutions (x, y) of the equation |x+y| + |x-y| = 2, is
Question: The number of all positive integers up to 500 with non-repeating digits is
Download CAT Quant Questions With Solution
Also Read:
XAT Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation Questions
XAT question paper will include 28 questions on Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, Check below to know type of questions asked in XAT Quant section:
Question: Amit has forgotten his 4-digit locker key. He remembers that all the digits are positive integers and are different from each other. Moreover, the fourth digit is the smallest and the maximum value of the first digit is 3. Also, he recalls that if he divides the second digit by the third digit, he gets the first digit. How many different combinations does Amit have to try for unlocking the locker?
Options :
- 2
- 1
- 4
- 5
- 3
Question: ABC is a triangle and the coordinates of A, B and C are (a, b-2c), (a, b+4c) and (-2a,3c) respectively where a, b and c are positive numbers. The area of the triangle ABC is:
Options :
- 6abc
- 9abc
- 6bc
- 9ac
- None of the above
Question: The Guava club has won 40% of their football matches in the Apple Cup that they have played so far. If they play another n matches and win all of them, their winning percentage will improve to 50. Further, if they play 15 more matches and win all of them, their winning percentage will improve from 50 to 60. How many matches has the Guava club played in the Apple Cup so far? In the Apple Cup matches, there are only two possible outcomes, win or loss; draw is not possible.
Options :
- 50
- 40
- 30
- Cannot be determined, as the value of n is not given
- 60
Question: There are three sections in a question paper and each section has 10 questions. First section only has multiple-choice questions, and 2 marks will be awarded for each correct answer. For each wrong answer, 0.5 marks will be deducted. Any un-attempted question in this section will be treated as a wrong answer. Each question in the second section carries 3 marks, whereas each question in the third section carries 5 marks. For any wrong answer or un-attempted question in the second and third sections, no marks will be deducted. A student’s score is the addition of marks obtained in all the three sections. What is the sixth highest possible score?
Options :
- 92.5
- 94
- 95.5
- 95
- None of the above.
Download XAT Quant Questions With Solution
| XAT_Mock_Test_1 | XAT_Mock_Test_1_Solutions |
| XAT_Mock_Test_2 | MAT_Mock_Test_2_Solutions |
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Shruti Garg is a graduate in English and Education with over 7 years of experience in content writing/editing and education journalism. At Shiksha.com, Shruti covers UG and PG entrance exams like MBA entrance exams,
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Yes CAT syllabus is difficult to crack if you do not have enough time. There are three subjects in CAT- VARC, DILR and Quantitative Aptitude. Most of candidates find RC passages tough to crack. In Quants, Arithmetic, Algebra and Geometry pose significant challenge during preparation. In DILR, Reasoning questions often turnout to be tricky and confusion.