MBA Entrance Exam Question Papers: Download CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT Question Paper PDFs
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MBA aspirants preparing for MBA will need question papers of various MBA entrance exam for preparation. We have provided here previous year question papers of CAT, XAT, CMAT and MAT exam for practice.
Download Previous Year MBA Question Papers
MBA Previous Year Question Papers: If you are planning to appear for any MBA entrance exam this year, you must know the key source of preparation. All MBA entrance exams are speed based. Candidates have to display their knowledge and skills within a given time limit. The questions are objective type thus.
So, if you are planning to appear in CAT 2026, MAT 2026, XAT 2027 or CMAT 2027, you must refer to their previous year question papers. It will help you in understanding the examination structure, question type, difficulty level, sectional weightage, topic-wise weightage and other trends over the years. MBA entrance exam question papers also help in planning the preparation w.r.t, most important or most scoring topics.
Although, the syllabus of all MBA entrance exams is common but the pattern and question types vary. So, does the marking scheme. You can know the differences between any two exams only after seeing and practising the official MBA question papers. We have shared here MBA question papers of previous years for CAT XAT, CMAT and MAT. Also, find practice questions and mock tests for these MBA exam. Before that, let’s understand the benefits of practising previous years' question papers for MBA preparation.
Also Read: Top MBA Entrance Exams in India 2026
- Benefits of Practicing CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT Question Papers
- CAT previous year question papers: Sectional Break Up and Marks Allotted
- Slot-wise CAT Question Papers with Solutions
- XAT Previous Year Question Papers
- CMAT previous year question paper
- MAT previous year question papers
Benefits of Practicing CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT Question Papers
Every entrance exam is a speed-based test in which candidates have to attempt MCQs subjects like Quantitative Aptitude, Language Cmprehension, Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning and General Knowledge. XAT and CMAT have unique sections like Decision Making and Innovation and Entrepreneurship (respectively). Moreover, every exam is unique. So, here are the benefits of practicing previous years' question papers of CAT, MAT, XAT, CMAT for MBA preparation:
1. By practising previous years' question papers, you can get familiar with the test structure and exam pattern.
2. You can know section-wise and topic-wise weightage as well as the type of questions asked.
3. Preparation of RC passages of CAT, Decision Making passages of XAT and Innovation and Entrepreneurship of CMAT can be best done with the help of previous years' question papers only.
4. There is negative marking in MBA entrance exams for incorrect attempts. With practice of previous years' question papers, candidates can learn which questions to attempt and which ones to skip to avoid negative marking.
5. Having practice of questions asked previously will boost confidence in the exam as you will be well prepared to handle all types of questions.
CAT previous year question papers: Sectional Break Up and Marks Allotted
CAT is a 2-hour exam having three sections - VARC, LRDI and Quantitative Aptitude. The difficulty level of CAT question paper is always moderate to high. CAT previous year question paper pattern and marking scheme are tabulated below:
| CAT question paper (sections) |
Number of Questions |
Marks Allotted |
|---|---|---|
| VARC |
24 |
72 |
| DILR |
22 |
66 |
| QA |
22 |
66 |
| Total |
68 |
204 |
Download Previous Year CAT Question Paper PDFs
Given below are the CAT question paper PDFs of past eight years. Download these CAT previous year papers free.
CAT Mock Test for Practice
Shiksha’s free CAT mock tests are created to match the exam like environment with an onscreen calculator and a matching difficulty level. Practice these and prepare for CAT 2026:
| Mock Test |
Link |
|---|---|
| CAT Mock Test by Shiksha (Practice Online) |
|
Slot-wise CAT Question Papers with Solutions
Shiksha has compiled PDFs for previous years' CAT question papers with solutions. Candidates preparing for the CAT 2026 exam can download slot-wise questions with solutions for CAT 2025, CAT 2024, and CAT 2023 below.
XAT Previous Year Question Papers
XAT has a unique section and unique marking scheme. The XAT question paper is usually of moderate to high difficulty level. Earlier, it used to have Essay Writing but, XAT 2025 and 2026 did not have it. XAT 2027 question paper will also not have Essay Writing. Check here the composition of XAT previous year paper (2026):
| XAT Sections |
Number of Questions |
Marks Alloted |
|---|---|---|
| Decision Making |
21 |
21 |
| Verbal and Logical Ability |
26 |
26 |
| Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation |
28 |
28 |
| General Knowledge |
20 |
20 |
| Total |
95 |
95 |
Download XAT Previous Year Question Paper PDFs
Given below are the XAT question paper PDFs of past five years. Download these XAT previous year papers free.
| XAT_2017 Question Paper | |
| XAT 2022 Question Paper | XAT_2016 Question Paper |
| XAT_2021 Question Paper | XAT_2015 Question Paper |
| XAT_2020 Question Paper |
XAT Mock Test for Practice
Shiksha’s free XAT mock tests are based on actual XAT previous year question papers. Practice these and prepare for XAT 2026:
| XAT_Mock_Test_2 |
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CMAT previous year question paper
CMAT is a 3-hour exam having five sections. CMAT’s uniqueness is the Innovation and Entrepreneurship section. CMAT is the only exam that has this section. The difficulty level of CMAT question paper is moderate. CMAT previous year question paper pattern and marking scheme are tabulated below:
| CMAT Sections |
Number of Questions |
Marks Allotted |
|---|---|---|
| Quantitative Techniques & Data Interpretation |
20 |
80 |
| Logical Reasoning |
20 |
80 |
| Language Comprehension |
20 |
80 |
| General Awareness |
20 |
80 |
| Innovation & Entrepreneurship |
20 |
80 |
| Total |
100 |
400 |
Download CMAT Previous Year Question Paper PDFs
Given below are the CMAT question paper PDFs of past years. Download these CMAT previous year papers free.
| CMAT 2022 Question Paper |
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12 Dec '26
10 Oct '26 - 11 Jan '27
CMAT Mock Test for Practice
Shiksha’s free CMAT mock tests are based on actual CMAT previous year question papers. Practice these and prepare for CMAT 2025:
Commonly asked questions
In XAT, Reading Comprehension passages are usually taken from Philosophy, Psychology, History, Art, research articles. Sometime, the XAT RC section also has poems. These areas are chosen to test the candidates, who are largely Science, Commerce and Engineering graduates, on their ability to come out of their comfort zone and adapt to unfamiliar situations. Out of 26 questions, about 14-16 questions are based on RC passages or a poem. Candidates must target solving about 10 questions accurately to score well. XAT has negative marking so do not mark an option as your answer if you are not 100 percent sure of it.
Difficulty level in CAT exam is not specific to any of the three slots. The difficulty level across slots may vary every year. Know how the CAT scores are normalised: https://www.shiksha.com/mba/articles/understanding-cat-normalization-process-blogId-9386.
MAT previous year question papers
MAT is conducted in multiple phases and multiple sessions. The MAT question paper of every session has a unique set of questions. Check below the sectional composition of latest MAT question paper:
| MAT sections |
Number of Questions |
Marks Allotted |
|---|---|---|
| Language Comprehension |
30 |
30 |
| Intelligence and Critical Reasoning |
30 |
30 |
| Data Analysis and Sufficiency |
30 |
30 |
| Mathematical Skills |
30 |
30 |
| Indian and Global Environment |
30 |
30 |
| Total |
150 |
150 |
Download MAT Previous Year Question Paper PDFs
Given below are the MAT question paper PDFs of past years. Download these MAT previous year papers free.
| MAT Sample Question Paper |
MAT Mock Test for Practice
Shiksha’s free MAT mock tests are based on actual MAT previous year question papers. Practice these and prepare for MAT 2026 exam:
Commonly asked questions
There is no difference between slot 1, 2 and 3 of CAT exam paper in terms of structure and patten. The sectional break up, marking scheme and time limit are the same in all slots. However, due to unique sets of questions in each slot leads to difference in difficulty levels. There is usually a slight difference in the CAT question papers of different slots. Sometimes, topic wise weightage of the questions also vary. To negate advantage or disadantage to candidates due to difference in difficulty level of slots, CAT scores are normalised for result preparation.
As per the latest XAT exam pattern, there will be 95 questions in XAT 2025 in MCQ format.
- Verbal Ability section of XAT will have 26 questions
- Decision Making section of XAT will have 21 questions
- Quantitative Ability section will have 28 questions
- GK section will have 20 questions
There will be no essay writing this year. It will be conducted during the selection process.
It is not mandatory to solve all the questions. Candidates should solve only those questions which they can solve correctly as there is negative marking in XAT. During the exam preparation, focus on the chapters from which majority of the questions are added. This will help them in achieving the sectional and overall cut offs are required.
Sectional weightage of CMAT is same. Since the Language Comprehension section of CMAT includes reading comprehension passages, it can be considered a lengthy section. However, any other section can also be lengthier due to nature of the questions.
A candidate should practice at least 35 to 40 XAT mock tests during preparation. They should attempt mocks of various varieties and difficulty levels.
In the last two weeks before XAT exam, they must practice at least five mock tests and analyse performance. It is most likely that by the end of exam preparation, candidates will be scoring 98 plus percentile in mocks. If that happens, they will score well in exam too.
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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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