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XAT 2026 exam preparation - Check out best section-wise XAT preparation strategy for Decision Making, Quantitative Ability, Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation and VARC.
XAT 2026 preparation - The final leg of XAT exam preparation will start soon. So, candidates who have been preparing for it, must gear up for the most rigorous phase. This is time of mock test practice and self assessment. Conducted by XLRI, Jamshedpur, XAT is a gateway to over 800 B-schools in India and taken by around 50 thousand candidates every year. The number of questions is distributed fairly between the four sections, with the Quantitative Ability section having the largest portion of the pie. Check below, key preparation tips for XAT 2026.
The duration of XAT exam 2026 will be 180 minutes with sectional time limit. The good part about the sectional time-limit of XAT is that one will get 170 minutes to solve Verbal Ability, Decision Making and Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation sections, whereas 10 minutes have been allotted to the General Awareness.
The time distribution in XAT makes it easy to handle as its Reading Comprehension section has lengthy passages and a poem. A lot of time goes in Decision Making also as it requires deep logical reasoning. Read below, section-wise preparation strategy for XAT 2026 which will be held on January 4, 2026.
The distribution of questions in XAT 2025 question paper will be as follows:
| XAT Sections |
Number Of Questions |
|---|---|
| Verbal Ability |
26 |
| Decision Making |
22 |
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation |
27 |
| General Awareness |
20 |
Click here for complete XAT exam pattern and XAT syllabus
XAT has sectional cut-offs which is determined on the basis of marks scored by all the students in the previous years and the difficulty level of the questions in the current year exam. Last year, the XAT cut off for XLRI admission was between 92-94 percentile. The difficulty level of XAT exam is always at least a few notches higher than that of other MBA entrance exams.
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Each XAT question carries one mark for correct attempt and a penalty of 0.25 in case of incorrect answer. It must be noted that there is no negative marking in GK section. There is no differential marking in XAT so it is easier to make the choice of questions. However, 0.10 marks will be deducted if you skip 8 consecutive questions. For excellent scores, read below preparation strategy for XAT 2026:
For cracking the Quantitative Ability (QA) section of XAT which is regarded as one of the toughest quants sections of any MBA entrance exam, it is absolutely vital for you to get familiar with the kind of questions asked in this section.
In the QA section of XAT, sitters are rare, and the margin for error is little. You need to pick your questions wisely because unlike other examinations where it is imperative to attempt maximum questions, XAT requires you to attempt only those questions which you can solve with 100 per cent accuracy. Same is the case with the Decision Making and the Verbal Ability sections.
Since the questions are many and time is less (you have to solve Data Interpretation questions too), not to mention the hiked difficulty levels, someone completely oblivious to the XAT exam pattern might be caught unawares. So, it is very important that you rigorously solve the actual XAT question papers at least from the previous five years (one paper in every three days including proper analysis of the same) and online XAT mock tests.
This will improve your ability to adapt to 'XAT type of questions'. Moreover, it will help you in timing yourself better in the actual exam. It will also help you gauge the level to which the time constraint multiplies the difficulty, enabling you to make changes in your approach, if required.
Also Read: XAT Preparation 2026 - How to Crack QA-DI Section
Another way to ensure that you do well in XAT 2025 is to lay stress on the Decision Making, a section which is unique to XAT. It carries sectional cut-off which can be useful in improving the overall score. Apart from practicing Decision Making questions from the previous years’ XAT question papers, read sample cases to enhance your knowledge and also to arch your thinking in a way to facilitate better reasoning ability.
Also Read: XAT Preparation 2026- All About Decision Making – Tips and Tricks
The Verbal Ability section is the first section of XAT question paper and is divided into two sections – English Usage and Reading Comprehension. Since, XAT’s English section requires a lot of reading, you must practice reading fast. Read at least two Reading Comprehension passages a day. If your grammar and vocabulary are weak, take help from recommended books, read journals and newspapers and solve XAT sample papers. Cracking verbal section depends on how well you understand and use English language.
Also Read: XAT Preparation 2026-Tips to Crack Verbal Ability
Though the General Knowledge section of XAT 2026 will not be included in determining the XAT percentiles and the XAT cut-offs in the first stage of the selection process, it is still an important section. Keeping abreast with the latest happenings in the business world will help your chances of scoring big in this section of XAT exam.
Shiksha has created a free XAT mock test for candidates to practice and evaluate their performance level. These free XAT mock tests are based on official XAT question papers of previous years.
| XAT_Mock_Test_Questions_1 | XAT_Mock_Test_Solutions_1 |
| XAT_Mock_Test_Question_2 | XAT_Mock_Test_Solution_2 |
| Free VARC Questions with Answers for Practice | Free DILR Questions with Answers for Practice | Free Quantitative Aptitude Questions with Answers for Practice |
25 Nov '25 - 29 Jan '26
7 Feb '26 - 8 Feb '26
9 Feb '26
30 Jan '26
31 Jan '26
10 Jan '26 - 12 Feb '26
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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.
Yes, the XAT exam has negative marking of -0.25 marks for wrong attempt. Unanswered questions have no negative marking but if there are 8 consecutive unanswered questions, 0.10 marks will be deducted. Thus, the candidates must select questions to solve very carefully in the XAT exam. They should solve only those questions which they know they can solve accurately. The XAT exam has sectional time limit too, so you may not want to waste time on a question that you cannot solve accurately. You stand to lose both time and marks. So be careful in selecting questions in the XAT exam. The sectional cut off for XAT is usually 80 percent accuracy. Practice a lot of mock tests to develop this skill.
As per the latest XAT exam pattern, the question paper has only 2 parts. Part 1 consists of VALR, DM and QA DI questions. Part 2 consists of GK questions. Essay Writing is not a part of the online test. The total time duration is 180 minutes or 3 hours. Part 1 is of 170 minutes and Part 2 is of 10 minutes. Earlier, the XAT exam included essay writing for which extra time was given. The XAT exam used to be of 210 minutes or 3.5 hours.
There are no non-MCQs in XAT. All the questions are in MCQ format with four options to choose the correct answer from. There are neither Type in the Answer and nor subjective answer type questions. Earlier, there used to be essay writing which required candidates to type a short essay on screen.
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.
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 4 days ago
XLRI selects candidates for its MBA full time programme through XAT score. Those who qualify the exam and meet the minimum cut off, are shortlisted for Essay Writing and Personal Interview. Final selection is made on the basis of candidate's XAT score, academic score, work experience and performance
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Honestly, that's one thing I liked about GIBS — they d
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Contributor-Level 7
Answered 3 weeks ago
XAT 2026 result will not be sent in email. However, XLRI will send an email to candidates informing them about the availability of scorecard and how to download it. Candidates must keep a check on their email account for result notification.
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Contributor-Level 6
Answered 3 weeks ago
XAT 2026 result date has not been announced by XLRI. However, since the scorecards are released by the third week of January every year, the XAT result 2026 can also be expected to be released by January 17 or 20, 2026.
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The Bangalore University MBA Cutoff 2025 has been announced for admission to the MBA/PGDM programme via the Karnataka PGCET, CAT, NMAT, XAT, and other accepted exams. According to the Bangalore University Karnataka PGCET Cutoff 2025, students needed to obtain a rank of 3375 for admission to ABBS Ba
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Contributor-Level 10
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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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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:
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Hi.
Yes, PIBM (Pune Institute of Business Management) does conduct its own entrance exam in addition to accepting scores from national and state-level exams. Here's how it works:
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PMAT
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As per the latest XAT exam pattern, there will be 95 questions in XAT 2025 in MCQ format.
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.