Students’ Speak: XAT exam analysis of past two years’ papers
Xavier Aptitude Test 2026 ( XAT )
XAT Exam Date 2027
3 Jan '27
By: Akila Narayanan
Here’s a lowdown of Xavier’s Aptitude Test’s (XAT) past two years question papers had. Read more to get an analysis of the paper.
XAT Question Paper Break-up:
| Sections in XAT 2019 |
Number of Questions |
Overall Time Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Part-1 |
74 Total MCQs |
165 Minutes |
| Verbal and Logical Ability |
26 |
|
| Decision Making |
21 |
|
| Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation |
27 |
|
| Part-2 |
25 Total MCQs |
15 Minutes |
| General Knowledge |
25 |
- |
| Total |
99 |
- |
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning
In this section, we have to concentrate much on easy and moderate levels. So that it will be easy to beat the section-wise cut-offs. Antonyms and Poem Comprehension was quite easy when compared to other topics. The paragraph jumbling questions will consume time so that we can have an attempt at that at the last minute if possible instead of wasting the time. In reading comprehension, it’s difficult if we fail to understand the paragraph given. We will not be able to understand the questions asked without reading the paragraph.
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| Topic |
Number of Questions |
Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension |
12(4 passages containing 3 questions each) |
Moderate-Difficult |
| Critical Reasoning |
5 |
Easy-Moderate |
| Poem Comprehension |
2 |
Easy |
| Analogy |
1 |
Difficult |
| Antonym |
1 |
Easy |
| Para-Jumble – 5 sentence |
2 |
Moderate |
| FIB-3 blanks |
3 |
Difficult |
| Total |
26 |
Difficult |
Decision Making & Analytical Reasoning
The decision making part was a difficult one when compared to the previous year questions. There will be case lets given you will be asked to decide what to do and you will be asked to imagine as someone and the decision should be taken. Good creative thinkers can crack this section easily.
| Topic |
Number of Questions |
Difficulty |
| Situational |
21 |
Moderate |
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretations
Always this quantitative ability section will be tricky when compared to other sections because it includes all the numerical and mathematical knowledge. This is the area where students lose their focus when they don’t get the expected answer and the time consuming will also be more which will lead them to complete this section in a hurry. It’s a piece of advice that students should do this section correctly because everyone will lose marks in quantitative ability and so there total percentile will get decreased. Even if you have 10 questions do that 10 questions correctly with full confidence.
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| Topic |
Number of Questions |
Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Arithmetic |
4 |
Easy |
| Algebra |
7 |
Easy-Moderate |
| Co-Ordinate Geometry + Trigonometry |
4 |
Moderate |
| Geometry |
4 |
Moderate-Difficult |
| Data Sufficiency |
2 |
Moderate |
| Data Interpretation (Time limits) |
3 |
Moderate-Difficult |
| Data Interpretation (Mixed Graph) |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
| Data Interpretation (Mixed Graph) |
3 |
Easy-Moderate |
General Knowledge
The level of general knowledge questions was moderate when compared to previous year question papers. We will be able to answer these questions only if we read newspapers daily. We have to know what is happening in and around the world in a day-to-day aspect. Then we can crack this section easily.
| Topics |
Number of Questions |
Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| History |
1 |
Moderate |
| Geography |
4 |
Difficult |
| Economy & Business |
7 |
Easy-Moderate |
| Current Affairs |
2 |
Easy |
| Personality & Awards |
3 |
Moderate |
| Science & Tech |
2 |
Moderate |
| Polity |
2 |
Easy |
| Miscellaneous |
2 |
Difficult |
| Sports |
2 |
Easy-Moderate |
| Total |
25 |
Moderate |
Institute Cutoffs
These were the expected cut-offs of top institutions in the year 2019 for XAT-2019 exam.
| Institute |
Expected XAT cutoff percentiles |
|---|---|
| XLRI |
94+ |
| SP Jain Institute Management and Research, Mumbai |
85+ |
| Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai |
93+ |
| Goa Institute of Management, Goa |
85+ |
| Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad |
90+ |
| Management Development Institute, Gurgaon |
80+ |
About the Author:
Akila Narayanan is pursuing MBA from Thiagarajar School of Management, Madurai, with an interest in Marketing and Finance. She has completed her graduation from Velammal College of Engineering and Technology, Madurai. Her hobbies include playing guitar, badminton and reading books. She has also been awarded the first prize for a social welfare project titled “The Life Saving Block Detector”.
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered a week ago
GIBS Business School situated in Bangalore acknowledges CAT, MAT, and XAT as authorized admission tests for both undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
Approved Admission Exams
- CAT (Common Admission Test)
- MAT (Management Aptitude Test)
- XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test)
Additionally to these Three Tests, GI
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Beginner-Level 4
Answered a week ago
No, you cannot join Jindal Global Business School without an entrance exam if you want admission to the MBA course. For admission to the management courses, the institute accepts various national-level exams, like
- CAT
- MAT
- ATMA
- GMAT
- NMAT
- XAT
- CMAT
Students who attain qualifying percentiles for these exams are
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
OP Jindal Global University XAT cutoff 2026 was released for admission to the MBA course offered by the Jindal Global Business School. The cutoff was released for various All India categories.
For the General AI category, the XAT percentile was 50 for the General AI categories. Hence, students who w
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No, you cannot join UPES Dehradun for its MBA programme without appearing for the accepted entrance examination. To gain admission to this institute, students would need to take one of the following exams after they clear the basic eligibility rules.
- NMAT, XAT and MAT
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Answered 2 weeks ago
After XAT exam is conducted successfully, XLRI releases XAT answer keys with response sheet. However, candidates need to login to download XAT answer keys.
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The percentile needed for admission would depend on the category you belong to. JAGSoM accepts various entrance examinations for admission to the MBA/PGDM course, like CAT, XAT, MAT, etc.
As per the estimated XAT cutoff in 2026, a percentile of 70 would be good enough to secure a chance at admission
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 weeks ago
XIM University XAT cutoff 2026 was released for admission to the MBA course and its specialisations, namely MBA in Rural Management and MBA in Sustainability Management.
General AI category students need to have a percentile of at least 90 to be considered eligible for admission.
Note - The cutoff d
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 weeks ago
IMT Ghaziabad official cutoff information are not released on a public platform, and students can view the cutoff using their registered login ID and password. Based on the past years' trend, the XAT 2026 estimated cutoff is in the range of 90 to 92 for the General AI category students.
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Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 weeks ago
Yes, apart from CAT, the International Management Institute, New Delhi, also accepts the XAT score for admission to its PGDM courses. Only the shortlisted candidates are invited to the Individual Assessment Process (Essay Writing and Personal Interview, etc.) for final admission. The institute also
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Contributor-Level 10
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Final selection will be based on performance in BAAT, PI, and CAT/XAT/GMAT. BITS will also consider prior work experience, and academic history.
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