Read all about XAT 2020 question paper including difficulty level, topic-wise weightage and RC topics. Download free XAT 2020 question paper.
- Sustaining Pleasure in today’s world
- Knowledge has become a product
- Capitalism and Meaningless Jobs
- Increase in Cultural Exiles
- Poem - Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice
XAT 2020 Question Paper Break Up
XAT exam was held on January 5, 2019 from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM. XAT question paper had the same number of questions as last year. Given below are key highlights of XAT paper pattern.
| Part |
XAT sections |
Number of Questions |
Marks Allotted |
Number of Good Attempts |
| Part 1 |
Verbal and Logical Ability |
26 |
26 |
16-18 |
| Decision Making |
21 |
21 |
14-15 |
| Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation |
28 |
27 |
17-18 |
| Part 2 |
General Knowledge |
25 |
25 |
15 |
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XAT 2020 Question Paper: Key Points
- Of all the sections, Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning questions are of higher difficulty
- Decision Making and Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation questions can be termed moderately difficulty
- Questions of General Knowledge section are easy
- Each right question carries one mark and each wrong question carries -0.25 marks
- In case of eight consecutive unanswered questions, there is deduction of 0.10 marks
- Suggested time limit for Part 1 of the XAT question paper is 165 minutes (55 minutes each)
- Suggested time limit for Part 2 of the XAT question paper is 15 minutes
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XAT 2020 Question Paper: Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning
- This section of XAT 2020 question paper has 14 Reading Comprehension questions and 12 Verbal Reasoning questions
- The RC questions are based on four passages and a poem
- The Verbal Reasoning questions are from grammar, vocabulary and reasoning based questions (critical reasoning and jumbled paragraphs)
- Length of the poem is short and it is less abstract than that of poems in previous years’ XAT question papers
- The word limit of all the RC passages is 250-300 words each and the questions are inferential in nature
- A good attempt of 15-17 questions with 70 per cent accuracy can fetch decent marks in this section
Topic-wise break-up of questions:
| Area/Questions |
No. of Questions |
Level of Difficulty |
| Verbal Ability / Reasoning |
| Grammatically correct sentence |
2 |
Moderate |
| Fill in the blanks (3/4 blanks) |
2 |
Moderate |
| Jumbled Paragraphs |
2 |
1 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Critical Reasoning |
6 |
1 Easy, 3 Moderate, 2 Difficult |
| Reading Comprehension |
| Passage 1 (Sustaining Pleasure in today’s world) |
2 |
2 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Passage 2 (Knowledge has become a product) |
3 |
2 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Passage 3 (Capitalism and Meaningless Jobs) |
3 |
2 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Passage 4 (Increase in Cultural Exiles) |
3 |
2 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Passage 5 (Poem - Robert Frost’s Fire and Ice) |
3 |
1 Moderate, 2 Difficult |
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XAT 2020 Question Paper: Decision Making
- This section of the question paper has 21 questions
- There are seven cases having three questions each
- The difficulty level of this section can be termed as moderate
- All the questions are situational based on business decision and ethical dilemma
- An attempt of 14-15 questions with about 75-80 per cent accuracy would be considered to be good
Topics-wise break up of Decision Making section:
| Area/Questions |
No. of Questions |
Question Type |
Level of Difficulty |
| Case 1 |
3 |
Ethical Dilemma |
2 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Case 2 |
3 |
Ethical Dilemma |
1 Easy, 1 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Case 3 |
3 |
Business Decision |
1 Easy, 2 Moderate |
| Case 4 |
3 |
Business Decisions |
2 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Case 5 |
3 |
Business Decisions |
2 Easy, 1 Moderate |
| Case 6 |
3 |
Ethical Dilemma |
2 Moderate, 1 Difficult |
| Case 7 |
3 |
Ethical Dilemma |
1 Moderate, 2 Difficult |
XAT 2020 Question Paper: Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation
- There are 22 questions of Quantitative Ability and most of them are from Geometry and Arithmetic
- Data Interpretation has two sets of three questions each from Arithmetic and Geometry
- Out of 22 QA questions, 20 are standalone and two are in the form of a set of Venn Diagram
- Some of the questions in this section of XAT 2020 question paper are sitters while some are lengthy
- An attempt of 4-5 DI questions and 13-15 Quant questions in about 55 minutes can fetch the candidates good marks.
Topic-wise break-up of questions in this section:
| Quantitative Ability (22 questions) |
| Topics |
Easy |
Medium |
Difficult |
Total |
| Arithmetic |
2 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
| Geometry |
1 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
| Modern Maths |
2 |
3 |
0 |
5 |
| Algebra |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Numbers |
0 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Data Interpretation (6 questions) |
| Table |
3 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
| Multiple graphs |
1 |
2 |
0 |
3 |
| Total |
9 |
13 |
6 |
28 |
XAT 2020 Exam Analysis: General Knowledge
- The overall difficulty level of General Knowledge section of XAT 2020 is easy
- This section comprises 25 questions from static GK (Economy, Geography, Science and Technology) and Current GK (Business economy, personalities and awards)
- An attempt of 12-14 questions fetching a score of 7-8 is good in this section.
Topic-wise break-up of questions in GK section
| Section |
No. of questions |
Difficulty Level |
| Current Affairs |
3 |
Moderate |
| History |
4 |
Moderate |
| Economy & Business |
4 |
Moderate |
| Geography |
5 |
Moderate |
| Personality & Awards |
2 |
Moderate |
| Science & Tech |
5 |
Moderate |
| Polity |
1 |
Moderate |
| Books & Authors |
1 |
Moderate |
| Sports |
0 |
Moderate |
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XAT Mock Test will help you to get an idea about the type of questions asked, the exam pattern and marking scheme. After taking the test, you can immediately check your score. You can also download the Question Paper along with answers and their explanations for Free. Click below to start the free online test now.
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Yes, solving XAT question paper is of immense help in exam preparation as one can get an idea of the exam pattern, difficulty level of the questions, and learn time management. The XAT question papers of previous years also give you an idea of what type of questions (Reading Comprehension passages and poem) are asked in XAT. In fact, preparation of Decision Making section is totally dependent on XAT question papers. XAT question papers of previous years also act as practice test providing you with the opportunity to master speed and time management.
Candidates must solve previous years’ XAT questions paper of at least last five years, so that they are aware of the latest type of questions especially poem, RC passages and Decision Making passages.