XAT 2023 was held today. Check out XAT 2023 student reactions and question paper review to know the difficulty level of the exam this year.
XAT 2023 exam was conducted today from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM at various test centres across India. Shiksha visited a XAT test centre in Delhi to know student reactions and reviews of the question paper. According to XAT 2023 students’ reactions, the question paper seems to be of moderate to high difficulty level. The students shared that Decision Making section was easy and so was Verbal Ability section. Quantitative Aptitude was tough with lengthy DI questions. GK was moderate, they said.
Most of the students Shiksha spoke to, said that XAT 2023 was easier than CAT 2022.
Read below XAT 2023 student reactions and reviews from a Delhi test centre.
XAT 2023 Student Reactions and Reviews
Nishtha
My exam was good. Quantitative Aptitude section was easy, English section was also easy, but Decision Making was average. One set in the Decision Making section was difficult. There was a question in which we had to calculate the preparation time of dishes, which was difficult. Two of the three essay topics were easy and one was tricky.
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Sahiba
The XAT exam was quite easy. I found VA section difficult and Quant section easy. Decision Making section was easy too. I chose risk management as essay topic. This is my first XAT attempt but I am expecting to score in 70s-80s.
Commonly asked questions
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.
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.
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.
Prachi
My exam was good. This was my first attempt. Section wise, I found Data Interpretation tough. English was easy and Decision Making was moderate. The GK section was also moderate. I wrote on risk management. I am not keeping any expectations in terms of scores, but I hope my hard work pays.
Vaibhav
My exam was good, but not the way I had expected. Decision Making was the easiest section for me and Quantitative Aptitude section was toughest for me as I am weak in Maths. GK has questions related to FIFA, Indian Navy, etc. so it was overall good.
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Sehej
My exam went well. I found the XAT 2023 to be easier in comparison to previous years. Overall the difficulty level was moderate. There were three Essay topics and one of them was - people with lower IQ make more money. I found XAT the easiest in comparison to other MBA entrance exams that I gave.
Smriti
My exam was okay. I found the DI part slightly lengthy. Overall the paper was moderate in terms of difficulty level. I chose the essay topic on risk factor. I found XAT 2023 and IIFT 2023 moderate and CAT 2022 and SNAP 2022 tough.
Sonakshi
My exam was good. I think Quantitative Aptitude section was tough and Decision Making was moderate. Overall, I would say, the paper was moderate to difficult.
Harshita
My exam was good. The overall difficulty level of XAT 2023 was moderate to difficult. Verbal questions were easy but Reading Comprehension was tough. I found Data Interpretation part time consuming. Decision Making questions were easy. XAT 2023 was easier than CAT 2022 but little more difficult than IIFT 2023.
Also Read:
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XAT 2023 analysis and expected cut offs

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Student Forum
Answered 6 days ago
Candidates who will be shortlisted for MBA PI on the basis of XAT score, will receive the notification by XLRI in their registered email.
N
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 6 days ago
The XLRI waitlist movement is usually high for Delhi campus between 350 to 600 spots. For Jamshedpur the movement is low between 100 to 180 for BM and 130 to 230 for HRM.
S
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 6 days ago
Yes, XAT essay writing round can be considered tough, given that you have to present your point with clarity, examples and convincing arguments - all in limited word count. You need to have a lot of practice in writing short, clear and logically structured essays.
N
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 6 days ago
XAT cut offs for all colleges are not fixed by XLRI. Every score accepting college fixed XAT cut offs individually and independently.
A
Contributor-Level 7
Answered 4 weeks ago
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham accepts the CAT, MAT or the XAT exam for admission to the MBA course. Students can attempt any one of the aforementioned exams. After taking part in the exam, students have to attain a valid percentile.
Based on previous year trends, a percentile of at least 40 would be nee
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month 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
M
Beginner-Level 4
Answered a month 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
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month 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
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month ago
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
Students who attempt the previou
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a month 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.
S
Contributor-Level 7

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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