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 review
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.
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.
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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.
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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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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered Yesterday
GIBS is pretty chill when it comes to entrance exams because they accept almost all the common ones that students usually write. Like CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, GMAT, ATMA, and even state CET scores are considered. So honestly you don't feel limited or stressed about writing only one specific exam. Most o
S
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 3 days ago
Candidates seeking admission to GIBS Bangalore's PGDM and MBA programs can use the results of a variety of national and international management entrance tests including CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, and GMAT. All applicants will be reviewed based on their academic record, performance in group discussi
M
Contributor-Level 8
Answered a week 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.
P
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a week 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.
N
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 weeks ago
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
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 2 weeks ago
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
N
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 weeks ago
The CCSU MBA Cutoff 2025 has been released for admission to the MBA programme via the XAT, MAT and CAT entrance examinations. The CCSU XAT Cutoff 2025 was 50 for the Gender-Neutral Candidates under the All India quota. In the case of CCSU MAT Cutoff 2025, the qualfying cutoff percentile was 75 for t
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 weeks ago
Yes, apart from CAT/XAT/MAT/CMAT/ATMA, PIBM conducts its own entrance exam called PMAT (PIBM's Online Aptitude Test). Shortlisted candidates from PMAT then appear for the Written Test, Group Discussion (GD), and Personal Interview (PI) as part of the selection process.
R
Beginner-Level 5
Answered 3 weeks ago
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:
- A scholarship of INR 3 Lacs for a percentile holder from 80 to 85.
A
Contributor-Level 10
Answered 3 weeks ago
No. Scores in CAT/XAT/GMAT is not mandatory for admission into BITS Pilani MBA in Business Analytics. However, those who have appeared for these entrance exams will get their score considered in the selection criteria. Appearing for BAAT exam is mandatory for MBA Business Analytics admission.
D
Contributor-Level 6
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.