XAT 2025 Exam Analysis and Review (Available): Check Difficulty Level of Paper, Expected Cut Offs

Xavier Aptitude Test 2027 ( XAT )

shadow

XAT Exam Date 2027

3 Jan '27

Vipra
Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content
Updated on Jan 5, 2025 20:18 IST
XAT 2025 exam analysis and review is now available. As per previous year trends, the XAT exam will be of moderate difficulty level. As per the initial review, the XAT 2025 question paper was of moderate to high difficulty level. Check out in-depth XAT 2025 analysis and expected cut offs here.

XAT 2025 exam analysis and review is now available. The XAT exam was of moderate difficulty level. It had quite a few DI questions, which is unusual for this exam. Check out in-depth XAT 2025 analysis and expected cut offs here.

XAT 2025 exam analysis

XAT 2025 exam analysis

XAT 2025 exam analysis - The question paper of XAT 2025 exam was of moderate difficulty. Decision Making questions were slightly lengthy but doable. Quantitative Aptitude questions were moderate, VALR and GK were easy. 

The in-depth XAT analysis, has been shared below. It includes detailed review of sectional difficulty level, topic wise weightage, types of questions, number of good attempts and expected XAT cut offs for XLRI admission. The XAT exam analysis 2025 will help XAT candidates in assessing their performance and evaluating their admission chances to XLRI and other top B Schools.

Latest: XAT response sheet 2025 live updates- check date and process to download

XAT 2025 question paper and answer key (memory based) PDF download

XAT 2025 response sheet PDF download

XAT 2025 student reactions and reviews

Table of contents
  • XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Highlights
  • XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Sectional Weightage
  • XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Number of Good Attempts
  • XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Decision Making
  • XAT Exam Analysis 2025: VALR
  • XAT 2025 Analysis: Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation
  • XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: General Knowledge
  • Expected XAT Cutoffs 2025: Percentile VS Raw Score
View More

XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Highlights

Check below key highlights of XAT 2025 exam:

  • XAT 2025 question paper had 95 questions in MCQ format
  • Part 1 (English, Quantitative Ability, Decision Making) of the paper was of 170 minutes.
  • Part 2 (GK) of the test was of 10 minutes
  • Quantitative Ability had moderately tough questions
  • Decision Making questions were lengthy but moderate
  • English and LR questions were easy

Also Read:

Q&A Icon
Commonly asked questions
Q:   Is XAT tough for candidates from non-Engineering background?
A: 

Yes, XAT is slightly tougher for candidates with non-Engineering background as the Quantitative Aptitude section is of higher difficulty level. However, they can crack it if they work on the fundamentals of Math and practice questions of all difficulty levels. It will take time but they will be able to crack XAT's quant section if they dedicate extra hours to it. Aspirants can find XAT study material online in various online study groups. Students’ groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, etc. share study material with each other. One can also download MBA exam preparation apps to get relevant and useful study material.

The good part about XAT is that, it has different cut offs for candidates belonging to different academic backgrounds. As part of its commitment to academic diversity, the institute has lower cut offs for candidates from non-engineering background than candidates from engineering background.

Q:   What was the difficulty level of XAT 2025 exam?
A: 

XAT 2025 exam was of moderate difficulty level. The students who had appeared for the exam last year, said the XAT 2025 question paper was not much different. Section wise, Quantitative Aptitude questions were on the tougher side, Verbal Ability and Decision Making were easy to moderate and GK was easy.

There was one poem for RC as always. Quantitative Aptitude section was dominated by Arithmetic and GK had questions on very recent events.

Q:   Are six months enough to prepare for XAT?
A: 

Yes six months are enough to prepare for XAT if you plan it well. You will need about 8 hours every day for it. Use first four months to cover exam syllabus and last two months for practice. 

XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Sectional Weightage

Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation section has the maximum weightage in XAT with 28 questions and 28 marks. And GK has minimum weightage. Given below is the sectional break-up of the XAT 2025 question paper.

XAT Sections

No. of Questions

Total Marks

Level of Difficulty

Decision Making

21

21

Moderate to Difficult

Verbal and Logical Ability

26

26

Moderate

Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation

28

28

Moderate to Difficult

General Knowledge

20

20

Easy

Total

95

95

Moderate

Also Read:

Staying updated about the latest educational events is just a click away
Enter Mobile Number

XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Number of Good Attempts

Check below section wise number of good attempts in XAT exam 2025:

XAT sections

Number of good attempts

VALR

13-14

Decision Making

11-12

QA DI

18-19

GK

10-11

Explore popular MBA colleges for you

Based on ,MBA
Change

Ahmedabad
#1 NIRF
₹27.50 L
Bangalore
#2 NIRF
₹26.00 L
Delhi
₹66.00 K
Pune
₹13.39 L

Want better recommendations?

There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
Your preferences-MBAEdit
Kozhikode
#3 NIRF
₹14.00 L
Delhi
#4 NIRF
₹12.00 L
Indore
₹12.50 L
Mysore
₹59.40 K
Lucknow
#5 NIRF
₹12.60 L
Allahabad
₹32.00 K
Confused about which college or exam to opt for?assitentRcpRhsImage
  • Chat with our counselor
  • Get your personalised list of colleges & exams matching your preferences
View allCollections

XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: Decision Making

There were no Quant based DM questions this year. There were 7 sets of 3 questions each. Some of the questions were tricky and inference based. The difficulty level can be considered as moderate. About 11-12 questions with 75-80% accuracy will be considered good in this section.

XAT Exam Analysis 2025: VALR

As per the XAT 2025 exam analysis, this section was moderately difficult. Out of 26 questions, 17 were Reading Comprehension based and 9 were Verbal Ability/Reasoning based. There were 5 RC passages including a poem. The poem-based RC was difficult. Check below the break of VALR section of XAT question paper 2025.

VALR Section

No. of Questions

RC Passages – 5 (300-450 words)

15

Grammatically correct sentence

2

Fill in the blanks (4 blanks)

1

Jumbled Paragraphs (5 statements)

2

Critical Reasoning 

3

Main idea/message of the given image

1

Poem-based passage

2

XAT 2025 Analysis: Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation

In the QA DI section of XAT 2025 question paper, 16 questions were on Quantitative Ability and 12 were on Data Interpretation. Arithmetic and Mensuration dominated QA, while DI had four sets of three questions each. Check below topic wise break up of XAT 2025 QA DI section:

Quantitative Aptitude/Data Interpretation

Total

Arithmetic

3

Geometry

5

Modern Math

3

Algebra

3

Numbers

2

Scatter Plot / Line Graph (observation) based set

3

Arithmetic based set

3

Average based set

3

Number-matrix based set 

3

Total QA-DI

28

XAT 2025 Exam Analysis: General Knowledge

There were 20 easy questions in GK questions. This year, more questions were asked on current affairs. Many questions were on recent events. The break up was:

Current Affairs: 12 questions

Static GK: 8 questions 

 

Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates

MAT May 2026 Registration CBT

1 Apr '26 - 8 Jun '26

ATMA 2026: Last Date of Fee Pa...

28 Jun '26

Last date for PAT 2026 Registr...

1 Dec '25 - 30 Jun '26

OJEE

LIVE
SRMHCAT 2026 exam - phase 4

7 Jun '26

PIM MAT 2026 Exam

9 Jun '26

HPU MAT 2026 Exam

10 Jun '26

MAH MBA CET 2026 Second Attemp...

11 Jun '26

Karnatak...

7 Jun '26 - 14 Jun '26

Check live updates

DPU AIET/CET 2026 Exam

28 Jun '26

Expected XAT Cutoffs 2025: Percentile VS Raw Score

Given below is the table indicating how much XAT score will convert into how much XAT percentile.  XAT cut offs 2025 are expected to be in the same range.

XAT Percentile

VA & LR

DM

QA & DI

Overall XAT score

99

16-17

14-15

16-17

42-44

95

13-14

12-13

12-13

35-37

90

11-12

11-12

11-12

30-32

75

8-9

9-10

7-8

25-27

Read More:

Check XAT cut offs and predict calls from XLRI and other colleges accepting XAT score for admission. Check Fees, Placement Reviews, Admission, Shortlist Criteria and Eligibility of all XAT participating colleges by clicking the link below:

Predict XAT Admission Calls
Videos you may like
About the Author
author-image
Vipra Shrivastava
Senior Manager - Content

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

Read Full Bio
Download Important Dates for MBA/PGDM Exams

News & Updates

Latest NewsPopular News

Explore Other Exams

Aug '26

SNAP 2026 Registration Process

Nov '26

SNAP 2026 admit card session 1...

9 Jun '26

MAH MBA CET 2026 Second Attemp...

30 May '26

MAH MBA CET 2026 Result (First...

Aug '26

NMAT 2026 Registration Window

Aug '26

NMAT 2026 Scheduling Window

Oct '26

CMAT 2027 registration and app...

Jan '27

CMAT 2027 exam

1 Apr '26 -

8 Jun '26

MAT May 2026 Registration CBT

11 Jun '26

MAT May 2026 CBT Admit Card

Aug '26

CAT 2026 application process

Nov '26

CAT 2026 admit card download

17 Oct '24 -

5 Dec '24

IIFT 2025 registration and app...

27 May '26 -

26 Jun '26

TANCET Scorecard Download Wind...

4 Jun '26 -

30 Jun '26

TANCET counselling registratio...

Jul '26

IBSAT 2026 Registration

Dec '26

IBSAT 2026 Exam Date

Mar '25

IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno...

Feb '25

IRMASAT Personal Interviews

The list of exams are recommended based on what other exams do the students in your area show interest in
qna

Student Forum

chatAnything you would want to ask experts?
Write here...

Answered a week 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

Nitesh Vimal

Contributor-Level 7

Answered a week 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

Sreetama Tyagi

Contributor-Level 7

Answered a week 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

Nishtha Shukla

Contributor-Level 7

Answered a week ago

XAT cut offs for all colleges are not fixed by XLRI. Every score accepting college fixed XAT cut offs individually and independently.

A

Aarushi Hazarika

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

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

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

...Read more

M

Mohammed Maqsood

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

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

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

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

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

...Read more

N

Neerja Rohatgi

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

Shruti Shukla

Contributor-Level 7