XAT 2025 Exam Analysis and Review (Available): Check Difficulty Level of Paper, Expected Cut Offs
Xavier Aptitude Test 2026 ( XAT )
Exam On - 4 Jan '26
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 - 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.
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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 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
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
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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.
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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 |
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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 |
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
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 |
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Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 6 days 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 4
Answered 6 days 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 a week 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
Beginner-Level 5
Answered a week ago
The XAT Cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the MBA/ PGDM programme for Gender-Neutral candidates belonging to the All India quota. The Rajagiri Business School XAT Cutoff 2025 was 15 percentile for admission to the PGDM course. Candidates needed to secure at least 15 percentile to avail admis
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
XAT VARC is moderately tough and requires adequate practice. This section has about 27 questions and some are based on RC passages including a poem. To be able to understand and attempt RC questions, good control on English comprehension is required. Verbal Ability, Grammar and Vocabulary questions
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a week ago
There is no change in the XAT exam pattern 2026. The structure of XAT 2026 question paper will be same as XAT 2025 question paper. There will be no essay writing this year. Candidates will get 180 minutes to solve about 95 questions in MCQ format.
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a week ago
Rajagiri Business School XAT Cutoff 2025 was released for admission to the MBA/PGDM courses. In 2024, the XAT cutoff was 70 percentile for admission to the Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) course for the General category candidates under the All India quota.
As in the case for the OBC AI c
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
The IMI Kolkata XAT Cutoff 2024 was released for admission to the MBA/PGDM course for all categories under the All India quota. The XAT Cutoff 2024 was overall 70 percentile for the General category candidates from the All India quota. This cutoff was for students to avail a seat at the Post Graduat
N
Contributor-Level 10
Answered a week ago
Hi.
For PGDM and MBA admissions at GIBS Business School, Bangalore, the following entrance exams are accepted:
Accepted Entrance Exams
| Exam | Type / Level |
|---|---|
| CAT – Common Admission Test | National-level MBA entrance exam |
| XAT – Xavier Aptitude Test | National-level MBA entrance exam |
| MAT – Management Aptitude Test | National-level MBA entrance exam |
| CMAT – Common Management Admission Test | National-level MBA entrance exam |
| GMAT – Graduate Management Admission Test | International / National-level MBA entrance exam |
| ATMA – AIMS Test for Management Admissions | National-level MBA entrance exam |
| State CET (e.g., Karnataka PGCET) | State-level MBA entrance exam for Karnataka candidates |
h
Scholar-Level 18
Answered a week ago
Hi.
GIBS considers any one valid score from these exams for shortlisting candidates.
Some exams (like CAT, XAT, CMAT) are preferred for national-level merit-based selection, but State CET scores are also accepted for Karnataka domicile candidates.
Along with the entrance score, academics, work experien
h
Scholar-Level 18
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.