Registration - 10 Jul '25 - 5 Dec '25
XAT exam 2025 was held today and the paper was of moderate difficulty level. Check here XAT 2025 student reactions and reviews as shared with Shiksha.
Candidates talk about XAT 2025 exam
XAT 2025 exam was held today. The exam was of moderate to high difficulty level. Shiksha visited a XAT exam centre to speak with candidates who appeared for the exam. XAT 2025 test takers told Shiksha how the paper was and what are their expectations from it.
XAT 2025 score is accepted by over 800 B-schools in India, apart from XLRI Jamshedpur. This year, over 1 lakh candidates are expected to have appeared for the exam. Definite number of test takers is expected to be released by XLRI later. XAT 2025 result will be announced by the third week of January 2025.
Explore popular MBA colleges for you
Based on ,MBA
Want better recommendations?
There is a 90% more chance of getting best college recommendations by sharing preferences.
- Chat with our counselor
- Get your personalised list of colleges & exams matching your preferences
Latest: XAT response sheet 2025 live updates- check date and process to download
XAT 2025 answer key and questions– memory based
XAT exam analysis 2025 and expected cut offs
XAT 2025 Student Reactions and Reviews
Prateeksha told Shiksha, “My XAT 2025 exam went okay for me. Not so great, not so bad. Decision Making was quite lengthy as we had to read lengthy paragraphs and to choose the right answer was quite difficult. Quant was fine. I had not prepared for GK section so it was not good for me and I found English section good. I appeared for CAT 2024 also. Time management was easy in XAT, but Quant questions were bit tough and Decision Making was not there in CAT. “
Priyanka told Shiksha, “XAT 2025 was moderate to difficulty level. Reading Comprehension passages were lengthy. Some questions of Quants section were easy in the beginning but the difficulty level rose later. Decision Making was moderate. GK questions were okay. If you knew recent current affairs then you could handle GK. If I compare XAT 2025 with mock tests, then I can say the main exam was easy. I have appeared for CAT 2024, SNAP 2024 and NMAT 2025. XAT’s difficulty level was a bit lower than CAT.”
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.
XAT exam is more Quantitative Ability and Verbal and Logical Ability based. Which is why these two sections have more weightage than rest of the section. And between these two, Quantitative Ability has more weightage. In terms of marks too, the Quantitative Ability has maximum weightage, i.e. 28 marks, followed by Verbal and Logical Ability with 26 marks, General Knowledge carries 25 marks and Decision Making carries 22 marks.
XAT Sections | Number of Questions | Total Marks |
|---|---|---|
Decision Making | 22 | 22 |
Verbal and Logical Ability | 26 | 26 |
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation | 28 | 28 |
General Knowledge | 25 | 25 |
Essay Writing | 1 (out of 3 options) | To be evaluated at the time of shortlisting |
Tanya told Shiksha that here exam went well. “In Quant, the difficulty level was moderate to difficult. Decision Making, I would say, was between easy to moderate. English too was easy to moderate. The XAT 2025 question paper was not difficult but lengthy as usual. I appeared for SNAP 2024, MAT 2024 and NMAT 2024 too. SNAP and MAT were easy but I felt NMAT was a bit difficult than XAT,” she added.
Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates
12 Nov '25
17 Oct '25 - 18 Nov '25
1 Aug '25 - 20 Nov '25
30 Sep '25 - 20 Nov '25
23 Oct '25 - 7 Dec '25
1 Aug '25 - 16 Dec '25
1 Jul '25 - 19 Dec '25
21 Dec '25
31 Jul '25 - 31 Dec '25
31 Dec '25
Shreya shared with Shiksha, “XAT 2025 was pretty good. I found the DM section, which is hyped as difficult, to be quite easy. Quants was manageable. However, the DI section was pretty interesting and VA was slightly challenging but doable. GK was very easy. Some questions were from events that happened few weeks back, like who won the World Chess Championship. Surprisingly, DI was dominant. We are used to see quant heavy XAT but it was different this time. Arithmetic and mensuration questions were dominant."“
Also Read:
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.
- XAT score vs percentile: How to calculate?
- XAT call predictor
- XAT counselling - GD/PI
- XAT sectional cut offs
Paavni said, “XAT 2025 was good. Quants was easy, VARC was a bit subjective. It was more interpretation based. DM questions were a bit tougher than last year but still manageable. GK was relatively good. Previously, more questions were asked from Static GK, this year, there were more current affairs questions. I appeared for CAT 2024, and XAT 2025 was easier than that. I am hoping for 90-95 percentile. “
Another aspirant named Tanya told Shiksha that XAT 2025 was moderately difficult. “My Quant is little weak so I couldn’t attempt a lot of questions. My critical reasoning is very good, according to me (I am not sure of answers I have marked on the paper), so I would say it was okay.DM and VA were okay. This was my second attempt on XAT. If I compare, the DM questions were more difficult last year, and this year because I was prepared more to so could understand DM elaborately. XAT is an adaptive test and it test your logic”, she added.
WATCH Video:
Read More:
News & Updates
Explore Other Exams
1 Aug '25 - 20 Nov '25 | SNAP 2025 Registration Process |
28 Nov '25 - 6 Dec '25 | SNAP 2025 admit card session 1... |
Dec '25 | MAH MBA CET 2026 registration ... |
2 Sep '25 - 4 Sep '25 | MAH MBA CAP 2025: Reporting to... |
28 Oct '25 - 16 Dec '25 | NMAT 2025 Admit Card Issuance |
1 Aug '25 - 16 Dec '25 | NMAT 2025 Rescheduling Window |
17 Oct '25 - 18 Nov '25 | CMAT 2026 registration and app... |
23 Oct '25 - 7 Dec '25 | MAT PBT Registration 2025 (Dec... |
23 Oct '25 - 15 Dec '25 | MAT CBT Registration 2025 (Dec... |
12 Nov '25 | CAT 2025 admit card download |
30 Nov '25 | CAT 2025 exam |
17 Oct '24 - 5 Dec '24 | IIFT 2025 registration and app... |
Jan '26 | Publication of TANCET notifica... |
Jan '26 | TANCET registration window |
1 Jul '25 - 19 Dec '25 | IBSAT 2025 Registration |
5 Nov '25 - 27 Dec '25 | IBSAT Slot Booking 2025 |
Mar '25 | IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno... |
Feb '25 | IRMASAT Personal Interviews |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 days ago
GIBS Business School, Bangalore accepts various national-level examinations for admission to the PGDM and MBA programs. The scores of CAT, XAT, MAT, CMAT, ATMA, and GMAT are accepted by the institute. Besides these, GIBS also accepts all the state-level management entrance examinations if their scor
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a month ago
XLRI Jamshedpur considers XAT scores for admission to PGDM programmes. Those who are seeking admission in PGDM BM, PGDM HRM and Double Masters Degree in Supply Chain Management and logistics (PGDM & MS) requires XAT scores. Aspirants can also apply for admission to General Management programme (PGDM
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 months ago
Candidates who are applying for XAT have to pay an application fee. Aspirants have to pay INR 2,200 to apply for XAT. Candidates can pay the fee via any of the online payment modes. Aspirants have to pay INR 200 each for every additional programme of XLRI.
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 months ago
XLRI Delhi accepts XAT scores for admission to PGDM programme. Aspirants seeking admission in PGDM Business Management are offered seat only via their XAT scores. For PGDM IEV, candidates can also take admission without XAT based on their scores in CAT, MAT, GMAT, etc. Candidates have to register on
N
Guide-Level 15
Answered 2 months ago
No, you cannot use the score of XAT 2025 for admission to 2026 batch at XLRI as the validity of exam score is one year only. Thus, you will have to appear for XAT 2026 exam if you plan to pursue MBA from XLRI in 2026. The registration process for XAT 2026 is open and the last date to apply is Decemb
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 months ago
The total course fee of full time MBA at XLRI is INR 28 Lacs according to Shiksha. The fee is to be paid semester wise. The first installment is to be paid at the time of admission. The XLRI course fee includes tuition fees, hostel and mess charges, caution money, library chargers and other miscella
N
Contributor-Level 6
Answered 2 months ago
There is no process of applying for multiple XAT accepting colleges through one form because there is no common counselling for XAT. Candidates have to apply to the colleges of their choice individually. They must keep in mind the application last date so they don't miss out on it. Also, they must c
A
Contributor-Level 6
Yes, there is sectional time limit in XAT. As per the latest exam pattern, the XAT question paper will be divided into two sections – Part 1 and Part 2. Candidates have to complete the questions of a given session within the time limit only. Since, XAT is an online test, there will be on screen clock indicating the time and as soon as the time of one section will be over, the screen will automatically move to the next part. Candidates need to ensure that they have answered the required number of questions and saved them within the time limit. Here’s how the XAT question paper is divided as per section and time duration.
Part 1- Verbal and Logical Ability, Decision Making and Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (170 minutes)
Part 2- General Knowledge (10 minutes)