XAT 2026: Result & Cut Offs (OUT), Top Colleges, Selection Process, Dates
Xavier Aptitude Test 2026 ( XAT )
XAT 2026 result was declared on January 16 and the cut offs have been announced today. Candidates can check their soorecards now. Know all about the XAT exam 2026, including dates, question paper analysis, exam pattern, syllabus, preparation, test cities, etc.
All about XAT 2026 exam
XAT 2026 exam was conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur on January 4, 2026 and the result was announced on January 16, 2026. Candidates can download their scorecards from the official website through login. XLRI XAT cut offs have been released today. This year, XAT 2026 cut offs are lower than last year for both PGDM BM and HRM programmes. For PGDM BM the XAT cut off 2026 is 94 percentile and for PGDM HRM the cut off is 92 percentile.
The XAT 2026 question paper had 95 questions from Verbal Ability, Logical Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Aptitude and General Knowledge. As per the XAT 2026 exam analysis, the questions were moderately difficult. Candidates will be able to download it from the xatonline website through login. The XAT exam is a Pan-India MBA entrance exam for admission to XLRI as well as over 800 B-Schools in India. XAT 2026 qualifying candidates can apply to the institute of their choice if they meet the XAT cut off.
- XAT 2026 Exam Dates
- XAT Cut Offs 2026
- XAT Top Colleges Accepting XAT Score
- XAT 2026 Result
- XAT 2026 Answer Key
- XAT 2026 Registration Process
- XAT Eligibility Criteria
- XAT Syllabus 2026
- XAT 2026 Exam Pattern
- How to prepare for XAT 2026
- XAT Mock Test
XAT 2026 Exam Dates
The schedule of XAT 2026 was announced by XLRI July 10, 2025. Check below XAT 2026 dates:
| XAT 2026 Events |
XAT 2026 Dates |
|---|---|
| XAT 2026 registration starts |
10-Jul-2025 |
| Official XAT mock test 2026 |
27-Sep-2025 to 28-Sep-2025 29-Oct-2025 to 01-Nov-2025 19-Nov-2025 to 20-Nov-2025 |
| Mock test registration deadline |
16-Nov-2025 |
| XAT form correction 2026 |
Oct-14-2025 to Oct-16-2025 25-Nov-2025 to 27-Nov-2025 |
| XAT 2026 registration ends |
05-Dec-2025 11-Dec-2025 |
| Release of XAT admit card 2026 |
20-Dec-2025 25-Dec-2025 |
| XAT exam 2026 |
04-Jan-2026 |
| XAT 2026 repsomse sheet release |
06-Jan-2026 |
| XAT 2026 answer key release and challenge |
09-Jan-2026 |
| XAT 2026 result announcement |
16-Jan-2026 |
XAT Cut Offs 2026
XAT cut offs for XLRI is released a week after the result announcement. Check below XAT 2026 cut offs.
| XAT cut offs 2026: BM |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category |
Total |
QADI |
VALR |
DM |
| Engg Male |
94 |
85 |
82 |
82 |
| Engg Female |
88 |
78 |
78 |
78 |
| Engg Transgender |
88 |
78 |
78 |
78 |
| Non-Engg Male |
94 |
85 |
82 |
82 |
| Non-Engg Female |
88 |
78 |
78 |
78 |
| Non-Engg Transgender |
88 |
78 |
78 |
78 |
| XAT cut offs 2026: HRM | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category |
Total |
QADI |
VALR |
DM |
| Engg Male |
92 |
80 |
87 |
85 |
| Engg Female |
87 |
70 |
82 |
78 |
| Engg Transgender |
87 |
70 |
82 |
78 |
| Non-Engg Male |
90 |
73 |
87 |
85 |
| Non-Engg Female |
84 |
65 |
82 |
78 |
| Non-Engg Transgender |
84 |
65 |
82 |
78 |
XAT Top Colleges Accepting XAT Score
About 800+ MBA colleges in India accept XAT score for MBA/PGDM admission, check below the list of some of the popular B-Schools accepting XAT:
XAT 2026 Result
XAT result 2026 will be available for download from the official website. To check XAT 2026 result, candidates will need to follow the below mentioned steps:
- Go to the official website of XAT 2026
- Click on login option
- Click on 'Download XAT 2026 scorecard'
- Enter XAT ID and password
- Enter the security text
- Click on candidate scorecard and download it
Also Read:
- XLRI shortlist through XAT
- XAT selection process and admission criteria
- What after XAT result?
- MBA colleges Accepting XAT score for admission
- XLRI GD topics of past few years
- 80 GD topics for MBA admission
- 32 Common Questions Asked in PI
XAT 2026 Answer Key
XAT answer key 2026 is available through login. Here’s how to download it:
- Go to XAT 2026 website
- Log in to XAT official website with user ID and password
- Click on XAT key and objection tab
- XAT answer key will be displayed
- Download the PDF and save on desktop
If any candidate feels that official answer of any of the questions is incorrect, they can raise objection against it by filling an online form.They will have to upload a document supporting their claim. The objections will be examined and if any of the objections is found valid, the official answer key will be revised.
Also Read:
- XAT 2026 answer key
- XAT 2026 Response Sheet & Answer Key Solutions; PDF Download
- XAT 2026 Question Paper PDF Download
XAT 2026 Registration Process
Explore popular MBA colleges for you
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
XAT 2026 registration and application process is online. Aspirants will have to fill the form before the last date to apply for XAT 2026 to be eligible for the exam. Check below, XAT 2026 registration cum application process:
- Open XAT 2026 website in a new window: https://xatonline.in/
- Click on 'Registration' tab
- Enter basic details to create login
- A unique XAT ID and registration link will be shared in email ID
- Click on the link to verify your registration
- Got to XAT login dashboard
- Click on XAT 2026 application form
- Enter all the details asked in the form and upload photo and signature
- Review the information filled in
- Pay the XAT application fee via credit/debit card, UPI or net banking
XAT Exam Fee
Check the table below for fee amount to be paid at the time of XAT 2026 application process. Candidates will have to pay the fee before or on the XAT application last date. Fee not paid will lead non-submission of the XAT 2026 application form:
| Particulars |
Amount |
|---|---|
| XAT fee |
INR 2200 |
| XLRI application fee |
INR 200 |
XAT Eligibility Criteria
XAT is PG course entrance test, thus the minimum eligibility is graduation. Check details below:
- XAT 2026 aspirant must hold a bachelor’s degree of minimum three-year duration or equivalent in any discipline from a UGC recognized university.
- Final year graduation students are also eligible to appear for XAT exam.
- There is no minimum score requirement for XAT but for MBA course, candidate need to have minimum 50 percent for General category and 45 percent for Reserved category.
Also Read: XAT Eligibility Criteria, Age Limit, Reservation Criteria, Work Experience
The XAT 2026 admit card is available for download at the official XAT website. Given below are the steps to download the admit card below:
- Go to the official website of XAT 2026
- Click on 'download admit card' tab
- Enter XAT 2026 User ID and date of birth and click on login
- Next, click on admit card option in the dashboard
- Option to download XAT admit card will appear
- Click on download and save it as pdf
XAT Syllabus 2026
XAT syllabus includes Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, Verbal & Logical Ability and General Knowledge. XAT has a unique section called Decision Making. Check below the main topics of XAT syllabus 2026:
| XAT Sections |
XAT Topics |
|---|---|
| Verbal and Logical Ability |
Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Analogy, Para Jumble, Grammar, Critical Reasoning, Fill in the Blanks |
| Decision Making |
Seating Arrangement, Logical Sequencing, Assumptions, Premises, Conclusions, etc. |
| Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation |
Tables and Caselets, Percentage, Surds and Indices, Algebra, Mensuration, Bar Diagrams, Pie Charts, etc. |
| General Knowledge |
Science, Economy, Business, Politics, Static GK, Sports, Prize and Award, World, Government, Constitution of India, etc. |
XAT 2026 Exam Pattern
XAT exam pattern was revised for the 2025 exam session. As per the latest XAT exam pattern, there will be no essay writing. Check the highlights of XAT exam pattern 2026 as shared by XLRI below:
| XAT Exam Structure |
Details |
|---|---|
| Exam mode |
Computer Based Test |
| Exam sections |
Part 1: Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability and Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (170 minutes) Part 2: General Knowledge (10 minutes) |
| Duration of exam |
180 minutes |
| Number of questions |
95 |
| Total marks |
95 |
| Question Type |
MCQ |
| Number of answer choices |
Four |
| XAT marking scheme |
+1 mark for correct answer - 0.25 marks for incorrect answer - 0.10 marks for more than 8 un-attempted questions No negative marking in GK section |
How to prepare for XAT 2026
Preparation for XAT 2026 should be done in a time bound manner. Aspirants should start atleast 6-9 months before for the exam preparation. A key component of XAT preparation 2026 will be practice of mock tests and sample questions.
| XAT Preparation Articles |
|---|
| XAT Preparation Plan for Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation |
XAT Mock Test
It is recommended to practice about 40-50 XAT mock tests during the preparation phase to be in full control of the syllabus as well as time duration. One must practice official as well as unofficial XAT mock tests. Shiksha has prepared free XAT mock tests for candidates to practice. Click on the links below for access.
| XAT_Mock_Test_1 | XAT_Mock_Test_1 Solutions |
| XAT_Mock_Test_2 | XAT_Mock_Test_2 Solutions |
Explore more MBA exams with upcoming dates
7 Feb '26 - 8 Feb '26
9 Feb '26
10 Feb '26 - 13 Feb '26
23 Feb '26
28 Feb '26
3 Mar '26
7 Feb '26
8 Feb '26
12 Feb '26 - 16 Mar '26
XLRI Jamshedpur releases the XAT cut offs every year in the month of February after the result announcement. The XAT exam is held on the first Sunday of January and the result is announced in the last week of January. And within a week of result announcement, the XAT cut offs are released.
The XAT cut offs are released at the official website of XLRI Jamshedpur and are available for download without login. The XAT cut offs are released for PGDM-HRM and PGDM-BM gender and academic stream wise. The document contains sectional and overall cut off percentiles for male, female, male non engineering and female non-engineering categories. Selection of candidates for the Personal Interview and Group Discussion round of XLRI admission is done on the basis of these category wise cut offs.
Sectional cut off for XAT refers to the minimum percentile fixed for each section of the exam that candidates have to meet. For example, if the Quantitative Aptitude cut off is 85 percentile for XAT, students should score 85 percentile or more in the section of XAT to become eligible for group discussion and personal interview. Check the below tables for PGDM BM and PGDM HRM for XAT.
XAT Sectional cut offs for PGDM BM
General Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Males | 75 | 75 | 85 | 95 |
Females | 75 | 75 | 80 | 92 |
General Non-Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
Males | 75 | 75 | 85 | 95 |
Females | 75 | 75 | 80 | 92 |
XAT Sectional cut offs for PGDM HRM
General Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Males | 90 | 75 | 85 | 93 |
Females | 90 | 75 | 65 | 91 |
General Non-Engineers | VA | DM | QA | Overall |
Males | 90 | 75 | 70 | 90 |
Females | 75 | 75 | 60 | 88 |
Yes, candidates with less than 50 per cent in aggregate in graduation are eligible for admission to PGDM courses in XLRI. Candidates need to have minimum passing marks in Graduation. They must have however, completed their graduation from a recognised university only. Candidates planning to seek admission to an MBA college other than XLRI must check its eligibility criteria as the minimum score requirement of AICTE approved colleges is 50 percent (45 percent for Reserved categories). But having 50 per cent and above score is not a guarantee for getting selected for admission. You will need to clear the admission round which is based on XAT cut off percentile. If you do not meet the XAT cut off percentile you will not be selected for XAT personal interview round, which is the main parameter for MBA admission in XLRI.
It is unlikely that you will get admission as most of the B-Schools have minimum graduation score criteria of 50%. If you belong to Reserved category, you may get admission as the minimum score criteria for such candidates is 45%.
There are some B-schools which do not have minimum score criteria in graduation. So, you may try to seek admission in one of those institutions as 89% is a good score in XAT.
XAT cut off different for male and female candidates to promote diversity in the candidate pool. However, the difference in cut offs is not too big. There's usually a difference of 1 or 2 percentile between XAT cut offs for male candidate and female candidate. Infact, the difference is not limited to gender only. The XAT cut offs for engineering students and non-engineering students are also different.
MBA has traditionally seen to be dominated by candidates from Engineering graduates, a stream which has also been traditionally been dominated by male students. To increase diversity and encourage students from other streams of education, XLRI has different cut offs. However, low cut offs, does not ensure admission. Female candidates still need to meet other parameters of XLRI admission criteria.
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 BioNews & Updates
Explore Other Exams
9 Jan '26 | SNAP 2025 result announcement |
20 Dec '25 | SNAP 2025 session 3 |
10 Jan '26 - 12 Feb '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 registration |
7 Apr '26 - 8 Apr '26 | MAH MBA CET 2026 exam |
13 Jan '26 - 17 Jan '26 | NMAT 2025 Exam Date (Additiona... |
5 Jan '26 - 10 Jan '26 | NMAT 2025 Scheduling (Addition... |
31 Jan '26 - 2 Feb '26 | CMAT 2026 exam answer key obje... |
25 Jan '26 | CMAT 2026 exam |
23 Feb '26 | MAT Feb 2026 PBT Registration ... |
26 Feb '26 | MAT Feb 2026 PBT admit card |
24 Dec '25 | CAT 2025 result announcement |
8 Dec '25 - 10 Dec '25 | CAT 2025 answer key challenge |
17 Oct '24 - 5 Dec '24 | IIFT 2025 registration and app... |
Jan '26 | TANCET registration window |
Mar '26 | TANCET admit card download |
14 Feb '26 - 22 Feb '26 | IBSAT 2025 Selection Process |
30 Dec '25 | IBSAT 2025 Result |
Mar '25 | IRMASAT 2025 Final Result Anno... |
Feb '25 | IRMASAT Personal Interviews |
Student Forum
Anything you would want to ask experts?Answered 2 weeks ago
XLRI selects candidates for its MBA full time programme through XAT score. Those who qualify the exam and meet the minimum cut off, are shortlisted for Essay Writing and Personal Interview. Final selection is made on the basis of candidate's XAT score, academic score, work experience and performance
A
Contributor-Level 6
Answered a month 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 month 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 a month 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 a month 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 a month 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 a month 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 month ago
Hi.
Yes, PIBM (Pune Institute of Business Management) does conduct its own entrance exam in addition to accepting scores from national and state-level exams. Here's how it works:
PIBM's Entrance Exam Policy
Yes, PIBM has its own internal aptitude test called PMAT (PIBM Management Aptitude Test).
PMAT
h
Scholar-Level 17
Answered a month 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
Answered a month 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
No, cut offs of XAT participating colleges are different from each other. These colleges fix cut off percentiles for admission individually basis certain criteria determined by their respective admission cells. XAT cut off for XIMB is different from XAT cut off for TAPMI. XAT cut off for XIMB is usually around 90-93 whereas XAT cut off for TAPMI is 80-85. On the other hand, XAT cut off for KJ Somaiya-Mumbai is 85-90. Most of the MBA colleges shortlist candidates for admission on the basis of overall XAT percentile. However, the candidates must aim to meet sectional XAT cut offs too in the exam to avoid an unwanted situation at the time of admission. Before applying for admission, candidates must check the selection criteria of their target colleges to be sure of requirements.