XAT Marking Scheme 2027: Marks Per Question & Negative Marking

Marking scheme for XAT gives 1 mark for every correct answer and deducts 0.25 mark for every incorrect answer. 

Yes. XAT negative marking scheme includes a deduction of 0.25 mark for every incorrect answer. There is also a penalty of 0.10 mark for unattempted questions beyond first eight.

Candidates get 1 mark for every correct answer in XAT.

The first eight XAT unattempted questions do not attract any penalty. After eight unattempted questions, 0.10 mark is deducted for every additional unattempted question.

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.

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.

Aspirants should start practicing XAT mock tests after completing the syllabus. Ideal time duration to solve XAT mock tests is October to December. Official mock test is released a week before the exam, so candidates must attempt it at least once before the exam. 

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.

A candidate should practice at least 35 to 40 XAT mock tests during preparation. They should attempt mocks of various varieties and difficulty levels. 

In the last two weeks before XAT exam, they must practice at least five mock tests and analyse performance. It is most likely that by the end of exam preparation, candidates will be scoring 98 plus percentile in mocks. If that happens, they will score well in exam too.

Yes, solving XAT question paper is of immense help in exam preparation as one can get an idea of the exam pattern, difficulty level of the questions, and learn time management. The XAT question papers of previous years also give you an idea of what type of questions (Reading Comprehension passages and poem) are asked in XAT. In fact, preparation of Decision Making section is totally dependent on XAT question papers. XAT question papers of previous years also act as practice test providing you with the opportunity to master speed and time management.

Candidates must solve previous years’ XAT questions paper of at least last five years, so that they are aware of the latest type of questions especially poem, RC passages and Decision Making passages.

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.

If a candidate has appeared for the XAT exam before and is only attempting again for score improvement, then they can prepare for it with mock tests only. But if a candidate is appearing for the XAT exam for the first time and is not familiar with the syllabus, they cannot prepare with XAT mock tests only. XAT syllabus coverage is necessary before starting XAT mock test practice.

Ideal time to start XAT mock test practice is after covering the syllabus. When you're thorough with all the concepts and formulae, you will be able to solve all types of questions in the XAT mock test. XAT exam is conducted in January first week, so one should start mock test practice in November and dedicate two months to it.

Important topics from XAT quantitative aptitude section include Arithmetic (Percentages, Profit & Loss, Time-Speed-Distance, Averages), Geometry & Mensuration, Algebra (Equations, Progressions), Number Systems, and Modern Math (Probability, P&C).