XAT is a national-level management entrance examination conducted by XLRI, Jamshedpur for admission to MBA/PGDM programmes. Apart from XLRI and 10 other XAMI member colleges, over 1,000 B-schools accept XAT scores for admission to their post-graduate management programmes. The XAT question paper consists of 100 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) from Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation and General Knowledge.
Exam Pattern
The section-wise questions vary in the XAT exam. Additionally, candidates get a specified time limit to complete the questions in different parts of the XAT exam. The table below presents the detailed section-wise XAT exam pattern 2025 along with question types:
Section | Subjects | Questions | Time Taken | Negative Marking |
Part 1 | Verbal Ability & Logical Ability | 26 | 175 mins | +1, -0.25, -0.1 (for more than 8 unattempted questions) |
Decision Making & Analytical Reasoning | 22 | |||
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation | 28 | |||
Total | 76 | |||
Part 2 | Mock Keyboard Testing | - | 5 mins | No |
Part 3 | General Awareness | 25 | 30 mins | |
Essay Writing | 1 | |||
Total | 102 | 210 mins |
XAT Marking Scheme
Part I
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+1 mark is awarded for EACH correct answer
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*Negative marking for unattempted questions is like -
- 0-8 unattempted questions: No marks deducted.
- More than 8 unattempted questions: Marks deducted calculated as 0.1×(number of unattempted questions−8)0.1 \times (\text{number of unattempted questions} - 8)0.1×(number of unattempted questions−8).
Part II
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+1 mark is awarded for EACH correct General Knowledge answer
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Negative marking does not apply to the General Knowledge questions (GK)
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Negative marking does not apply to the Analytical Essay Question (AEW)