XAT Exam Pattern 2023: Xavier Admission Test (XAT) 2023 will be conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur for admission to post-graduate degree programmes in management at XLRI, Xavier Institute of Management (XIM), Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS), Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) and other MBA colleges.
XAT is a 3 hours, 35 minutes long, online test that has undergone some changes in format and overall duration since last year. XAT question paper will have two sections, section 1 will consist of Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, and section 2 will only have GK section.
Read this article to know the full XAT Exam pattern 2023.
XAT Exam Structure | Details |
Number of sections | 4 (Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation amd General Knowledge) |
Duration of exam | 180 minutes |
Number of questions | 100 |
Total marks | 100 |
Language of paper | English |
Number of answer choices | Five |
Mode of examination | Online |
XAT marking scheme | #ERROR! |
The marks scored in the General Knowledge paper are not counted in determining the percentile and have no effect on the initial rounds of selection. They are taken into consideration during the personal interview round at XLRI admissions and admissions in few other member institutes.
XAT Consists of 5 major sections:
(Read:Â XAT Preparation Tips)
XAT 2014 had 103 questions, XAT 2015 only had 84 questions while XAT 2016 again had 103 questions. As per some reports, the number of questions that can be expected in XAT 2018 is 97.
Breaking 60 years of tradition, XAT 2018 will be an online test.
Take a look at previous years’ papers to get a better idea about the XAT exam pattern:Â XAT previous years’ papers
The marking scheme for XAT is as follows:
Here is the analysis of the number of questions appearing in XAT in the last few years.
Exam Year | Total Number of Questions | Section-wise number of questions | Level of Difficulty |
XAT 2023 | 100 | VARC: 26 DM: 21 QA & DI: 28 GK: 25 | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2022 | 100 | VARC: 26 DM: 21 QA & DI: 28 GK: 25 Essay: 1 (to be evaluated upon shortlisting) | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2021 | 100 | VARC: 26 DM: 21 QA & DI: 28 GK: 25 | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2020 | 100 | VARC: 26 DM: 21 QA & DI: 28 GK: 25 | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2019 | 99 | VARC: 26 DM: 21 QA & DI: 27 GK: 25 | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2018 | 97 | VARC: 24 DM: 21 QA & DI: 27 GK: 25 One essay topic | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2017 | 97 | VARC: 24 DM: 21 QA & DI: 27 GK: 25 One essay topic | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2016 | 103 | VARC: 26 DM: 23 QA & DI: 29 GK: 25 One essay topic | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2015 | 114 | VARC: 28 DM: 23 QA & DI: 33 GK: 30 One essay topic | Moderate to difficult |
XAT 2014 | 113 | VARC: 28 DM: 24 QA & DI: 31 GK: 30 One essay topic | Moderate to difficult |
Verbal and Logical Ability:
Vocabulary
Number of questions: 1
Analogies
Number of questions: 1
Pronunciation
Number of questions: 1
Rephrase Sentence
Number of questions: 2
Critical Reasoning
Number of questions: 2
Verbal Reasoning
Number of questions: 2
Contextual Understanding
Number of questions: 4
Reading Comprehension
Number of questions: 13
Based on the types of questions asked, it is clear that this section tends to check your grammatical skills and so the questions given are majorly fill in the blanks, correct the sentence, comprehension etc. Last year, the questions in this section were quite difficult.
Decision Making and Analytical Reasoning:
Decision Making
Number of questions: 18
Analytical Reasoning
Number of questions: 5
This is to test your analytical and decision making skills. This is a way to test your intake process of data and ability to make productive decisions within a time frame. The questions in this section were a bit difficult.
Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation:
Arithmetic sequence
Number of questions: 1
Pipes & Cisterns
Number of questions: 1
Set Theory
Number of questions: 1
Clocks
Number of questions: 1
Base conversion
Number of questions: 1
Profit and Loss
Number of questions: 1
Time, Speed & Distance
Number of questions: 1
Algebraic Functions
Number of questions: 2
Data Sufficiency
Number of questions: 2
Number System
Number of questions: 3
Tables
Number of questions: 3
Bar Graphs
Number of questions: 4
Geometry
Number of questions: 8
The questions in this section are based on maths related to topics of geometry, arithmetic, probability, permutations and combinations. The DI part consists of graphs, bar graphs, pie charts to provide large amounts of data and to test your interpretation skills for the same. Last year the section had moderate level questions.
General Knowledge:
The questions in this section were broadly in two parts, GK about History, Geography, Books, Places, Achievements etc and GK in current affairs like Politics, Science and Technology, Sports, Economics data and general Information.
Essay Writing:
Most of the times the Essay topics given in this section are on corruption, Indian Economy, Global Warming, Politics Etc. Writing a good Essay is very essential and one should have thorough knowledge of current business affairs and should read newspapers, watch major talk shows as much as possible.