XAT Cutoff 2025: Check XAT Cutoffs for XLRI and Other Top Colleges

XAT cutoff is a very important minimum score that makes candidates eligible for admission to XLRI Jamshedpur, XIMB, and other colleges. Additionally, XAT aspirants have to meet the XAT sectional cutoffs in VA, DM and QA to be eligible for the WT/PI rounds for admissions.

The next XAT exam date is January 4, 2026 and its results will be out, tentatively,  by the end of January 2026. Afterwards, the official XAT cutoff 2026 will be announced by XLRI for its PGDM – BM and HRM programs. We’ve compiled the 2025 cutoffs for XLRI below, along with an analysis of XAT score vs percentile. Based on these scores, we can estimate the percentiles you need to clear the XAT cutoff 2026.

For a more detailed outlook of the XAT cutoff 2025, read on.

 

 

XAT Cutoff 2025 – Official Overall as well as Sectional Percentiles

The XAT cutoff for XLRI PGDM-BM usually hovers around 94-96%ile overall. For the PGDM-HRM program, it is around 92-93%ile overall.

According to the XAT 2025 results, the cutoff for XLRI PGDM-BM for male candidates was around 25-26 marks. For the HRM program, it was around 24-25 marks.

XLRI BM Cutoff 2025

Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	>=96	>=88	>=84	>=84
Non-Engineer	Male	>=96	>=88	>=84	>=84
Engineer	Female	>=91	>=82	>=80	>=80
Non-Engineer	Female	>=91	>=82	>=80	>=80

Read More – XAT Syllabus – Section-wise important topics

 

XLRI HRM Cutoff 2025

Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	>=95	>=83	>=90	>=87
Non-Engineer	Male	>=93	>=76	>=90	>=87
Engineer	Female	>=90	>=73	>=85	>=80
Non-Engineer	Female	>=87	>=68	>=85	>=80

 

 

XAT cutoff 2024 – Overall & Sectional Percentiles

XLRI BM Cutoff 2024

Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	>=96	>=86	>=83	>=85
Non-Engineer	Male	>=95	>=85	>=83	>=86
Engineer	Female	>=91	>=81	>=80	>=80
Non-Engineer	Female	>=90	>=80	>=80	>=81

 

XLRI HRM Cutoff 2024

Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	>=95	>=80	>=90	>=85
Non-Engineer	Male	>=93	>=75	>=90	>=85
Engineer	Female	>=90	>=73	>=85	>=78
Non-Engineer	Female	>=88	>=68	>=85	>=78

 

 

XAT 2025 Cutoff – Overall and Sectional Cutoff Scores

According to our mentors, the overall difficulty level of the XAT 2025 paper was similar to that of the XAT 2024. We expect this trend to continue with XAT 2026 being a comparatively hard paper. Factors such as differences in sectional cutoffs, a higher number of appearing students, and more seats for XLRI programs will affect the XAT cutoff scores for 2026. 

Here’s what we expect the XAT exam cutoff to look like:

XLRI BM Program

Stream	VA-LR	DM	QA-DI	Overall (Part A)
Male candidates	6-7	7-8	9-10	25-26
Female candidates	5-6	6-7	8-9	23-24

 

XLRI HRM Program

Stream	VA-LR	DM	QA-DI	Overall (Part A)
Male (Engineers)	7-8	7-8	8-9	24.5-25.5
Female (Engineers)	6-7	6-7	7-8	23-24
Male (Non-Engineers)	7-8	7-8	7-8	23-24
Female (Non-Engineers)	6-7	6-7	6-7	22-23

As you can see, students with scores above 26 have a good chance of landing calls from XLRI for their top programs. The official results are expected to be out by 20th January 2025. We’ll continue to update the cutoffs based on our interviews with mentors and test-takers.

Read More – XAT Exam Pattern

 

 

XAT Score vs Percentile 2025 – Overall

Let’s know what actually is XAT score and XAT percentile. XAT score is the total marks obtained by a candidate and XAT percentile is a candidate’s relative performance compared to rest of all. For example, if a candidate gets 99 percentile in XAT, it means his/her performance was better than 99 percent of the candidates. Check the table below for reference:

XAT Score	XAT Percentile
38.7	99.17
34.7	97.67
33.8	97.11
33.5	96.89
32.4	96.03
29.4	92.75
27.1	89.24
20.5	73.15

 

 

XAT Score vs Percentile 2025 – QADI

Here is QADI sectional score vs, percentile for XAT:

XAT Score	XAT Percentile
14.7	98.51
13.3	97.38
12.6	96.55
10.1	91.32
9.6	89.88
9.6	89.83
9.1	87.77
8.2	84

 

 

XAT Score vs Percentile 2025 – VALR

XAT Score	XAT Percentile
16.4	99.53
14.9	98.8
11.4	93.34
10.8	91.59
10.7	91
9.7	87.55
9.2	85.44
4.5	52.21

 

 

XAT Score vs Percentile 2025 – DM

XAT Score	XAT Percentile
13.2	96.75
11.9	93.4
9.7	82.94
9.7	82.46
9.7	82.39
9.2	79.14
6.4	51.14
5.6	45.44

XAT 2024 cutoff: Score vs Percentile

Now that we have covered the expected XAT cutoff let’s look at the percentile and their associated scores. XAT will release all students’ official answer keys and response sheets probably by second week of January 2026. You can calculate your expected scores from the answer key and then compare it to the table below. Based on the percentiles, you can also shortlist the colleges to expect calls from. 

 

XAT Score vs Percentile 2024

XAT 2024 Score	XAT 2024 Percentile
38.75	99.75
36.3	99.5
33.35	98.91
33.15	98.86
31.4	97.80
30.55	97.94
26.65	95.28
29.25	97.08
24	92
26	95
21.1	86.91
18.65	80.93
18.1	79.36
17.22	75.84
16.55	74.47
15	67.61
13.8	64.33

This information will be updated again based on new information pouring in from students, mentors, and the XAT conducting body.

 

 

XAT Cutoff 2025 – All Other Colleges Accepting More Than 80%ile Marks

Several other great business schools also accept XAT scores. Based on our XAT 2024 analysis as well as the XAT expected cutoff, here are the percentile scores of the top colleges.

XAT colleges	XAT 2025 Cutoff Score	Cutoff Percentile
XIMB-Bhubaneswar	23-24	91-92
SPJIMR-Mumbai	24-26	93-95
IMT-Ghaziabad	22-23	90-91
GIM-Goa	21+	85-90
TAPMI-Manipal	20+	80-85
IRMA-Anand	20+	80-85
MICA-Ahmedabad	21+	80-85
Great Lakes Institute of Management	20-21	80-85
LIBA-Chennai	20+	80-85
KJ Somaiya-Mumbai	18.5+	80-85

Read More – Top MBA colleges accepting XAT score

Read More – XIMB Cutoff

 

 

What Factors Influence XAT Cutoffs

Several dynamic factors influence the XAT cutoffs.

• The number of candidates directly influences competition levels. A higher applicant volume often drives cutoffs upward.
• The difficulty level of the XAT exam can shift the required marks. More challenging question papers may see slightly lower raw-score requirements.
• Finally, the programs with fewer seats can have higher cutoff requirements.

XLRI has been conducting the XAT on behalf of XAMI (Xavier Association of Management Institutes) for management education. As one of the country’s oldest competitive examinations, XAT consistently embraces newer testing methodologies. It also maintains a multidimensional approach to candidate assessment.

 

XAT Previous Years’ Cutoffs for XLRI

XAT Cutoffs for 2023

PGDM Business Management (BM)	General Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	75	75	85	95
	Female	75	75	80	92
	General Non-Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	75	75	85	95
	Female	75	75	80	92
PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM)	General Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	90	75	85	93
	Female	90	75	65	91
	General Non-Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	90	75	70	90
	Female	75	75	60	88

 

 

XAT Cutoffs for 2022

PGDM Business Management (BM)	Category	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	75	72	80	93
	Female	72	72	75	90
PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM)	General Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	80	70	75	92
	Female	80	70	64	90
	General Non-Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	80	70	70	90
	Female	80	70	60	87

 

 

XAT Cut offs for 2021

PGDM Business Management (BM)	Category	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	76	74	83	94
	Female	70	70	75	92
	SC	60	60	60	65
	ST	55	55	55	60
PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM)	General Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	80	75	80	93
	Female	75	68	74	90
	General Non-Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	80	75	73	90
	Female	75	68	64	87

 

XAT Cut offs for 2020

PGDM Business Management (BM)	Category	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	74	78	85	95
	Female	72	74	75	93
PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM)	General Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	79	73	75	93
	Female	74	68	70	91
	General Non-Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
	Male	78	73	70	90
	Female	73	68	65	88

Conclusion

The XAT 2026 cutoff for XLRI PGDM-BM should be around 95%ile for male engineers, while for the HRM, it should be around 93%ile.

 

FAQs

 

What is XAT Sectional Cut Off?

The 3 main sections of XAT exam, Verbal Ability, Decision Making, and Quantitative Aptitude have separate cutoffs. Candidates have to meet that minimum sectional scores to qualify for the next rounds on admissions. Only those candidates are shortlisted for PI and admission who meet the XAT sectional cut offs too.

 

Which MBA colleges are available with XAT cut offs of 85 percentile and above?

The top MBA colleges accepting 85+ percentile XAT scores includes names, such as XLRI Jamshedpur, XIM Bhubaneswar, IMT Ghaziabad, SPJIMR Mumbai, etc.

 

When are XAT cut offs released?

XAT cutoffs gets released in February after the result announcement. The upcoming XAT dates are as follows:​

• XAT exam date: First Sunday of January (January 4, 2026)
• XAT results date: Third week of January (around January 18, 2026)​
• XAT cutoffs: Within a week of result announcement (February 2026)

Are XAT cut offs same for all participating colleges?

No, XAT cutoffs vary across participating colleges. Each college has its own cutoff based on their admission policies, number of available seats, institutional requirements, etc. Additionally, each college also has different sectional cutoff requirements and category-wise variations.

 

What is the XAT exam pattern 2025?

The first part of the XAT exam pattern will be Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability, and Data Interpretation (170 minutes). The second part will be a GK section with 20 questions for 10 minutes.

 

How is XAT score calculated?

Each correct answer carries 1 mark and each incorrect answer incurs a deduction of -0.25 marks. Additionally, -0.1 mark for each unanswered question after 8 consecutive skips. This means there is no penalty for first 8 unanswered questions.

Also, The GK section is scored but does not contribute to the candidate’s percentile or cutoff calculations. There is no negative marking for incorrect answers in the GK section.