XAT Exam Analysis 2026: Detailed XAT Exam Analyses of Current and Past XAT Exams

XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test) 2026 was conducted online on January 4, 2026, between 2 PM and 5 PM. The test had a similar structure to last year’s. The XAT exam analysis by IMS India highlights the structure of the test along with suggested time allocation, good attempts, and estimated cut-offs in the table below: 

XAT Exam Analysis of 2026 XAT Paper

The exam sections and number of questions for each question with good attempts are as below:

The XAT Question Paper consisted of:

Part-1 questions invited negative marks of – 0.25 for each incorrect response. In addition, there was a penalty of  -0.1 mark for every un-attempted question after 8 un-attempted questions.

Watch Expert Video on XAT 2026 Analysis

Overall Verdict for XAT 2026 Exam Analysis

Overall, XAT-2026 was similar in difficulty level to XAT 2025. The DM Section was on par with the same last year with a few questions in DM being difficult. The VALR section was similar in difficulty to XAT 2025. In the QA-DI section, the QA portion was more difficult than XAT-2025, and the DI portion was also more challenging than XAT-2025.

Based on the inputs received from students and IMS mentors who appeared for the test and based on the actual cutoffs over the last two years, we estimate the following cut-offs for XLRI BM and HRM programs:

XLRI BM Program

XLRI HRM Program

• Also check XAT score vs percentile and predict your profile and college calls.
• You should also check top colleges accepting XAT scores and their cutoffs.

Update: XAT 2026 Answer Key Is Out.

Sectional Analysis of XAT Exam 2026

Note: For both BM and HRM programs of XLRI, the overall cutoff is significantly greater than the sum of the sectional cutoffs. Therefore, the number of good attempts for different sections has been estimated from the point of view of a student who wishes to maximize the score in that section.

Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning Section (26 questions) 

There were 15 Reading Comprehension questions, 2 poem-based questions and 9 Verbal Ability/Reasoning questions. The Verbal ability/Verbal Reasoning questions were a fair mix of grammar, vocabulary, and reasoning-based questions (Critical Reasoning and Jumbled Paragraphs). The RC questions were distributed among five passages and one poem. The five passages were of 300 – 550 words each approximately; they had a mixture of mostly medium to difficult questions. Many of the questions were inferential and application-based. 

An attempt of about 13-14 questions in this section in about 55-60 minutes, with about 75-80% accuracy would be considered a good attempt.

Decision Making (21 questions)

This section consisted of 21 questions. Just like 2025, there was no Quantitative DM set in this year’s test.

The section consisted of 7 sets of 3 questions each. As usual, some questions had a fair deal of ambiguity – in that either no answer seemed correct or more than one option appeared correct. Overall, the questions were of medium difficulty. Therefore, the choice of sets/questions to attempt would have depended mainly on your personal preferences and strengths.

In about 50-55 minutes, an attempt of about 12-13 questions with about 75-80% accuracy would be considered to be good.

Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation (28 questions)

Out of the 28 questions in the section, 19 were on Quantitative Ability and 9 were on Data Interpretation. In Arithmetic 1 question was on Profit & Loss, 1 question was on Time Speed and Distance, and 1 question was on Race in a Circular swimming pool. The only question in Algebra was based on equations.

In Geometry, 1 question was on Concentric circles, 1 question was on Circle and Tangent, 1 question was on Triangle & Rectangle, 1 question was on Triangle and Square, and 1 question was on Height and Distance. In Modern maths, 1 question was on Probability, 1 question was on Function, and 1 question was on 3D Venn Diagram.

There were  7 questions from Numbers. One quant question on Divisibility was of Data Sufficiency type. Quite a few questions had been framed based on the maximum or minimum possible values.

There were three sets of Data Interpretation with 3 questions in each set. The DI sets were lengthy and tricky. One set was based on a combination of Numbers, Geometry, and Logic. One set was based on a Sunburst chart, involving multiple levels of segregation of a company’s employees and their locations, etc. The third set was a Logical DI involving a data table.

As a whole, the QA portion was more difficult than XAT-2025, especially the DI portion was really challenging.

Following is the break-up of the questions in the section:

An attempt of about 16-17 questions (with about 80 percent accuracy) in about 55-60 minutes would be considered a good attempt.

Part-2: General Knowledge

The 20 GK questions comprised 11 current affairs questions and 9 static GK questions. As usual, the questions covered a wide range of areas and gave no special advantage to specialists in any one area. 

To maximize the score in this section, one should attempt 10 – 11 questions seriously. Additionally, as there was no negative marking in this section, all the remaining questions should also have been attempted. A score of 5 – 6 would be a good score in this section.

Also read, XAT Exam Pattern

XAT Exam Analysis of Past Years: XAT 2024 Analysis

Watch this video on XAT exam analysis for 2024:

The XAT 2024 Question Paper consisted of:

Part A questions invited negative marks of – 0.25 for each incorrect response. In addition, there was a penalty of  -0.1 mark for every non-attempted question after 8 non-attempted questions.

XAT Exam Analysis 2024 Final Verdict

The DM Section was on par with the same last year, with a few questions in DM being difficult. The VALR section was slightly more challenging than the same section in XAT 2023. The QA-DI section was slightly easier as compared to XAT 2023.

Based on the inputs received from students and IMS mentors who appeared for the test and based on the actual cutoffs over the last two years, we estimate the following cut-offs for XLRI BM and HRM programs:

XLRI BM Program

XLRI HRM Program

XAT 2024 Sectional Analyses

Verbal and Logical Ability Section (26 questions)

There were 15 Reading Comprehension questions and 11 Verbal Ability/Reasoning questions. The Verbal ability/Verbal Reasoning questions were a fair mix of grammar, vocabulary, and reasoning-based questions (Critical Reasoning and Jumbled Paragraphs). The 15 RC questions were distributed among five passages and one poem. The poem-based RC was difficult. The remaining five passages were 300 – 450 words each approximately; they had a mixture of mostly medium to difficult questions. Many of the questions were inferential and application-based.

Decision Making (21 questions)

This section consisted of 21 questions. There was no Quantitative DM set in this year’s test.

The section consisted of 7 sets of 3 questions each. As usual, some questions had a fair deal of ambiguity – in that either no answer seemed correct, or more than one option appeared correct. Overall, the questions were of medium difficulty. Therefore, the choice of sets/questions to attempt would have depended mainly on your personal preferences and strengths.

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation (28 questions)

Out of the 28 questions in the section, 15 were on Quantitative Ability, and 13 were on Data Interpretation.  In arithmetic, 1 question was on Time Speed Distance, and 2 questions were on profit and loss. In Algebra, 1 question was on polynomials, 3 questions on simultaneous equations and 1 question on Linear equations. In Geometry, both the questions were on the topic of triangles. In Modern Maths, 1 question each from Logarithm, Progressions and PnC appeared.

There were three sets of Data Interpretation with 3 questions each and two sets with two questions each. One set was based on Statistics, one set was based on  Cricket match scores, and one set was based on Discount coupons at a shop. As a whole, this section was slightly easier than XAT-2023 based on our XAT analysis 2024.

Part B: Keyboard Check 

Part C: General Knowledge

The 25 GK questions comprised 16 current affairs questions and 9 static GK questions. As usual, the questions covered a wide range of areas and gave no special advantage to specialists in any one area.

Essay Writing

Three topics were provided. The test-taker had to select one topic and write an essay of around  250 words.

The topics for the essay writing task were:

1. Tech prediction often fails not because of wrong models or lack of imagination but due to a lack of humility in admitting uncertainty about the future.
2. Implementing more stringent restrictions on social media platforms is crucial to effectively combat the proliferation of fake news.
3. Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.