XAT 2025: Exam Date January 5; Check New Pattern, Previous Year Papers, Mock Test, Top Colleges

Xavier Aptitude Test is the Admission Test for admission to MBA/PGDM programs in XLRI and other top MBA colleges like XIMB, IMT Ghaziabad, IMI New Delhi, LBSIM Delhi, TAPMI Manipal and 150 other top MBA colleges in India. XLRI will offer admission to its PGDM programs, offered at Jamshedpur and Delhi campuses on the basis of this exam score only, and will not accept any other test score. There are more than 70 cities and more than 100 venues where the exam will be conducted in India. 

Salient Points about the Exam are:

• A computer based test conducted at more than 70 test cities
• For XAT 2025, the exam duration is reduced to three hours from earlier three hours thirty minutes
• The exam is divided into two parts & four sections of  Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning; Decision Making; Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation; General Knowledge
• Part two which had General Knowledge and Analytical Essay Writing (AEW) sections will have only GK section in XAT 2025 and AEW will not figure in the exam.
• Part two does not count for percentile score calculation
• No Individual time limit to attempt the sections
• XLRI will offer admission 2025 based on XAT 2025 only and will not accept any other test score

Check XAT 2025 Exam Highlights including XAT Full Form, who conducts XAT exam, number of candidates registered for XAT exam and other important details.

Important dates including XAT 2025 Exam Dates, form filling dates and timelines for the Exam are as below: 

XAT eligibility criteria 2025 are as below. 

• A candidate who has passed bachelor’s degree 
• A final year student in graduation is also eligible 
• There is no age limit to apply and appear in the exam

Read complete details on XAT Eligibility 2025

XAT 2025 Exam Pattern has been modified by XLRI Jamshedpur. Check details below:

• XLRI has dropped Essay Writing Section from XAT 2025 main exam. XLRI will conduct it during GD-PI round after the candidate is shortlisted for the interview.
• Number of questions in GK Section have been reduced to 20 from 25 last year. 

Revised XAT Exam Pattern 2025 is as below: 

XAT Exam analysis covers pattern, type of questions and difficulty level. XAT Analysis 2025 will be published after the exam on January 5, 2025. Read XAT 2024 exam analysis below.

XAT 2024 Analysis: Summary

• Exam was conducted from 2.00 PM to 5.30 PM on January 7, 2024
• Total 75 Questions appeared in Verbal, DM, Quant & DI section.
• GK in exam had 9 Questions on Static GK and 16 Questions on Current Affairs 
• Total Questions in 2024 were 101 (Including Essay Writing)
• Exam difficulty level remained similar to last year
• Exam Duration is increased to 3 hrs 30 minutes from earlier 3 hrs 10 minutes
• Test taker was allowed to choose 1 Essay topic out of 3 Options

Read Complete XAT 2024 Exam analysis.

XAT Exam Syllabus is divided into two parts and five sections. In Part-1, it tests the candidate on Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension & Logical Reasoning; Decision Making; Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation. In part-2 it tests General Knowledge.

• The revised syllabus includes 95 MCQ type questions 
• Except the General Knowledge Test, all the other three sections are core sections that determine the percentile score as well as XLRI shortlisting criteria
• The score of General Knowledge section is taken into account at the time of XLRI personal Interview round. 
• The Analytical Essay Writing Test (AEW) is no more a part of XAT exam. Instead it will be conducted by XLRI in its GD-PI round

7.1 XAT Syllabus Section-Wise

Part-1 Syllabus

Part-2 Syllabus
Part-2 in XAT covers General Knowledge and Essay Writing Test.

Cracking XAT requires focused preparation across three core sections: Verbal Ability, Decision-Making, Quantitative Ability. General Knowledge section is not used for calculating percentile but must not be ignored. These XAT preparation tips can helpd you maximize your performance.

1. Understand the Exam Pattern and Syllabus: As detailed above, familiarize yourself with the XAT syllabus and sectional structure. Knowing the number of questions in each section will help you prioritize your preparation.  
2. Focus on Decision-Making: Practice decision-making caselets daily, as this section is unique to XAT. Review past years' papers to identify common patterns and improve your problem-solving approach.  
3. Enhance Verbal Reasoning: Develop critical reasoning and comprehension skills by reading diverse materials. Focus on tackling RC passages, grammar questions, and logical reasoning problems. 
4. Strengthen Quantitative Ability:  Concentrate on key areas like arithmetic, algebra, and geometry. Regularly solve practice problems and take timed mock tests to boost speed and accuracy.  
5. Brush Up your General Knowledge: Follow current affairs and static GK topics, covering both national and international news. Review business and economic developments relevant to economy and business.  
6. Take Regular Mock Tests:  Take full-length mock tests and analyze your performance after each. Focus on understanding errors and improving time management for each section.  
7. Finally, Manage Stress: Don’t let the exam stress overpower you. Manage it with daily smart preparation and stress busters like music and exercise. 

XAT preparation books are same as books used for CAT preparation since both tests are designed to assess similar skills and understanding. Check these preparation books for CAT which are sufficient for all sections except GK.

Read Complete Details on XAT Preparation 2025. 

XAT Registration Numbers 
For XAT 2024 exam, 1.35 lakh candidates had registered which was an increase of 40% over last year. 

Read XAT Registration Numbers historical trends. 

XAT 2025 Registration and Form Filling process is online. Last date to register is December 10, 2024. Apply Now. XAT registration fee is Rs. 2,200. You can complete your XAT registration process by following these simple steps.

XAT Admit Card 2025 download will start from December 2024 third week. XLRI will upload the Admit card on official XAT exam website 2025 onlinexat.in  The admit card release date may be extended by a few days. The last date to download the Admit Card is exam date. 

Three Steps to Download XAT 2025 Admit Card

• Go to XAT 2024 website onlinexat.in
• At login page enter XAT ID and password to view and download the XAT Admit Card
• Save the Admit Card and take print on A4 size paper

XAT Answer Key is done to maintain transparency in exam and to help candidates to check their responses with the correct answers. The Answer key 2025 will be released 3-4 days after the exam date on official website. You can download your answer key from official website by login with your login ID and password.  The candidate response sheet will be released separately to enable the exam takers to raise & file objection to the answers which appear wrong to the test takers. XLRI releases the XAT answer keys along with the question paper with all the important instructions.

Top XAT Accepting MBA Colleges include XLRI Jamshedpur, XIMB, MICA, IMI, IMT, TAPMI, Great Lakes, FORE, LIBA, BIMTECH among others. The required CAT cut off percentile in all these IIMs for admission 2025 is shared below.

XAT 2025 Result will be released is last week of January 2025. However, XLRI releases the result in the second or third week of January. Immediately after the result declaration, XLRI and other top B-schools start announcing their shortlist on the basis of XAT scores and other parameters in their shortlisting criteria for final selection round. The final admission offer will be made to the candidates in the months of April/May 2025.

The admission process in XLRI depends upon your performance in three major areas – Your exam score; your academic record and performance in Personal Interview round. There are three stages through which XLRI Admission Process is completed, they are:

• Stage-1: Performance in XAT Exam
• Stage-2: Shortlisting by XLRI for PI round
• Stage-3: XLRI Final Selection Process 2025 comprising PI Round

Your final admission offer depends upon your performance in all the above three stages of XLRI selection process.

XAT 2025 exam will be held across the country in following cities: Agra, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad City (Maharashtra), Allahabad, Ambala, Amravati, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Berhampur, Bhatinda, Bhilai Nagar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh/Mohali, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Dehradun, Delhi-NCR, Dhanbad, Dibrugarh, Durgapur/Asansol, Ernakulam, Gandhinagar, Goa, Gorakhpur, Guwahati, Gwalior, Hooghly, Hubballi(Hubli), Hyderabad, Indore, Jabalpur, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Jammu, Jamshedpur, Kannur, Kanpur, Kolkata, Kota, Kottayam, Kurnool, Lucknow, Madurai, Mangalore, Mumbai, Mysuru(Mysore), Nagpur, Nashik, Patna, Pune, Raipur, Rajahmundry, Ranchi, Roorkee, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Siliguri, Surat, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, Tirupathi, Tiruvallur, Udaipur, Udupi Vadodara, Varanasi, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Warangal, Tejpur, Jorhat, Rajkot, Shillong, Naharlagun..

XAT 2025 Introduces 34 New Test Cities
Ajmer, Aligarh, Anantapur, Arrah, Baddi, Balasore, Bareilly, Bhagalpur, Bikaner, Bilaspur, Chikkaballapur, Darbhanga, Davanagere, Dhenkanal, Haldwani, Hazaribagh, Hisar, Jodhpur, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga), Kalyani, Karimnagar, Kolhapur, Kurukshetra, Mehsana, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Muzaffarpur, Nanded, Patiala, Salem, Shimla, Sikar, Ujjain, Vellore.