MBA · Entrance Exams

XAT Exam Pattern

Every figure here is from the XAT overview and bulletin on xatonline.in.

Take a Free XAT MockXAT Syllabus

XAT · checked 19 September 2026

XAT at a glance, from the official notices

The dates, vacancies and rules below are read on the conducting body’s own site and rewritten as each notice appears. The guide beneath carries the full pattern, syllabus, cut-offs and free mock tests.

Free XAT mock testXAT syllabusToday’s current affairs
10Dec 2026

Next deadline

XAT: the facts that matter now

  1. 01

    Registration from 15 July 2026 to 10 December 2026; application edit windows 28–29 September and 7–8 December; admit cards from 26 December…

    2027 cycle

  2. 02

    XLRI Jamshedpur on behalf of the XAMI institutes, once a year, computer-based, for XLRI and about 250 other business schools — xatonline.in

    Conducted by

  3. 03

    Part 1 (170 minutes): Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning about 26 questions, Decision Making about 21, Quantitative Ability and Data…

    Pattern

  4. 04

    A bachelor’s degree of at least three years, or final year; no age limit; XLRI programmes have their own conditions (the GM programme needs work…

    Eligibility

Pattern

XAT — XAT exam pattern 2027: two parts, Decision Making, marking and the unattempted penalty

XAT is a 3-hour-30-minute computer-based test in two parts: Part 1 of about 75 questions across Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, Decision Making and Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation in 170 minutes, and Part 2 of 20 General Knowledge questions in 10 minutes.

Structure.
SectionQuestionsTime
VA and LRAbout 26Part 1 — 170 minutes shared
Decision MakingAbout 21
QA and DIAbout 28
General Knowledge20Part 2 — 10 minutes
Marking.
RuleDetail
Correct+1
Wrong (Part 1)−0.25
Unattempted (Part 1)−0.10 each after eight
GK+1, no deduction, XLRI only
PercentileOn Part 1; overall and sectional

Exam resources

Everything for XAT

Six resource pages, each kept in step with the latest official notification.

XAT SyllabusXAT syllabus — verbal and logical ability, decision making, quantitative ability and data interpretation, plus general knowledge.XAT Exam PatternXAT exam pattern 2027 — VA-LR, Decision Making and QA-DI in 170 minutes with −0.25 per wrong answer and −0.10 per unattempted beyond eight; 10-minute GK.XAT Previous PapersXAT previous year papers — training Decision Making judgement and calibrating the quantitative difficulty.XAT Mock TestsXAT mock tests — full-length practice including Decision Making and the general knowledge part.XAT PreparationXAT preparation strategy — adding Decision Making and general knowledge to a CAT preparation.XAT Study MaterialXAT study material — quantitative, verbal and reasoning notes, plus general knowledge for the separate section.

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