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XAT 2019 Analysis (Available): Section-wise In-depth Analysis

XAT Paper Analysis 2019: XAT 2019was conducted on January 6 in a single session.As per the students, there were some difficult Verbal questions and some tricky DM questions. Overall the difficulty level of XAT 2019 was moderate to difficult. Check XAT Cutoff

Latest:XLRI Jamshedpur has declared the results for XAT 2019 at xatonline.in.Check Now!

HIghlights of XAT 2019 Paper

  • The exam was conducted in CBT mode from 10 am to 1 pm.
  • This session paper was divided into two parts viz.
    • First part was the usual XAT exam which had questions divided into three sections (VALR, DM and QADI) to be attempted within 165 minutes.
    • Second part consisted of General Awareness questions to be attempted within 15 minutes.

Check XAT 2019 Score Vs Percentile

Tabulated below is a detailed XAT 2019 Paper Analysis:

SectionMax. QuestionsGood AttemptsDifficulty Level
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning2616 – 18Difficult
Decision Making2116 – 17Moderate
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation2717 – 18Moderate
General Awareness2512 – 14Moderate

XAT Paper Analysis 2019: Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning

  • This section was tougher than the last year, mainly because of questions from the Verbal section.
  • The section was dominated by Reading Comprehensions, having real time-consuming questions.
  • A well-prepared student could have attempted 16 – 18 questions with 65% accuracy.
TopicNo. of Ques.Good AttemptsDifficulty
Reading Comprehension12 (4 passages X 3 ques. each)7 – 8Moderate to Difficult
CR53Moderate to Difficult
Poem Comprehension2 (1 poem)(-)Very unusual
Analogy11Moderate
Antonym11Moderate
Para-jumble (5 sentences)21 – 2Moderate
Fill in the Blanks31 – 2Difficult
Total2616 – 18Difficult

XAT Paper Analysis 2019: Decision Marking & Analytical Reasoning

  • The difficulty level of this section was again similar to last year.
  • Decision Making questions dominated the section with 18 questions,
  • There were no questions from Mathematical/ Analytical Reasoning.
  • There were 3 questions which were similar to those that were there in previous year’s papers. 
TopicNo. of Ques.Good AttemptsDifficulty
Situational Decision Making2116 -17Moderate

XAT Paper Analysis 2019: Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation

  • This section was slightly tougher than last year’s.
  • Few questions were tricky and few of them were a little ambiguous.
  • An ideal time to attempt this section would be about 65 – 70 minutes.
TopicNo. of Ques.Good AttemptsDifficulty
Arithmetic43Easy
Algebra74 – 5Easy – Moderate
Coordinate Geometry + Trigonometry42 – 3Moderate
Geometry42Moderate-Difficult
Data Sufficiency21Moderate
DI (Time Zone)31Moderate-Difficult
DI (Mixed Graph)32Easy – Moderate
Total2717 – 18Easy – Moderate

XAT Paper Analysis 2019: General Awareness

  • The difficulty level was similar to that of last year’s.
  • Most of the question were a single statement based.
  • Some of the questions had more than one correct statement.
TopicNo. of Ques.Difficulty
History1Moderate
Geography4Moderate-Difficult
Economy & Business7Easy – Moderate
Current Affairs2Easy
Personality3Moderate
Science & Technology2Moderate
Polity2Easy
Miscellaneous2Moderate-Difficult
Sports2Easy – Moderate
Total25Moderate

XAT 2018: Paper Analysis

Considering XAT 2018 was held in online mode, it was marred by a number of connectivity issues. Thus, in an official statement by XLRI, the exam was rescheduled for two of its exam centres (Kolkata & Gurgaon). The exam was of moderate difficulty level. 

Section-wise XAT 2018 Analysis

  • Quantitative Ability: This section had 27 questions of easy level.
  • Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning: This section had 26 questions of moderate level.
  • Decision Making: This section had 22 questions that were tricky and time-consuming.
  • General Knowledge: This section had 25. About 50% were from current affairs.

XAT Cutoff

The below tables describes the percentage required for different programs of XLRI:

Program OfferedVerbal Ability and Logical ReasoningDecision MakingQuantitative Ability and Data InterpretationOverall (Percentage/ Marks)
Business Management79.46%76.84%88.7%96%
Human Resource Management79.67%71.628%70.07%92.55%
Global Management Programme5 marks and above5 marks and above6 marks above22 marks and above

XAT Analysis (2018/2017/2016)

Year201620172018
Total Questions10498100
Duration3 hours3 hours3 hours
Mode of ExamOfflineOfflineOnline
Type of QuestionsMCQs + DescriptiveSame as 2016Same as 2016
Answer Options5Same as 2016Same as 2016
Level of DifficultyHighModerate to HighModerate to High
Total Sections3+2Same as 2016Same as 2016
Distribution of QuestionsVALR – 26DM – 23NA & DI – 29GK – 25VALR – 24DM – 21NA & DI – 27GK – 25VALR – 26DM – 22NA & DI – 27GK – 25
Special Case0.05 marks per question if more than 13 questions were un-attempted0.05 marks per question if more than 12 questions were un-attempted0.05 marks per question if more than 8 questions were un-attempted

XAT 2017 Analysis

XAT 2017 Exam took place in the single slot on January 08, 2017 across multiple centres. The Paper was divided into 4 sections – Verbal & Logical Ability, Decision Making & Analytical Reasoning, Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability and General Knowledge. The level of difficulty of the XAT Paper ranged from moderate to high.

While the overall difficulty level of the exam was moderat. Questions in quantitative ability were comparably hard and verbal ability section was slightly easier than the previous years.

Section-wise XAT 2017 Analysis

SectionsQuestionsDifficulty Level
Verbal & Logical Ability26Low to Moderate
Decision Making & Analytical Reasoning22Moderate to High
Data Interpretation & Quantitative Ability27High
GK25Moderate

Read complete  XAT 2017 Analysis


XAT 2016 Exam Analysis

XAT had the same structure as expected in XAT 2015. There was a total of 78 questions asked in Section I and 25 questions in Section II. Candidates are advised to stay updated with the basic sciences and current events to score well in General Awareness section of XAT 2017 Exam. However, Marks scored in General Awareness is not included in percentile calculation at the first stage.

Verbal & Logical Ability

Candidates are advised to pay extra attention to questions based on reading comprehension. Comprehensions on the philosophy of approximation and Communication was asked with a maximum number of questions from them. Candidates are suggested to practice and focus on these type of questions a bit more.

TopicNumber of QuestionsDifficulty
Reading comprehension14Difficult
Vocabulary1Moderate
Para-Jumble2Easy-Moderate
Para-completion1Easy
CR7Difficult
Pronunciation1Moderate

Decision Making & Analytical Reasoning

The decision-making section had a similar difficulty level as previous year papers. The only difference was that the passage given for reading and interpretation was smaller in size. This gave the students a chance to score higher marks. Detailed analysis of Questions in Decision Making & Analytical Reasoning is mentioned below.

TopicTotal Questions in XAT 2016Difficulty level in XAT 2016
Situational18Moderate-Difficult
Mathematical + Analytical reasoning53-Easy 2-Difficult

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

This section experienced a maximum number of correct attempts than any other section. Quantitative Ability of XAT 2016 was easier as compared to previous year exams. The questions were mainly asked from Algebra, Geometry and Number systems. The cutoff of this section went high because of maximum correct attempts from the section.

XAT 2016 DI questions had 2 sets, the total number of questions were 7. An applicant could easily attempt 2-4 DI questions in 20-25 minutes.

The XAT 2016 Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section breakup are mentioned below. Candidates are advised to check the section breakup to understand the subject areas from where the questions were asked.

TopicQuestions in XAT 2016Difficulty level
P & L2Easy-Moderate
TSD, Work2Easy-Moderate
Number System2Easy-Moderate
Algebra3Easy-Moderate
Puzzles1Easy-Moderate
Geometry, Mensuration8Moderate-Difficult
Clocks1Moderate
Trigonometry1Easy
Functions1Easy
Set Theory1Moderate
DI- Table based3Difficult
DI-Combination4Difficult

XAT 2016 Part B

General Awareness

XAT 2016 GA Section had questions mainly from Economy, Geography, Science, and Technology. The knowledge of current affairs was tested mainly through Business economics. Most of the questions were statement based. Questions with more than one correct answers were also asked. The overall difficulty level can be stated as “moderate-difficult”. An attempt of 10-11 questions was considered good.

XAT 2015 Paper Analysis

The XAT 2015 exam had 3 sections in part I of the exam. Part II of the XAT 2015 exam had 2 sections. The part I was MCQ based exam. The candidate had to choose an answer from the five options given for each question. The total time duration for the part I was 140 minutes. The time duration for part II of the exam was 40 minutes.

Section Name XAT 2015No. of Questions XAT 2015Optimal time per section XATDifficulty levelGood attempts
Part 1Verbal Ability2830Moderate-difficult14
Quantitative Ability3365Moderate- difficult14
Decision making2345Moderate-difficult14
Total8414042
Part 2General Awareness3040Easy-Moderate15

XAT 2015 Part A

Verbal and Logical ability

The logical ability section was relatively tough in XAT 2015 exam. In XAT 2015 there was no Grammar question. The pattern was similar to the previous year exam for this section. The section had 5 Reading comprehension passages. So there was a total of 17 questions in the Reading Comprehension section. Also, 1 question from Vocabulary based cloze test, 1 question from sentence completion and 2 questions from Vocabulary. There were 2 questions each from Para- Jumbles and Para- Completion. The 2 questions out of 3 questions of Critical Reasoning were difficult. The 10 questions in the section were easy and could be attempted with almost 80% accuracy.

Decision Making and Analytical Ability

The questions from decision making were quite difficult and complex to solve. Though the level of questions was relatively simpler than the previous year, candidates found it tough to solve the Decision-making problems. Analytical Ability section was designed to test the candidates’ rational thinking and to judge them on their ability to solve problems over such a topic.

XATXAT CUT OFFXAT COUNSELLINGXAT SELECTION PROCESS THROUGH XLRI

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

Quantitative Ability section in XAT paper demands the candidates to solve the problems efficiently and quickly. There were 25 questions in this section in XAT 2015. The questions from Arithmetic were easy and that from Geometry and Algebra were difficult. Problems on directions were also difficult to work with. A candidate on an average could attempt 9-11 questions. The time of 35-40 minutes was assumed sufficient.

The DI section had 2 sets in which there were 4 questions each. The graphical question was easy while the table based question required intensive calculation. In the time duration of 20-25 minutes, 3-5 DI questions could be done easily.

XAT 2015 Part B

General Knowledge

The GK section of XAT 2015 was difficult as compared to XAT 2014. There were 30 questions in the section consisting of two questions from History and 6 from Geography. There were 6 questions on Economy which were difficult. There were 7 questions based on Current Affairs and 4 questions on Sports. Five questions with moderate difficulty level were asked. An attempt of 12-14 questions could get an applicant a score of 8-10 questions.


XAT 2014 Paper Analysis

The XAT 2014 exam turned out to be difficult from its previous edition. There was a decrease in the number of questions that were given. The total number of questions was 83 in XAT 2014 and the total time allotted to attempt the questions was 150 minutes. In 140 minutes the candidate could complete the 3 main sections and in last 10 minutes the GK section.

A pattern shift was observed in XAT 2014 which was followed in later on in XAT 2015 and XAT 2016. XAT 2017 exam is also supposed to be conducted along the same lines.

XAT 2014 PAPERSSECTION NAME XAT 2014NUMBER OF QUESTIONS XAT 2014DIFFICULTY LEVEL
PAPER 1VERBAL ABILITY28MODERATE
DECISION MAKING24MODERATE TO TOUGH
QUANTITATIVE ABILITY31TOUGH
TOTAL83MODERATE-TOUGH
PAPER 2GENERAL AWARENESS20EASY-MODERATE

XAT 2014 Part A

Verbal Ability

There was a total of 28 questions of moderate- tough difficulty level partly due to the subject matter. A new type of questions was introduced with the main objective to test the fundamental understanding of the candidate’s critical reasoning. The vocabulary was tested through Fill in The Blanks type of questions.

Questions on Grammar were also asked, which were rather simple as compared to the rest of the paper. Reading Comprehension passages were set and designed to test candidates’ ability to reason and infer from the matter in the subject.

Sectional Analysis of Verbal Ability is mentioned below

VA Question description / TopicNo. of Questions
RC15
VR4
Grammar2
Sentence Rearrangement2
Sentence completion5

Decision making

The Decision-making section had 24 questions in total. At least 14 questions were easy enough to be attempted and a score of 9 marks was easy to obtain. Candidate’s with logical reasoning aptitude scored well in this section.

Quantitative Ability

The section was difficult with very moderate questions. There were no direct problems and candidates had a tough time doing it. The graphs were also very difficult. A lot of calculation based questions were seen in the section. Most of the questions from this section required a sound knowledge of the topic. Sectional analysis of Quantitative Ability is mentioned below.

Quantitative Ability TopicsNo. of Questions
Algebra and Functions2
Number System5
Geometry9
Average1
Arithmetic sequence1
Ratio and proportion1
Probability2
Tables6
Line Graphs3
Logarithms1

The good attempts for the section came around 8 and the achievable score was 6. A candidate with more practice could score more.

XAT 2014 Part B

General Awareness

The GK section in XAT 2014 was a little difficult. The questions were random in nature and came from different topics. Questions on national and international awards were asked. Apart from these, questions came from world Geography and history. Stats based questions were also asked. A well-read person would be able to attempt at least 10-12 questions easily.