All You Need to Know about XAT Exam Pattern!!

Xavier Aptitude Test which is widely known as XAT Exam is all set to be conducted on 5th January 2020 and aspirants of the exam are advised to familiarize themselves with the question paper pattern of XAT exam along with the type of questions asked in the examination. Well, we haven’t seen much changes introduced to XAT Exam Pattern but there can be seen significant changes in the type of questions asked in the paper. A brief description of exam pattern is given here to make students understand how the question paper of XAT is designed and what type of questions are asked.

XAT Admit Card will be released from 20th December 2019

We have seen the exam pattern of XAT exam has undergone a few changes and these changes are expected to be applied in XAT 2020 on the same line.

Changes Introduced in XAT 2020 Exam Pattern

Since the changes mentioned below were applied to previous XAT Exam conducted throughout the country, these changes are expected to remain the same for XAT 2020 Exam. Following are the changes introduced in XAT Exam Pattern as per the notification received on its official website:

• Numerical Answer Type questions have been introduced in XAT 2019 Exam Pattern.
• The time duration to complete the exam has been reduced to 3 hours.
• For XAT 2020, candidates appearing in the exam would be provided with extra 25 minutes duration to complete the first three sections of the exam.
• There would be no extra time given for General Knowledge section.
• Students would be allowed to not attempt at least 8 questions but beyond these 8 questions, for each untried question 0.05 marks would be deducted as penalty.

Features of XAT Exam Pattern

Mode of Examination – Computer Based Test

No. of Questions – 99 Questions

Number of Sections – 4 Sections

Exam Duration – 3 hours i.e. 180 minutes

The question paper of XAT Exam is divided in four sections and there are total 99 questions to be attempted by students. Students are given 3 hours of time to complete the test. One thing that must be considered before appearing for the exam is there is no sectional limit to complete the examination, but the first three sections of the question paper need to be completed in first 165 minutes of the total duration.

The question paper is divided in the following sections:

• Verbal and Logical Ability
• Decision Making
• Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation
• General Knowledge

Presence of "Decision Making" section makes XAT Exam different from other MBA entrance examinations. The number of questions in each section are given below:

Verbal and Logical Ability – 26 Questions

Decision Making – 21 Questions

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation – 27 Questions

General Knowledge – 25 Questions

Out of these four sections, the first three sections namely Verbal and Logical Ability, Decision Making, and Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation need to be completed in 165 minutes and the last section i.e. General Knowledge section needs to be completed in the remaining 15 minutes.

The students can not switch to the GK section without completing the first three sections.

Marking Scheme of XAT Exam

The marking scheme of XAT Exam has remained the same over the past three years but the questions that students can leave untried have been reduced from 12 to 8. There are total 99 questions that are to be completed in 3 hours. The marking scheme of XAT Exam is as follows:

• Students are rewarded with +1 mark for each correct answer.
• 0.25 marks would be deducted as penalty for every incorrect answer.
• There are 8 questions that students can leave not attempted but beyond these 8 questions, 0.05 marks would be deducted as penalty for each untried question.

Here was the brief description of XAT Exam Pattern which might help those appearing for the exam. Aspirants would be advised to go through it before appearing for the examination.

Avantika Bhardwaj is working as a Content Writer at CollegeSearch. She chose to write for Education as she believes it is the only way to bring positive changes in society.