XAT – Xavier Aptitude Test
Summary
The XAT exam, Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) is a computer-based test conducted by XLRI-Xavier School of Management for admissions in graduate management programs. The test is intended to assess certain quantitative, verbal & reading comprehension, decision-making and writing skills of the aspirants of graduate management programs such as PGDM/MBA programs. According to the Xavier School of Management, XAT assesses critical and analytical thinking skills that it believes are essential to the making of business leaders.
More than 160 B-schools accept the XAT score for admissions; nevertheless, the validity of the score is for one year only.
XLRI Jamshedpur offers the following management programs:
Business Management (BM)
Human Resource Management (HRM)
Global Business Management(GBM)
General Management Programme (GMP)
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XAT History
The test has existed since 1949 when it was created to give business schools a standardized way to assess applicants in addition to their CQPIs/CGPAs/GPAs. It has been taken about 73 times in the seventy-four years of XLRI’s existence. The test was administered by paper-and-pencil before 2017; however, after switching formats in 2017, the test is now administered online.
Test Duration and Pattern
XAT is conducted once every year. The test duration is 190 minutes and is traditionally conducted on the first Sunday of the year (January).
XAT comprises four sections having multiple-choice questions along with one analytical essay writing section. The test is conducted in English, and all the MCQs have five options with one correct option. The five sections are as follows:
- Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (VA & LR)
- Decision-making (DM)
- Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation (QA&DI)
- General Knowledge (GK)
- Analytical Essay Writing (AEW)
As far as the structure of the question paper is concerned, it is divided into two time-bound parts.
- Part I (165 Minutes. On completion of 165 minutes, Part I will be locked, and candidates will be moved to Part II)
- Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (about 26 MCQs)
- Decision-making (about 21 MCQs)
- Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation (about 28 MCQs)
- Part II (25 Minutes)
- General Knowledge (about 25 MCQs)
- Analytical Essay Writing (Descriptive Question)
XAT Marking Scheme
Part I
- +1 mark is awarded for EACH correct answer
- -0.25 marks are awarded for EACH incorrect answer
- -0.10 marks are awarded to EACH un-attempted question after EIGHT un-attempted questions
Part II
- +1 mark is awarded for EACH correct General Knowledge answer
- Negative marking does not apply to the General Knowledge questions (GK)
- Negative marking does not apply to the Analytical Essay Question (AEW)
Eligibility
The candidates must satisfy the following criteria before appearing for the XAT:
- Must hold a bachelor’s degree of a minimum of three years of duration or equivalent in any discipline.
- The degrees should be issued by competent authorities, and recognized by the Ministry of HRD, Government of India.
- Candidates in their final year of bachelor’s degree/equivalent qualification can apply for the test. However, if selected, they are required to submit a certificate of degree completion issued by the director/principal/ registrar of their university/college, institute, latest by June 30, 2023.
- International students can appear for XAT interviews by submitting their GMAT scores.
XAT Process
To register for XAT Exam, candidates need to visit the official website, click on Register and create a new account by using a personal email ID. After that, candidates will receive a unique XAT ID and registration link. vsvaz
Test Fees
XAT Exam application fee is Rs 1650 and Rs 300 per XLRI course. Application fee after the deadline is (including late fee) Rs 2000 and Rs 500 per XLRI course.
There are three modes of payment:
Online Payment Gateway: Through VISA/Master Credit/Debit Cards (American Express Card is inadmissible). IDBI Net banking (this option is available only for IDBI account holders)
Cash Payment: Please take a printout of the XAT Pay-In-Slip visit the nearest IDBI bank and make the payment.
Demand Draft: Issue a DD from any Bank in favour of “XLRI Jamshedpur A/c XAT” payable at Jamshedpur.
The DD needs to be sent to the following address:
The Chairperson’s Admission,
XLRI, Circuit House Area (East),
Jamshedpur- 831001.
The same must be sent within fifteen days from the issuance of the DD.
Candidates need to fill in the following information in the registration process:
Preliminary information (Name, Date of Birth, Gender, Father’s Name, Mother’s Name, Category and Phone Number etc.)
Mailing (communication) address and permanent address
Educational qualification from Class 10 onwards
Work experience starting from the latest job
Choose the XAT test city
Upload a scanned digital photograph and signature less than 1 MB (Click here for the process of uploading the photograph and signature).
Candidates should print out all the XAT Confirmation page for future correspondence with XAT office.
XAT Syllabus
XAT is famous for its high difficulty level. XAT syllabus consists of Verbal and Logical Ability, Quantitative Aptitude, Logical Reasoning, Data Interpretation, Decision Making, General Awareness and Essay Writing.
Here’s a look at some of the important topics to study for XAT 2019:
Verbal and Logical Ability:
1. Reading Comprehension and Vocabulary
2. Fill in the blanks
3. Para completion
4. Analogy based on vocabulary
5. Para Jumble
6. Paragraph formation questions
7. Poem
8. Close test
9. Grammar
10. Sentence correction
11. Pronunciation
12. Critical Reasoning and Inference
Quantitative Aptitude (QA) & Data Interpretation (DI)
In XAT, there are three sets of DI questions. Quant has similar sections to the CAT exam. Here are some of the quant topics that are covered in the exam:
1. Percentage
2. Tables and Caselets
3. Linear and Quadratics Equations
4. Profit and Loss
5. Probability
6. Surds and Indices
7. Ratio
8. Critical Path
9. Inequalities
10. Variation
11. Averages and Partnerships
12. Logarithms
13. Time and Work
14. Alligations and Mixtures
15. Numbers
16. Time, Speed and Distance
17. Algebra
18. Mensuration and Geometry, etc
How to get selected in XLRI with basic quants preparation
Decision Making
Topics under this section include:
1. Decision making
2. Logical Reasoning
3. Sets
General Knowledge
The GK syllabus consists mostly of the following topics:
1. Awards and winners
2. History
3. Static GK
4. Business and Politics
5. Geography
6. Famous Personalities
7. Government and Economy
8. World Events
9. Current Affairs
Exam Centers
The XAT will be conducted in the following cities:
Agra, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad City, Allahabad, Ambala, Amravati, Amritsar, Bengaluru, Berhampur, Bhatinda, Bhilai Nagar, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh-Mohali, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuttack, Dehradun, Delhi-NCR, Dhanbad, Dibrugarh, Asansol-Durgapur, 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 Score for Admissions at XLRI
One of the oldest and internationally accredited B-schools, XLRI offers PGDM (BM), PGDM (HRM) and PGDM (GM), approved by the AICTE. In addition, XLRI offers two doctoral-level programs duly recognized by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). XLRI uses XAT scores for admitting students in all the above-mentioned programs for both XLRI Jamshedpur and XLRI-Delhi NCR Campuses. It is mandatory to score well overall and section-wise to get the XAT interview call for the final selection.
XLRI also uses XAT scores to admit students in their Xavier Online Learning (XOL) programs. These programs are PGDBM-Online, PGDHRM-Online and PGDF-Online.
XAT: Exam Pattern
XAT question paper consists of five important sections:
1. Quantitative Ability
2. English Language & Logical Reasoning
3. Decision Making
4. General Knowledge and
5. Essay Writing
A few changes were made in the XAT exam pattern a couple of years ago. The total number of questions in the main part (VA, DI, DM) has been brought down to 78 and the time allotted has been increased by 20 minutes. The candidates would have 170 minutes to answer the questions. Students can choose to have a choice of not to attempt 13 questions. Beyond this, any unattempted question will carry a negative mark of 0.05. There would also be a negative marking of 0.25 marks for any wrong answer. The number of questions in the GK has been reduced to twenty-five and there would be no negative marking in this section. XAT has moved from pen-and-paper mode to be an online exam.
Admit Card
XAT admit cards are generally available for download on the official website of XAT. The date for downloading XAT admit card is announced along with the XAT exam date.
Candidates can download their admit cards from the official website by using their login IDs. Also, the candidates must take a printout of the admit card, as a hard copy of the same will not be sent to anyone
To download the admit card, candidates need to follow the steps given below:
Visit the official website
Click on the ‘Download admit card’ tab
Enter details like XAT ID, password and enter submit
Download the admit card
Take a printout of it
The candidates must check their XAT admit cards thoroughly and in case of any error on it, they must approach the exam convening body to get it rectified and obtain a duplicate copy. The admit card will contain the following information:
1. Candidate’s name
2. Candidate’s roll number
3. Exam date
4. Exam time
5. Exam venue
6. Instructions regarding exam/exam day
Admit card is a mandatory document to be carried to the examination hall and must be presented for inspection by the invigilator. Candidates not carrying their admit cards will be barred from writing the test. The candidates are advised to carry secondary ID proof.
Gadgets like mobile phones, calculators, iPad etc are not allowed inside the premises of the test centres, hence the candidates are advised to not carry any of these. The candidates must also keep their admit cards safe until the end of the admission process.
