XAT Exam Analysis 2025: Overall Difficulty, Expected Cut-offs, and Complete Overview

Overview: The XAT 2025 exam was held on January 5th, 2025, Sunday. This blog will delve into a comprehensive XAT exam analysis 2025. This includes an overview of this year's paper pattern, the overall XAT difficulty level, sectional difficulty levels, and the expected cut-off marks.

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XAT Entrance Exam 2025 Overview 

To proceed with the XAT exam 2025 analysis, let's first examine this year's paper pattern. XAT 2025 follows the previous year's pattern, maintaining its online format and is divided into three parts:

• PART A- 175 minutes is given to solve the Verbal & Logical Ability, Decision Making and Quantitative Ability 7 Data Interpretation sections.
• PART B- 5 minutes is given to test and check your keyboard.
• PART C- 30 minutes separately is given for the General Awareness section and Essay Writing

The total exam duration is 210 minutes, adding complexity to the test-taking strategy.

Part A questions carry one mark for each correct answer and a negative marking of –0.25 for each incorrect response. Additionally, there is a penalty of -0.1 mark for every un-attempted question beyond the first 8 un-attempted questions.

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XAT Exam Pattern 2025

Here is the 2025 XAT exam pattern:

Section	No. of Questions	Total marks	Good Attempts
PART – A (175 minutes) No Sectional Timing within Part – A
Verbal and Logical Ability	26	26	14-15
Decision Making	21	21	12-13
Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation	28	28	19-20
Total	75
PART – B (5 minutes) Keyboard check
PART – C (30 minutes) No Negative Marks
General Awareness	25	25
Essay	The essay will be counted only when the candidate is shortlisted for the interview.

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XAT Exam Analysis 2025 - Section-Wise

XAT 2025 Exam Analysis for Verbal and Logical Ability 

This section included various questions like error correction, fill-in-the-blanks, para jumbles, and critical reasoning. Let's see the key highlights in this section: 

• This section is particularly on the higher end in terms of XAT difficulty level.
• The poem-based questions (on Lovely Women: Flames) were seen as difficult as last year.
• In Verbal Ability, there were 15 reading comprehension or passage-based questions, and a few were difficult again because they were philosophical in nature.

The detailed breakdown is as follows: 

Question Topics	Number of Questions	Difficulty Level
Error Correction	1	Difficult
Grammatically Correct	2	Moderate
Fill in the Blanks	2	Easy to Moderate
Para Jumbles	2	Easy to Moderate
Critical Reasoning	3	Easy to Moderate
Poem based	2	Difficult
Reading Comprehensions 1 (Beauty)	2	Difficult
Reading Comprehensions 2 (The problem of unrecognized ignorance)	3	Moderate
Reading Comprehensions 3 (Simplified moral frames)	3	Moderate
Reading Comprehensions 4 (Mass vaccination and herd immunity)	3	Moderate
Reading Comprehensions 5 (Reductive instinct and realist storytelling)	2	Difficult

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XAT Exam Analysis 2025 - Decision Making 

This section primarily focused on ethics & dilemmas, and business decisions. Let's see the key highlights in this section: 

• Although the section was time-consuming, it was overall easy to solve.
• We encountered situation-based case studies, each accompanied by pertinent questions.
• Some passages' questions were less tricky than those seen in the previous year's XAT exam difficulty level.
• There were several intriguing sets, including ones based on ABC Business School and its Alumni, one about Valve, another depicting a techie leaving their job to join a business school, and one featuring Maid Vimala.
• Vocabulary-based contextual questions were also asked.

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The detailed breakdown is as follows: 

Question Topics	Question Type	Number of Questions	Level of Difficulty
ABC Business School policies	Ethical Dilemma	3	Moderate to Difficult
HR Caselet – ‘Symbolics’ IT firm	Business Decisions	3	Moderate to Difficult
HR Caselet – Experience credentials	Ethical Dilemma	3	Moderate to Difficult
Deep Sea Natural Gas Extraction	Business Decisions	3	Moderate
Competition between taxi drivers	Business Decisions	3	Moderate
Car sales	Business Decisions	3	Moderate
Wrongful termination of domestic help	Ethical Dilemma	3	Moderate

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XAT Exam Analysis 2025 For Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation 

This section covered various topics, including arithmetic, geometry, and data interpretation sets. Additionally, a detailed XAT question paper analysis reveals the emphasis on these areas, showcasing their importance in the overall examLet's see the key highlights in this section:

• The total number of questions for Quantitative Ability was 15; for Data Interpretation, there were 13.
• The questions in this section were unexpectedly lengthy for many students, with some based on extended paragraphs.
• This section was notably time-consuming.
• The XAT difficulty level throughout was moderate.
• True to form, the XAT paper placed additional emphasis on Statistics.

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The detailed breakdown is as follows: 

Quant DI Topics	Total Questions	Difficulty Level
Arithmetic	2	Easy to Moderate
Geometry	3	Moderate to Difficult
Modern Math	3	Moderate to Difficult
Algebra	5	Easy to Moderate
Number System	2	Moderate to Difficult
Statistics Based Sets	3	Easy
Average based set	3	Easy to Moderate
Algebra	5	Moderate
Set theory	2	Easy

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XAT 2025 First Copy of Exam

 

XAT Exam Analysis 2025 - Previous Years' Comparison

The XAT paper analysis over the years reveals a trend towards moderate to difficult levels. This has significant implications for the scoring strategy. 

Past Years XAT Exam Analysis 2020-2023 

This table presents XAT 2025 exam analysis, focusing on changes in the exam pattern from 2020 to 2023.

XAT Exam Analysis Previous Years

Particulars	XAT 2023	XAT 2022	XAT 2021	XAT 2020
Test Duration	3 Hours 30 Minutes	3 Hours 10 Minutes	3 Hours	3 Hours
Test Timing	2 PM to 5.30 PM	9.30 AM to 12.30 PM	9.30 AM to 12.30 PM	9.30 AM to 12.30 PM
Total Number of Questions	102	101	100	99
XAT Difficulty Level	Expected- Moderate to Difficult	Difficult	Difficult	Very Difficult
Type of Questions	MCQS-100: Descriptive-1	MCQS-100: Descriptive-1	MCQS	MCQS
Number of Sections	5	4	4	4
Maximum Marks	100 (Essay Evaluation after shortlisting by XLRI)	100 (Essay Evaluation after shortlisting by XLRI)	100	99
Marking Scheme	For each correct answer +1 For each wrong answer -0.25	For each correct answer+1 For each wrong answer -0.25	For each correct answer +1 For each wrong answer -0.25	For each correct answer +1 For each wrong answer -0.25
Penalty for Un-attempted Questions	0.10 negative marks after 8 un-attempted questions	0.10 negative marks after 8 un-attempted questions	NA	0.10 negative marks after 7 un-attempted questions

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XAT Exam Cut Off Marks 2025

After having a fair understanding of the XAT 2025 analysis, let's have a look at the expected cut-off:

XAT Expected Cutoffs (2025) 

Institute	Expected XAT Score
	Male	Female
XLRI Jamshedpur - BM	30-32	28-30
XLRI Jamshedpur - HRM	29-31 (Engineers)	27-29 (Engineers)
	27-29 (Non- Engineers)	26- 28 (Non- Engineers)

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Is It Important to Check the XAT Exam Analysis 2025? 

Absolutely, evaluating the XAT exam question paper analysis and XAT exam difficulty level is crucial. It enables you to gauge your performance in the XAT and identify areas for improvement. The XAT exam analysis 2025 offers a glimpse into the test's overall challenge, the nature of the questions, and the score distribution.

This data can be instrumental in tailoring your study strategy for subsequent tests, allowing you to concentrate on areas of weakness. 

Good Attempts as Per XAT Exam Analysis 2025 (Expected) 

If we look at the overall XAT exam paper analysis 2025 and XAT exam difficulty level the overall good attempts should be between 45-50 questions out of the total 75 questions.

The XAT cutoff is the essential score applicants must achieve to be considered for further selection in XAT-participating institutes.

The official XAT cutoff will be published on the website following the/ announcement of the XAT results. Factors influencing the XAT cutoff include the total number of test-takers, the XAT difficulty level of the exam, and the available MBA admission seats. 

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Conclusion 

In conclusion, the XAT 2025 exam continues to be a pivotal gateway for MBA aspirants. Its evolving structure and challenging content reflect the dynamic needs of top business schools.

Candidates must adapt to these changes, focusing on comprehensive preparation across all sections.

Understanding the exam's complexity by doing proper XAT 2025 exam analysis, strategic preparation, and awareness of expected cutoffs will be key to success.

As XAT question paper analysis maintains its reputation as a rigorous test, it offers a unique opportunity for aspirants to demonstrate their aptitude and readiness for the demanding world of management. 

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