XAT Exam Syllabus: Section-Wise Important Topics and Syllabus

XAT Exam Syllabus is prescribed for the Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) by XLRI, Jamshedpur. The syllabus consists of 4 sections, from which questions are asked in the XAT Exam. These sections are Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, and General Knowledge. 

Interested candidates need to cover all the topics mentioned in the XAT Exam Syllabus. In the XAT Exam 2026, there will be 95 questions, and there will be no essay writing. General Knowledge will have only 20 questions. The exam will last for 180 minutes. Check out the full XAT 2026 syllabus along with the best books and study materials to help you prepare for the exam.

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XAT Exam Syllabus Overview

XAT is an important national-level MBA entrance exam for candidates to get admission into XLRI Jamshedpur and 150+ other reputed business schools across the country. There are 95 questions in total asked in the exam. The questions are primarily asked from the topics mentioned in the XAT Exam Syllabus. Before delving into the details of the syllabus, interested candidates can check the table provided below to get an overview of the XAT Exam Syllabus:

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XAT Exam Pattern

The XAT Exam is unique from other MBA entrance exams as it contains questions from General Awareness and Decision-Making as well. There are a total of 95 questions in the exam for 95 marks, to be answered in 180 minutes or 3 hours. +1 mark is awarded for each correct response, and -0.25 is deducted for each incorrect answer. Candidates can check the table below for more information on the XAT Exam Pattern:

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XAT Exam Syllabus for Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation

The questions asked in the Quantitative Aptitude and the Data Interpretation sections are considered to be the most challenging of all the 95 questions in the XAT Exam. The section consists of 28 questions, which are designed to test the candidate's ability to tackle mathematical problems within a deadline. To score well in this section, candidates must build a solid foundation of the basic concepts and formulas. They must also learn different shortcut tricks and methods to manage their time and subsequently solve the questions as well. Candidates can check the table provided below to know more about the XAT QA and DI Syllabus:

XAT Exam Syllabus for Decision Making

The main distinction between XAT and other MBA entrance exams is the inclusion of the decision-making section in the XAT Exam. In this section, candidates are provided with passages or a set of information, where they need to apply logical analysis to derive correct answers. There are a total of 22 questions in this section, with 6-8 such decision-making question sets, each of which is followed by 2-3 questions. The topics covered under the decision-making section of the XAT Exam is as follows:

XAT Exam Syllabus for Verbal & Logical Ability

The Verbal and Logical Ability Questions in the XAT Exam are designed to test a candidate’s English knowledge and proficiency. Almost half of the questions included in the section are related to English Grammar and Reading Comprehension questions. The questions from the logical ability section include such questions that require deductive reasoning and interpretation to solve. Candidates can check the table provided below for more information: