XAT PYQ: Previous Year Question Papers 2016–2026

This page lists XAT previous year question papers for 11 years, 2016 to 2026, with 9 official PDFs (question papers and answer keys) and labelled mock papers for 2 years with no official question paper. XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test) is conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur and covers Verbal & Logical Ability, Decision Making, QA & DI and GK. Pick a year below for the paper, answer key and a timed practice plan; confirm dates and pattern on xatonline.in.

Explore: Question papers by year · Syllabus & pattern · Pattern changes · FAQ

Year-wise question papers

Prefer to practise one topic at a time? XAT topic-wise PYQs lists all 849 questions from 9 official XAT papers by topic.

About XAT

XAT is the entrance test XLRI Jamshedpur conducts for its own programmes and on behalf of the Xavier Association of Management Institutes. Many other business schools accept XAT scores too. The exam is held once a year, usually on the first Sunday of January, so XAT 2025 means the test sat in January 2025.

The paper has three scored sections: Verbal and Logical Ability (VALR), Decision Making (DM) and Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation (QA & DI). A separate General Knowledge section follows. GK does not count towards your XAT percentile, but XLRI looks at it later in its selection process, so it is not something to ignore if XLRI is your target.

Decision Making is the reason old XAT papers matter so much. No other major MBA entrance has a section like it, and CAT preparation does nothing for it. DM questions put you in a workplace or business situation, often with an ethical angle, and ask what the right course of action is. The options are written so that two or three of them sound reasonable. The only way to learn how XLRI thinks about these situations is to work through its own sets and study its answer key.

XLRI has published the question paper and answer key on xatonline.in after most exams, and the year pages here host those official PDFs for 2016 to 2024. XLRI has not published the 2025 or 2026 papers, so those year pages have clearly labelled mock papers instead. The full section-wise syllabus is on the XAT syllabus and pattern page.

How the paper has changed since 2016

The three main sections have been in place for the whole period. What has changed is the essay, the total time and the size of the GK section. Practise with the current structure in mind, and use the older papers mainly for their questions.

XAT’s marking is different from CAT’s. A correct answer gets 1 mark and a wrong answer loses 0.25. On top of that, XAT penalises you for leaving too many questions blank: in recent papers, every unattempted question beyond the first 8 costs 0.10 marks. The free allowance has been larger in some older years. GK has no negative marking.

That blank-question penalty changes how you should practise. In CAT, skipping a hard question costs you nothing. In XAT, skipping fifteen questions costs you 0.7 marks before you have got a single one wrong. You still should not guess blindly, since a wrong answer costs more than a blank, but you need to be willing to make reasoned attempts on questions where you can rule out two or three options.

Since the aptitude part has had no sectional timers in recent years, you decide how to split your time. Most students give DM less time than its share of questions, because a well-practised student can move through DM sets quickly, and save the extra for QA & DI, which has usually been the slowest section.

What the papers show, section by section

Verbal and Logical Ability

XAT passages tend to be denser than CAT’s, often on philosophy, society, economics or literature, and some years have included a short poem or a passage written in an older style. Questions lean heavily on inference and on identifying the author’s position. Critical reasoning questions (assumption, strengthen, weaken, conclusion) appear alongside the passages, along with para jumbles and vocabulary or usage questions in context.

When you review, keep critical reasoning mistakes apart from RC mistakes. They come from different habits. A wrong CR answer usually means you did not pin down the exact claim being made. A wrong RC answer usually means you chose an option that was true in general but not supported by the passage.

Decision Making

DM sets are short situations, followed by two to four questions. Some are about ethics at work: a manager who learns about misconduct, a company deciding whether to recall a product, a conflict between a team’s interests and the firm’s. Others are closer to business problems, with a small amount of data, such as allocating a budget, scheduling staff or choosing between suppliers.

After every DM set in a past paper, write down in one line the principle behind the correct answer. Over time you will see the same ideas: follow fair process, do not harm a party that has done nothing wrong, look for the option that solves the problem without creating a new one, prefer the long-term interest of the organisation over a quick fix. When you get one wrong, compare your reasoning with the key and work out which principle you missed. This list of principles is the most useful thing you can build for XAT.

Students often lose DM marks by choosing the most heroic or the most rule-bound option. XLRI’s answers tend to favour options that are fair, practical and proportionate.

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

XAT Quant has a different feel from CAT’s. Questions are often longer and wordier, and geometry, algebra and higher topics such as probability and permutations come up more often. Data interpretation appears as caselets or table-based sets within this section. In 2025, most students found QA & DI the hardest part of the paper.

Tag your Quant mistakes the same way you would for CAT: a formula you did not know, an approach you did not see, or a calculation slip. Then add one more tag for DI misses caused by misreading the data. Do not rely on CAT papers alone for this section. Solve XAT Quant to get used to its length.

General Knowledge

GK covers current affairs from roughly the past year, with a lean towards business, economy and international affairs, plus some static GK. Since it is not in the percentile, spend only a little time on it, but do spend some. A weekly half-hour quiz from old XAT GK questions and the year’s major business news is enough for most students.

Notes on recent years

2026 was held on 4 January 2026 with the same structure as 2025: 75 aptitude questions and 20 GK questions in 180 minutes. Candidates found Verbal long and reading-heavy and Quant and DI the most time-consuming, with a lot of geometry. XAT 2027 is on 3 January 2027.

2025 cut the total time to 180 minutes and moved the essay out of the test. GK went down to 20 questions. QA & DI was widely seen as the hardest section and DM as the most manageable. This is the best paper to sit as a full mock close to your exam.

2022 to 2024 brought back the essay, which XLRI read only for shortlisted candidates. The 2023 and 2024 papers ran 210 minutes in total with no sectional timers. Sit the aptitude part of these papers in a single block and leave out the essay, since your exam will not have one.

2019 to 2021 had no essay. Their DM sets are a good source of practice, and the papers are close enough to the current format to sit as full mocks.

2016 to 2018 included an essay and came from an older version of the exam. Use them for DM sets and RC passages more than for full timed papers.

Using old papers at different stages of preparation

With a year or more to go

Start DM practice early, even if your main focus is CAT. Solve two or three DM sets a week from older papers and start your list of principles. DM improves slowly, with steady exposure, and cannot be crammed in December. Use the older Quant sections for topic practice once you have finished a chapter.

With about six months to go

Sit one full XAT paper a month, alongside your CAT preparation. For the rest of the week, keep a weekly DM block and add one XAT RC passage a day. Most of your Quant and verbal work will overlap with CAT, so the XAT-specific effort is mainly DM, the denser passages and getting used to XAT’s longer Quant questions.

Between CAT and XAT

The five or six weeks between CAT in late November and XAT in early January are where XAT preparation should take over. Sit two full papers a week, starting with 2019 to 2021 and ending with 2025 and 2026. Practise under the 180-minute limit with the blank-question penalty applied when you mark yourself. Re-read your list of DM principles before every paper.

Mistakes students make with past papers

The most common mistake is treating XAT as a second CAT. The Quant section is different, the verbal section is denser and DM has no equivalent in CAT. Students who only take CAT mocks and then sit XAT often find that their timing plan falls apart in the first hour.

The second is leaving DM until the last two weeks. You can learn a Quant formula quickly. You cannot learn XLRI’s way of thinking about a workplace dilemma quickly. That takes dozens of sets and careful review.

Many students also mark their past papers without the blank-question penalty, which makes their scores look better than they would on the day. Apply it every time.

Finally, do not skip GK entirely if XLRI is your target. It does not affect your percentile, but it is part of how XLRI reads your application later.

FAQ

Does XLRI release XAT question papers?

For most years, yes. XLRI has published the question paper and answer key on xatonline.in after the exam, and the year pages here host those official PDFs for 2016 to 2024. For 2025 and 2026, XLRI has not published the paper, so those year pages have labelled mock papers.

What is the XAT exam pattern now?

In XAT 2025 and XAT 2026, the aptitude part had 75 questions: 26 in Verbal and Logical Ability, 21 in Decision Making and 28 in Quant and DI. GK had 20 questions. The whole test took 180 minutes, and the essay was moved out of the test. Check the current notification on xatonline.in before your exam.

How does XAT negative marking work?

A correct answer gets 1 mark and a wrong answer loses 0.25. In recent papers, each unattempted question beyond the first 8 also costs 0.10 marks. GK has no negative marking. Apply both penalties when you mark your past paper attempts.

How do I prepare for Decision Making using old papers?

Solve DM sets from every past paper and, after each set, write down the principle behind the correct answer. Over time you will build a short list of ideas XLRI comes back to, such as fair process and avoiding harm to uninvolved people. Compare your reasoning with the key whenever you get one wrong.

Is CAT preparation enough for XAT?

It covers part of it. Your Quant and reading work carries over, but XAT’s Quant questions are longer, its passages are denser and Decision Making is unique to XAT. Sit at least four or five full XAT papers and practise DM separately.

Does GK count in the XAT percentile?

No. GK is not part of the XAT percentile, but XLRI uses it later in its selection process. If you are aiming for XLRI, give it a little time each week. Other institutes may not use it at all.

Are the older XAT papers with an essay still useful?

Yes. The scored sections have stayed the same since 2016, so their DM sets, passages and Quant questions are good practice. Leave out the essay when you sit them, and time the rest to match the current 180-minute test.

How many XAT papers should I solve?

Sit 2019 to 2026 as full timed papers, ideally most of them in the weeks between CAT and XAT. Use 2016 to 2018 for extra DM sets and passages. More important than the number is reviewing every DM set you get wrong.

Where to get the official papers

XLRI publishes the XAT notification, answer keys and results on xatonline.in. Use the official answer key when an answer is in doubt, especially in Decision Making. We link to official sources and add notes on each paper, but the current notification is the final word on dates, pattern and eligibility.