XAT 2026 Exam (Dates Announced): Check the Examination Dates, Exam Pattern and Syllabus Here
Ayush Sharma
Published On - Oct 08, 2025 01:27PM IST
The XAT entrance examination for the year 2026 will be conducted on Sunday, 4th January 2026, across various cities of India. The registration process has already started on 10th July 2025. XAT has many prestigious institutes associated with it, like ABBS School of Management, Bengaluru; Asia Pacific Institute of Management, New Delhi; BITS Pilani; and many other top MBA colleges across the country.
XAT is a computer-based examination of 180 minutes, which consists of 2 parts: Part 1 is the Aptitude Test of 170 minutes, and Part 2 is the General Knowledge of 10 minutes. Earlier, there was essay writing too, which has been removed now. One can find all the necessary information, like the syllabus, exam pattern, advice from the toppers, along with the marking scheme and previous years' papers, mentioned below in the news.
XAT 2026 Marking Scheme is quite rigid, as it gives 1 Mark per correct question and deduct 0.25 negative marks for every wrong answer. However, students are also penalized 0.1 marks after 8 questions. Also, in the XAT 2026 exam , the GK section has no negative marking. The various sections include verbal ability and logical reasoning, decision-making, and quantitative aptitude, along with general knowledge.
Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning: This section checks the student’s ability of critical thinking and reading comprehension in the form of passages and poems.
Decision Making (DM): Hypothetical situations will be provided to the students, and their decision-making skills will be tested on the answers provided by them.
Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation: The questions are designed in a way that checks the basic mathematical knowledge of the candidates, like algebra, geometry, arithmetic, modern math, mensuration, etc. Data interpretation will challenge the students to summarise, interpret, and be insightful on the data provided.
General Knowledge (GK): 8questions focusing purely on the GK, and the remaining 12 will be on current affairs
XAT 2026 Questions Pattern
Section
Number of Questions
Time (minutes)
Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (VALR)
26
170
Decision Making (DM)
21
Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation (QA & DI)
28
General Knowledge (GK)
20
10
Total
95
180
Advice From The XAT 2025 Toppers
Below is a series of videos containing tips and tricks to clear the XAT exam from the toppers of 2020
