Home → XAT Entrance Exam 2026

XAT Exam Pattern 2026

XAT 2026 Registration Ongoing

XAT 2026 Registration has been extended and will remain open until December 11, 2025. The XAT 2026 exam is scheduled for January 4, 2026, from 2 PM to 5 PM. Candidates can apply online via xatonline.in.

XAT Articles · XAT Colleges

XAT 2026 Exam Pattern

The XAT 2026 exam pattern will be officially announced by XLRI along with the exam schedule. In the 2025 edition, significant changes were introduced—most notably, the removal of the Essay Writing section and a reduction in the number of GK questions. As per the updated structure, the exam consisted of two parts:

Part 1 included Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, and Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, with a duration of 170 minutes.
Part 2 comprised the General Knowledge section, allotted 10 minutes.

The total duration of the exam was 180 minutes, and the same format is likely to be followed for XAT 2026.

XAT 2026: Key Highlights

Here are the major components of the XAT 2026 exam structure:

XAT Exam Details	Information
Number of Sections	4 (DM, VALR, QA & DI, GK)
Total Duration	3 hours (180 minutes)
Total Questions	95
Total Marks	95
Answer Choices per Question	5
Mode of Exam	Online
Marking Scheme	+1 for correct answer
Negative Marking	-0.25 for each incorrect answer
Penalty for Unattempted Questions	-0.10 marks after 8 consecutive unattempted questions
Negative Marking in GK	None
Use of GK Scores for Percentile Calculation	Not included