XAT Exam Analysis

In the XAT 2020 exam, like always, the Decision-Making section was quite challenging but the Logical Ability was particularly tough. The difficulty level of XAT 2020 was moderate. Take a look at the detailed evaluation of XAT 2020 by experts. This also includes a detailed analysis of topic-wise break-up of the question paper, the difficulty level of the exam, topic-wise weightage and expected cut off for XLRI admission.

XAT 2020 Exam Analysis: Highlights

• XAT exam was conducted on 05 January 2020 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm as an online examination across 46 cities in India.
• XAT 2020 question paper had two parts.
• Part 1 comprised of Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability and Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation
• Part 2 included General Knowledge.
• The overall difficulty level of XAT 2020 was moderate to difficult.
• The marking scheme is same as last years. +1 for every correct answer, -0.25 for each incorrect answer and -.010 in case of eight consecutive unanswered questions.

Also Check XAT Exam Syllabus

In the table below, the section-wise distribution of questions and the difficulty level of XAT 2020 question paper is given:

XAT 2020 Exam Analysis by Career Launcher

Verbal and Logical Ability

• This section was definitely quite challenging and tough. About 50 minutes is needed to solve this section.
• The Reading Comprehension section had a total of 12 questions from four passages.
• Though the two para-jumble questions were of moderate difficulty the Fill in the Blanks, Critical Reasoning and Vocabulary questions were tough.

Decision Making and Analytical Reasoning

• The Decision-Making section in XAT 2020 was moderately difficult.
• All the questions in this section were situational.
• This section was quite simple as Mathematical and Analytical questions were absent.

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

• The questions in the Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section of XAT 2020 were easier when compared to last year.
• QA had a total of 20 questions of which a majority of the questions were from Geometry and Arithmetic.
• DI had three sets of eight questions each from Arithmetic and Geometry and two questions on Set Theory.

Also Check XAT exam pattern

General Knowledge

• This section was of moderate difficulty level.
• A total of 25 questions from static GK (Economy, Geography, Science and Technology) and Current GK (Business economy, personalities, and awards).

XAT 2020 Analysis by IMS

 The XAT 2020 exam was similar to the 2019 paper in terms of the difficulty level however, the cut-offs are likely to be a little lower as compared to last year. The overall cut-off (for general category male candidates) for XLRI BM program is expected to be 33-35 and for XLRI-HRM program at 31-33. The cut off for female candidates will be lesser than that for male candidates. 

XAT 2020 Analysis: Verbal and Logical Ability

The Verbal and Logical Ability section of XAT 2020 had 26 questions of which 14 were Reading Comprehension questions and 12 were Verbal Ability/Reasoning questions. The Verbal section had questions based on grammar, vocabulary, jumbled paragraphs and critical reasoning. The 14 RC questions were based on four passages of about of 250-300 words each and a short poem. The poem was comparatively less abstract, unlike last year. The RC questions were mostly either of medium or high difficulty level.

If you have attempted around 16-18 questions with about 75-80% accuracy it can be taken as a good attempt.

• The cut-off for this section (for the general category-male candidates) will be around 8-9 for XLRI -BM and 9-10 for the XLRI-HRM programs.

 XAT 2020 Analysis: Decision Making

This section had 21 questions, similar to last year, but none of the questions was of quantitative type. This section was tougher when compared to last year.

It had 7 sets of 3 questions each. Almost all the passages were short and simple to read but a few questions were quite vague with either no correct answer or with multiple answers being correct.

If you have attempted about 14-15 questions with about 75-80% accuracy it can be taken as a good performance.

• The cut-off is expected to be close to 5-8.5 for the XLRI -BM program and 6.5-7.5 for XLRI-HRM program.

XAT 2020 Analysis: Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section had a total of 28 questions of moderate difficulty levels. A majority of the questions were on Quantitative Ability (22 questions) out of which 20 were standalone questions and two questions were in the form of a set on Venn Diagrams. The geometry questions based on circles and quadrilaterals were quite tough.

The remaining six questions were on Data Interpretation, in the form of two sets (table and graphs) with three questions each.

An attempt of about 17-18 questions (with about 80 per cent accuracy) can be considered a good attempt.

• The cut-off for this section is expected to be around 11-12 for the XLRI – BM program and 7-7.5 for XLRI – HRM program.

XAT 2020 Analysis: General Knowledge

This section had 25 questions and since there is no negative marking in this section, all questions could be attempted. 5 questions were on current affairs and the rest were questions based on Geography, Science, History, Business, Economy, names of political personalities, etc.

• A score of 7 – 8 can be considered a good score in this section. 

Expected XAT 2020 Cutoffs

The table represents the expected XAT cut off for admission to XLRI’s Business Management (BM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) programs:

Also read:

• XAT Examination Cut-Offs
• XAT Examination Syllabus
• XAT Examination Preparation
• XAT Examination Dates
• XAT Examination Registration
• XAT Examination Results
• XAT Examination Answer Key
• XAT Examination Counselling And Selection
• Best Books For XAT Preparation