XAT 2020 Analysis and Expected Cut Offs

Read here detailed XAT exam analysis 2020 and expected cut offs for top institutes accepting XAT score for admission.

XAT 2020 exam was held on January 5 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. Initial reactions to XAT exam paper suggest that the difficulty level of XAT 2020 was same as last year but decision making section was tricky as expected. The cut offs are expected to remain low this year at 33. The XAT 2020 analysis will explain section wise difficulty level, topic-wise distribution of questions, number of good attempts and expected sectional & overall cut offs. 

Also Read: XAT 2020 - Student Reactions and Reviews

XAT question paper had the same number of questions as last year. Given below are key highlights of XAT 2020 exam pattern.

XAT sections	Number of Questions	Marks Allotted
Verbal and Logical Ability	26	26
Decision Making	21	21
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation	27	27
General Knowledge	25	25

XAT 2020 Analysis: Marking Scheme and Sectional Time-Limit

• Each right question will carry 1 mark and each wrong question will carry -0.25 marks
• In case of 8 consecutive unanswered questions, 0.10 marks will be deducted
• Part 1 of the XAT question paper is to be solved in 165 minutes
• Part 2 of the XAT question paper is to be solved in 15 minutes

Section-wise XAT 2020 Analysis

Of all the sections, VALR turned out to be the toughest. DM and Quant-DI were of moderate difficulty, while GK was easy, as always. Take a look at section-wise XAT 2020 analysis below.

XAT 2020 Analysis: Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning

• The section was time consuming and students could have taken about 50 minutes to solve it.
• This section of XAT exam 2020 was tougher than last year. The Reading Comprehension section had 12 questions with four passages of three questions each.
• Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning section also had a poem this year with 2 questions. The poem was of moderate difficulty level.
• There were two parajumble questions, which were of moderate difficulty level.
• Fill in the Blanks, Critical Reasoning and Vocabulary were on the tougher side.
• A good attempt of 15-17 questions with 70% accuracy can fetch decent marks in this section.

Topic-wise break-up of questions:

Topic	Number of questions	Difficulty Level
Reading Comprehension	12	Moderate - Difficult
CR	6	Moderate
Poem Comprehension	2	Easy - Moderate
Grammar - Correct the sentence	2	Easy - Moderate
Parajumble - 5 sentence	2	Moderate
Fill in the blanks -3	2	Moderate - Difficult

XAT 2020 Analysis: Decision Making and Analytical Reasoning

• The difficulty level of Decision Making section in XAT 2020 was moderate. The level of the Decision Making was similar to last year but was extremely boring.
• There were no questions from Mathematical or Analytical Reasoning. All the questions were situational.
• There were no singlets in this section which was a relief to students.

Topics-wise break up of Decision Making section:

Section	No. of questions	Difficulty Level
Decision Making	21	Moderate
Analytical	0	Moderate

XAT 2020 Exam Analysis: Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

• The questions in Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section of XAT 2020 was marginally easier than last year’s.
• There were 20 questions of QA and most of them were from Geometry and Arithmetic. 
• DI had three sets of eight questions. In this section too, the questions were from Arithmetic and Geometry.
• The DI questions were based on tables and bar graphs. There were also two questions on Set Theory.
• An attempt of 4-5 DI questions and 13-15 Quant questions in about 65-70 minutes can fetch the candidates good marks.

Topic-wise break-up of questions in this section:

Topic	Number of questions	Difficulty Level
Arithmetic	8	Moderate
Algebra	3	Easy-Moderate
Coordinate Geometry	1	Moderate
Geometry	5	Moderate-Difficult
Modern Maths	1	Difficult
Number system	2	Easy
DI (Set theory)	2	Moderate
DI (Bar Graph)	3	Moderate
DI (Table based)	3	Easy-moderate
Total	28	Easy-moderate

XAT 2020 Exam Analysis: General Knowledge

• The overall difficulty level of General Knowledge section was same as last year – moderate
• This section comprised 25 questions asked from static GK (Economy, Geography, Science and Technology) and Current GK (Business economy, personalities, and awards).
• An attempt of 12-14 questions fetching a score of 7-8 can be considered good.

Topic-wise break-up of questions in GK section

Section	No. of questions	Difficulty Level
Current Affairs	3	Moderate
History	4	Moderate
Economy & Business	4	Moderate
Geography	5	Moderate
Personality & Awards	2	Moderate
Science & Tech	5	Moderate
Polity	1	Moderate
Books & Authors	1	Moderate
Sports	0	Moderate
Total	25	Moderate

WATCH VIDEO:

XAT 2020 Student Reactions and Reviews

Expected XAT 2020 Cutoffs (XLRI, Jamshedpur)

Given below are section-wise expected XLRI cut offs for admission to 2020 batch of its Business Management (BM) and Human Resource Management (HRM) programmes.

Sections	2020 Cut Offs (Expected)
	BM	HRM
Verbal & Logical Ability	7.5	8.25
Decision Making	8.75	8.25
Quantitative Ability	11	6.25
Total Aptitude	33	31

Expected XAT Cut Offs 2020 (Other Institutes)

Take a look at institute-wise expected XAT cut off percentiles for admissions this year.

XAT colleges	XAT score	XAT percentile
XIMB-Bhubaneswar	30.5-32.5	90-93
SPJIMR-Mumbai	32.5-34.5	93.50-95
IMT-Ghaziabad	30.5-32	90-92
GIM-Goa	27.5-30.5	85-90
TAPMI-Manipal	26-27.5	80-85
IRMA-Anand	26-27.5	80-85
MICA-Ahmedabad	26-27.5	80-85
Great Lakes Institute of Management	26-27.5	80-85
LIBA-Chennai	26-27.5	80-85
KJ Somaiya-Mumbai	27.5-30.5	85-90