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The test was divided into two parts. The first part was the usual XAT paper which had questions divided into three sections Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation. As stated by the XAT authorities earlier, the total time allotted for attempting these questions was 170 minutes.
The second part consisted of General Awareness questions and a mandatory Essay Writing Section. The total time allotted to this section was 40 minutes.
The Verbal and Logical Ability Section had 26 questions, 2 more than last year. The section on Decision Making comprised 21 questions and the Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation section had 27 questions. Each question had 5 options and all the questions carried equal marks. There was a penalty of one-fourth marks allotted for every incorrect answer. Also, as mentioned earlier, there was a penalty of 0.05 marks for every un-attempted question after the first 8 such questions. The paper, though slightly easier, was still quite challenging.
| Section | No. of Questions | Optimal Time in Mins | Difficulty Level | Good Attempts | Expected Cutoff | |
| BM | HR | |||||
| Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning | 26 | 55 | Difficult | 17-19 | 7-7.5 | 6-6.5 |
| Decision Making | 21 | 45 | Moderate | 16-17 | 8.5-9 | 7.5-8 |
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 27 | 70 | Moderate | 18-19 | 12-13 | 9-10 |
| Total | 74 | Moderate - Difficult | 54-55 | 35-36 | 31-32 | |