XAT 2026, held on January 4th, has officially concluded. The verdict? It was a paper that demanded high endurance and strictly penalized guessing. While the structure remained familiar (95 questions), the internal difficulty of sections shifted significantly compared to last year.
Overall, the difficulty level settles at Moderate to Difficult. The "speed-breakers" this year were the lengthy Reading Comprehension passages and a calculation-intensive Quant section, while Decision Making offered a slight breather.
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Here is the deep dive into what went down.
1. Section-Wise Deep Dive & Topic Distribution
We have broken down each section with data sourced from Career Launcher’s analysis.
Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (VALR)
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
The VALR section was a test of patience. The sheer volume of reading was high, and the options were close. The Critical Reasoning questions were tricky, and the "Poem" based RC—a XAT classic—returned to test abstract interpretation.
Topic-Wise Breakdown:
| Topic | No. of Questions | Details / Remarks |
| Reading Comprehension | 15 | 5 Passages (Topics: Beauty, Ignorance, Moral Frames, Realist Storytelling, Mass Vaccination) |
| Poem | 2 | Abstract interpretation questions |
| Critical Reasoning | 3 | Conclusion, Inference, and Contradiction based |
| Para Jumbles | 2 | Moderate difficulty |
| Grammar | 2 | Identify Correct/Incorrect sentences |
| Fill in the Blanks | 1 | Vocabulary based |
| Picture Description | 1 | Logical deduction from an image |
| Total | 26 |
Decision Making (DM)
Difficulty: Moderate
This section was the "saviour" for many. Unlike the ambiguous nightmare of some previous years, XAT 2026 DM sets were relatively grounded. The ethical dilemmas had clearer stakeholder priorities. However, the sheer length of the caselets required intense focus.
Topic-Wise Breakdown:
| Caselet / Topic | No. of Questions | Context |
| Selvam Tutorial | 3 | Aggressive Expansion vs. Ethics |
| Fintech Placement | 3 | Corporate hiring dilemma |
| B-School Curriculum | 3 | Academic policy decision |
| Animisha's Dilemma | 3 | Best candidate but missing conditions |
| Vidhya & Nest B-School | 3 | Fresher joining a B-School |
| Investment Banker | 3 | Career choices |
| Author's Book | 3 | Publishing a biography |
| Total | 21 |
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QADI)
Difficulty: Moderate to Difficult
This section was calculation-heavy. Geometry and Algebra dominated the pure math side, while Arithmetic took a backseat compared to previous years. The DI sets were not visually complex but required "grunt work" in calculations.
Topic-Wise Breakdown:
| Topic | No. of Questions | Details |
| Data Interpretation (DI) | 9 | 3 Sets (3 Questions each) |
| Geometry & Mensuration | 5 | Circles, Triangles, Heights & Distances |
| Algebra | 5 | Polynomials (2), Functions (1), Linear Eq (1), Surds (1) |
| Arithmetic | 3 | TSD (2), Profit Loss Discount (1) |
| Number System | 2 | Properties of numbers |
| Modern Math | 2 | Probability, Set Theory |
| Data Sufficiency | 1 | |
| Total | 28 |
2. Good Attempts
Based on the difficulty level, "blind attempts" were a dangerous strategy today. Accuracy is paramount. Here is what a "Good Attempt" looks like for a serious aspirant targeting XLRI.
| Section | Total Qs | Good Attempts | Difficulty Level |
| VALR | 26 | 16 - 18 | Moderate - Difficult |
| DM | 21 | 12 - 14 | Moderate |
| QADI | 28 | 18 - 20 | Moderate - Difficult |
| Total (Part A) | 75 | 46 - 48 | Moderate - Difficult |
| GK (Part B) | 20 | 10 - 12 | Easy - Moderate |
Note: "Good Attempts" assumes ~85-90% accuracy. Attempting 48 questions with low accuracy will negatively impact your score.
3. XAT 2026 Score vs. Percentile (Predicted)
The most critical part of your analysis. XAT allows for a unique phenomenon where you might clear the overall cutoff but miss a sectional one. Based on Career Launcher's live predictions, here are the expected benchmarks for XAT 2026.
| Percentile | VALR Score | DM Score | QADI Score | Overall Total Score |
| 99 %ile | 15.4 | 14.7 | 16.8 | 38.4 |
| 95 %ile | 12.2 | 12.2 | 11.7 | 31.3 |
| 90 %ile | 10.3 | 11.0 | 9.7 | 27.5 |
| 85 %ile | 9.1 | 10.0 | 8.5 | 24.9 |
| 80 %ile | 8.2 | 9.4 | 7.3 | 22.9 |
4. Historical Benchmark: XAT 2025 Data
To give you a reality check on how the difficulty shift impacts numbers, here is the data from XAT 2025 (last year). Notice how the QADI requirements were significantly higher for top percentiles last year compared to the prediction for 2026.
| Percentile | QA DI Score | VA LR Score | DM Score | Total Score |
| 99.9 | 20+ | 19+ | 18+ | 44-45 |
| 99 | 16+ | 16+ | 16+ | 40-41 |
| 95 | 12+ | 13+ | 13+ | 32-33 |
| 90 | 10+ | 11+ | 11.5 | 28-29 |
Final Verdict & Next Steps
If you are sitting on a raw score of 32+, you are in a very strong position for XLRI BM. For HRM, a balanced score across all three sections (especially VALR and DM) is key.
Immediate Next Steps:
- Relax: The exam is over.
- Wait for Response Sheet: Expected to be out by January 6–8, 2026.Wait for Response Sheet: Expected to be out by January 6–8, 2026.
- Results: XAT 2026 results are expected to be out in the third week of January 2026.
- Till then, check your safety nets: If your predicted score is in the 25–29 range, start preparing for interviews for colleges like XIMB, IMT Ghaziabad, and GIM, alongside your XLRI prep.
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Stay tuned for more updates as the official response sheet goes live!
