The XAT 2025 exam is expected to have around 26 questions in the Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (VALR) section. The XAT VALR section is considered more tricky than the CAT VARC section mainly because of five options which makes option elimination difficult, the presence of CR questions, and poem RCs. In this article, we have briefed you about a few XAT 2025 VALR last-minute tips and tricks that can help you scale your XAT 2025 verbal score.
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- Unlike CAT, where RC questions predominate the paper, XAT usually has an equal mix of VA and RC questions. You should aim to attempt 5-6 correct answers from each.
- XAT RCs might be smaller but difficult to comprehend, so you should first solve the Verbal Ability questions.
- In VALR Critical Reasoning forms a good portion of questions. It not only consists of pure VA questions but can be asked in RC questions too. Get familiar with Assumption, Argument, Conclusion, and Inference based questions. A good source of practice for such questions is GMAT CR but only after you have been through XAT VALR PYQs (2016-2024)
- You can not improve your vocabulary and grammar in a week. Brush up with the basics of school-level grammar topics. Avoid fussing on topics you don’t know. Para-Jumbles will be on the easier side to solve because of the options and CAT time preparation. Grammar questions mostly form fill-up type questions in a paragraph form.
- Like CAT’s RCs option elimination technique can be difficult to implement due to 5 options. But your base should remain the same: Avoid too generic, broad, and wrong words.
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XAT 2025 VALR last-minute tips: Should I Attempt Poem RCs?
Poem RC’s usually tend to be on the philosophical side with hidden meanings. Aspirants usually have a problem with them due to no exposure to such questions while preparing for CAT and other MBA entrances. On average there can be around 2-4 poem RC-related questions. If you understand the theme of the poems 1-2 questions will be most probably doable, specifically those based on the theme/ main of the poem. On the other hand, if you don’t understand anything about it once you are done reading the poem and questions it is better to leave the question and come back at the last if time allows. Take mocks to plan your VA attempts.
A few examples of previously asked Poem Questions in the XAT Exam are:
| Year | Poem | Author |
| 2016 | The Rubaiyat of Rumi | Mewlana J. Rumi |
| 2018 | No Expectations | Rumi |
| 2020 | Fire and Ice | Robert Frost |
| 2022 | Immigrant | Tabish Khair |
| 2024 | Missing Person | Jayanta Mahapatra |
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Overattempting the VA section in XAT:
While attempting all questions in CAT VARC is a good strategy, it might be bad for XAT VARC if you struggle or fluctuate a lot while maintaining the accuracy in this section. The HRM course in XLRI usually has a higher VA cutoff than BM.
The flexible time can tempt you to over-attempt, but keep in mind there will always be a few tricky questions that can increase or negatively. It’s better to leave them unanswered and deduct 0.1 than 0.25 by the wrong attempt.
XAT 2024 VALR Cut-Offs
The VALR section had the sectional cutoffs of 83 and 90th percentile for the BM and HRM programs respectively. If you think VA is your weaker section, attempting only 10 questions correctly can help you sail the cutoff. The score vs percentile data for the VALR section for XAT 2024 was:
| Percentile | Marks |
| 99+ | 17 |
| 98 | 15 |
| 97 | 13 |
| 95 | 12 |
| 93 | 11 |
| 88 | 9 |
| 82 | 8 |
XAT 2025 VALR Preparation: Frequently Asked Questions
Q.1 How many questions should I target in XAT VALR?
Ans. You should target solving around 15 questions accurately to easily clear HRM and BM cutoffs for XLRI in the VA section.
Q. 2 At what score will I get 95 percentile in XAT VALR?
Ans. In XAT 2024, 12 marks fetched the 95 percentile in the XAT VALR section.
Q. 3 What are the sources of XAT Poem Questions?
Ans. A few authors whose poems have previously been featured in the XAT VALR section include: Rumi, Robert Frost, Tabish Khair, Jayanta Mahapatra, etc.
