It is important for the management aspirants planning to appear for XAT to know the complete syllabus. There is no official XAT syllabus prescribed by XLRI Jamshedpur, an estimated syllabus has been prepared on the basis of previous year question papers and exam pattern.
XAT exam is divided into two papers - Paper 1 carrying three sections (Verbal & Logical Ability, Decision Making, Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation) and Paper 2 carrying two sections (GK & Current Affairs and Essay Writing).
XAT Exam Pattern
Before knowing the detailed syllabus, you should have a look at the XAT exam pattern which usually remains more or less similar every year. The number of questions in each section may vary but the pattern remains almost the same.
| Paper | Section Name | No. of Questions | Duration |
| Paper 1 | Verbal and Logical Ability | 24 | 170 minutes |
| Decision Making | 21 | ||
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | 27 | ||
| Paper 2 | General Knowledge | 25 | 40 minutes |
| Essay Writing | 1 essay |
Marking Scheme
Each correct answer will get one mark and 1/4th (0.25 marks) will be deducted for every incorrect answer. There is negative marking for unattempted questions as well. After 12 unattempted questions, there would be a negative marking of 0.05 marks for each unattempted question.
XAT Section-wise Syllabus
| Section | Topics |
| Verbal & Logical Ability | Reading Comprehension, Fill in the blanks, Pronunciation, Para Jumble, Para Completion, Vocabulary, Sentence correction, Grammar, Critical Reasoning/Inference, Analogy based on vocabulary, Paragraph Formation Questions, Cloze test, Poem, etc. |
| Decision Making | Analytical Reasoning, Arithmetic, Situational etc. |
| Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation | Arithmetic – Equations, Time & Distance, Time & Work, Percentage, Profy & Loss etc.Algebra – Polynomials, Numbers, Progressions, Probability, Geometry, Mensuration, Venn Diagram, Trigonometry, Functions & Graphs, Permutation & Combination etc.Data Analysis & Interpretation, Data Sufficiency, Table, Bar Charts, Scatter plots, etc. |
| GK/Current Affairs | GK - History, Culture, National Capital, Currency, Important Dates, Invention, Books & Authors, Films, Geography, Personalities, Business, Science, etc.Current Affairs – Economics, Film & Television, Ecosystem & Diversity, Politics, Sports, National Issues, etc. |
| Essay Writing | There is no specific XAT syllabus to prepare for. The topics are generally abstract in nature which candidates can relate to an event of recent significance instead of keeping the content generic. |