XAT 2025 Question Paper PDF Download Here [Official]

Overview: Hey aspirants, if you are targeting the XAT 2026 Exam on 4th Jan 2026, practising the XAT 2025 Question paper is a must. It will help you understand the exam pattern, question types, and their difficulty levels. Please continue reading to learn more about it!

Preparing for the Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) becomes far more effective when you understand what the paper truly demands.

 The XAT 2025 Question Paper is one of the most essential tools for aspirants aiming to score high and secure admission to XLRI Jamshedpur and other prestigious B-Schools in India. 

Whether you are targeting HRM, BM, or any flagship management program, solving the XAT 2025 Exam question papers gives you real exam exposure, helps you decode the difficulty level, and sharpens your strategy.

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In this detailed guide, you will find:

• Complete overview of the XAT 2025 question paper pattern
• Section-wise difficulty and types of questions
• Official XAT paper format and marking scheme
• Download information (official sources)
• How to use the XAT exam paper 2025 for preparation

Let’s begin your XAT preparation journey with clarity and confidence!

XAT 2025 Question Paper Overview

The XAT Question Paper 2025 refers to the official question set asked in the XAT exam conducted by XLRI Jamshedpur in January 2025. It is a computer-based test designed to evaluate real-world decision-making, logical reasoning, quantitative ability, analytical thinking, and general awareness.

Unlike exams like CAT, the XAT question paper for 2025 includes a unique Decision Making (DM) section and a separate General Knowledge part, making the paper both challenging and mentally stimulating.

Official authority: XLRI – Xavier School of Management
Official website: xatonline.in

XAT 2025 Question Paper PDF Download 

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XAT Previous Year Papers PDF Download Links [2024 - 2015]

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XAT 2025 Question Paper Pattern (Official Format)

The XAT 2025 Question Paper mirrored the recent XAT exam pattern with only minor stylistic twists in a few questions.

Candidates were given a combined 170 minutes to solve VALR, DM, and QA & DI, followed by a separate 10-minute slot for the GK section, as per the latest official guidelines.

Section-wise structure in XAT Exam Paper 2025

Section	Part	Number of Questions (Approx.)	Duration (Shared)
Verbal & Logical Ability (VALR)	Part 1	~26–28	170 minutes  (no sectional time limit)
Decision Making (DM)	Part 1	~21–23
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI)	Part 1	~26–28
General Knowledge (GK)	Part 2	~20	10 minutes

The XAT question paper for 2025 balanced conceptual questions with a few time-consuming ones, ensuring that selection depended heavily on question selection and sequencing.

Marking Scheme in XAT 2025 Question Paper

The XAT 2025 Question Paper used the standard XAT marking scheme, which made strategy as important as accuracy.

Each question in Part 1 carried a +1 mark for a correct response and a -0.25 mark for an incorrect one, pushing students to avoid blind guessing.

A unique feature of the XAT exam paper 2025 was the penalty for excessive unattempted questions – candidates could leave up to 8 questions unattempted without any penalty. Still, every additional unattempted question attracted a -0.10 penalty. 

The GK part, however, had +1 for correct answers and no negative marking, and it did not affect the overall percentile, though it remained relevant for XLRI’s final selection.

Type	Marks
Correct Answer	+1
Incorrect Answer	-0.25
Unattempted Questions (after 8)	-0.10
GK Section	No negative marking

Overall Difficulty Level of XAT 2025 Question Paper

Overall, the XAT 2025 Question Paper was rated “moderate to difficult” by most serious aspirants and faculty, with the perceived challenge coming more from length and effort per question than from unfamiliar concepts. 

Many students compared it with XAT 2024 and felt that QA & DI were slightly tougher this year, while Decision Making was relatively more straightforward and less tricky than expected.

Verbal Ability & LR, on the other hand, felt tricky to many test‑takers because of close answer options, inference-based questions, and the presence of poem‑based items. 

The overall experience of the XAT 2025 exam question papers clearly rewarded those who were comfortable handling dense language, multi‑step logic, and non‑formulaic reasoning under time pressure.

Section-wise XAT 2025 Question Paper Analysis

1️⃣Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning

The VALR portion of the XAT Question Paper 2025 included RC passages, poem‑based questions, grammar items, fill-in-the-blanks, and para-based tasks. 

This section focuses on deep comprehension, critical reasoning, vocabulary, grammar, and logical relationships.

Topics Covered

• Reading Comprehension (3–4 passages)
• Para Jumbles
• Critical Reasoning
• Sentence Completion
• Grammar & Usage
• Logical Connectors

Difficulty Level: Moderate to High

Most aspirants find RCs' lengthy and argument-based questions intense.

2️⃣Decision Making in XAT 2025 Question Paper

The Decision Making section in the XAT Question Paper 2025 stayed true to XAT’s style, with seven caselets, each comprising three questions, focusing on ethical, organisational, and people-management dilemmas. 

Importantly, the DM sets had options that required balanced, practical judgement rather than extreme or purely mathematical reasoning. 

This is the most unique part of the XAT 2025 Exam question papers and is widely considered a scoring section if prepared well.

What DM Tests

• Ethical Judgment
• Managerial Decision-Making
• Real-life Situational Reasoning
• Data-based Choices
• People Management Scenarios

The questions typically present a business situation in which you must choose the most balanced and ethical approach.

Difficulty Level: Moderate

You won’t see DM anywhere else, so practising with the XAT question paper for 2025 becomes essential.

3️⃣Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation

QA & DI in the XAT exam paper 2025 was widely perceived as the most challenging part of the paper.

The expert analysis noted that, compared to XAT 2024, this year’s QA & DI felt “slightly more difficult,” with a mix of doable and tricky questions, and some sets requiring significant time.

XAT 2025 Question Paper QA & DI featured:

• Geometry and mensuration questions, including a frustum-plus-hemisphere “trophy” problem that required considerable calculation.
• Higher-order reasoning items, like a cube root / necessary‑and‑sufficient condition question and a data sufficiency problem on a quadrilateral plot involving angles and perimeter.
• DI sets that behaved more like logical reasoning, such as rating‑based grids and comparison tables, alongside more traditional DI sets like gender‑gap data and a themed “Game of Thrones” set.

Most genuine aspirants reported attempts in QA & DI in the 12–15 question range, indicating that the XAT 2025 question paper for this section demanded careful selection and strong fundamentals.

4️⃣General Knowledge in XAT 2025 Exam Question Papers

The GK section had around 20 questions in 10 minutes, covering static GK and current affairs related to the economy, business, politics, and international events. 

As in earlier years, the section carried no negative marking and did not contribute to the main percentile, but remained relevant for XLRI’s later stages.

For many candidates, the XAT 2025 exam question papers in GK felt unpredictable, and performance depended heavily on regular news reading and static revision. 

Those who had systematically prepared for interviews and other MBA entrance exams generally found GK manageable.

How to Use XAT 2025 Question Paper for XAT 2026 Prep

Now that the XAT Question Paper 2025 is behind you, its real value lies in how future aspirants use it as a practice and analysis tool. Whether you are reappearing for XAT or targeting XAT 2026, this paper should become a core part of your preparation plan.

Here is how to use the XAT exam paper 2025 effectively:

• Attempt it as a full‑length mock under exam‑like conditions and replicate the original marking scheme, including unattempted penalties.
• Do a deep section‑wise review: identify which DM caselets, RC passages, or QA topics consumed more time or led to errors.
• Extract tricky QA & DI questions, poem/RC items, and complex DM sets and add them to a “high‑value revision” folder.
• Use your performance on the XAT 2025 exam question papers as a benchmark to calibrate XAT mock scores, attempt strategies, and topic‑wise focus areas for the next cycle.

Key Takeaways from XAT Question Paper for 2025

The XAT 2025 Question Paper reinforced a few timeless truths about XAT: it rewards depth over shortcuts, judgment over formulae, and calm execution over blind speed.

Aspirants who respected the pattern, practised authentic XAT‑level questions, and maintained composure across lengthy sets were the ones most likely to convert this paper into a strong score.

For future aspirants, the XAT question paper for 2025 is now one of the most reliable predictors of what XAT expects – especially in Decision Making and QA & DI – and should be treated as a must‑solve resource during preparation.