XAT 2020 Analysis: Decision Making Tricky, Quant Moderate; Cut offs to Remain Low

Here is XAT 2020Analysis! The XAT 2020got over at 12.30 PM on Sunday, January 5, 2020 with many substantial changes introduced in the exam likeNAT questions. This year the Xavier Aptitude Test (XAT) began at 9.30 AM with a time duration of 3 hours instead of earlier three and half hours as a computer based test.

XAT 2020 has been reported a bit more difficult exam with tricky Decision Making and it is expected that XAT cut offs may remain low in view of the difficulty level of the exam.

XAT 2020 was the third computer based test conducted by XLRI in the history of 60 years of conducting XAT. Although the technical glitches were minimal in the third computer based XAT, a bit of problems were reported at some of the centres which were overcome promptly.

XAT Percentile Predictor 2020

XAT 2020 was conducted in 47 test cities in India and did not have any test city abroad. Earlier the exam was conducted in 49 test cities including 2 test cities abroad.

While there was no surprise element in the test structure of XAT 2020 Exam, it had number of changes as compared to last year. 

Quick XAT 2020 Exam Analysis:

• Total questions increased to 100 from 99 last year
• No Essay Writing test
• NAT Questions without negative marking introduced
• Decision Making section remains tricky
• Quant section is of moderate difficulty
• Many Candidates could attempt less than 50% questions
• Test timing changed - 9.30AM to 12.30PM from 10AM to 1 PM last year
• All questions were of MCQ type
• GK section not counted for percentile calculation
• Negative Marking of 25%.
• RC passages rated moderate
• Visually impaired candidates with scribe were given additional 25 minutes only for Part 1 of XAT.
• Marks for every correct answer : 1
• No Negative marking for General Knowledge section in part-2
• All the MCQ type questions had five options with one correct option
• Expected XLRI cut off to remain 33-35 marks

XAT 2020 Pattern: Exam Divided in Two Parts
XAT 2020 was divided in two parts. The 3 sections in Part one are counted for percentile calculation to prepare the merit list while the score in GK in part two is kept out of preparing the merit list:

Section in XAT 2020 Exam Pattern	Number of questions	Overall Time Duration
Part-1	75 Total MCQs	165 Minutes
Verbal and Logical Ability	26	No Sectional Time Limit
Decision Making	21	No Sectional Time Limit
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation	28	No Sectional Time Limit
Part-2	25 Total MCQs	15 Minutes
General Knowledge	25
Total questions (Part 1 + Part 2)	100

Candidate were allowed to go to Part 2 in XAT 2020 after completing the time duration of 165 minutes in Part 1

No Negative Marking Questions in XAT 2020
Few questions without negative marking were introduced in XAT 2020 in each section. This will provide level playing field for the candidates who are weak in one section and strong in other section as they need not fear the penalty of negative marking in the exam. Last year XLRI proposed to introduce these type of NAT questions but could not do it. This year the same has been introduced. Procedure for answering a numerical answer type (NAT) question was to enter a numerical answer by making use of virtual numeric keypad that appeared below the question. Step-wise procedure to answer the question was as under:

• To enter a numerical answer, candidate had to use the virtual numeric keypad that appeared below the question
• A fractional number in the decimal notation (e.g. -0.3 or -.3) could be entered as an answer with or without '0' before the decimal point.
• To clear the answer, click on the Clear Response button was required.

XAT 2020Sectional Analysis
Part-1 in XAT 2020 had 75 questions divided in three sections which included MCQs.Here is Section wiseXAT 2020 Exam Analysis:

1. Verbal and Logical Ability

• Total Questions: 26
• 4 RC Passages of about 300 words followed by total 14 Questions
• 1 poem of moderate difficulty level
• Most of the questions were inferential
• 12 Questions in Verbal Ability included Antonyms, parajumbles, Critical Reasoning
• Section difficulty was moderate

Question Topics	Number of questions	Difficulty Level
Error correction in sentences	2	Moderate
Fill in the blanks (4 blanks)	2	Moderate to difficult
Para Jumbles	2	Moderate to Difficult
Questions on Critical Reasoning	6	Easy to Difficult
RC Passage on Pleasure in today’s world	2	Moderate to Difficult
RC Passage on Knowledge as Product	3	Moderate to Difficult
RC Passage on Capitalism	3	Medium to Difficult
RC Passage on Culture	3	Moderate to Difficult
Poem on Fire and Ice	3	Moderate to Difficult

Good Attempts

• 17-19 questions in this section could be attempted in one hour with 80-85 percent accuracy.
• Sectional cut offs are expected to be 10-11 Marks

2. Decision Making

• Total Questions: 21
• DM question sets were on various business related problems
• Questions were more difficult than last year
• No question was quant based 
• DM Section had 7 sets of 3 questions each
• Some Problem sets were short and easy to read while some questions were ambiguous

Question Topics	No. of Qs.	Question Type	Level of Difficulty
4 Problem sets on Ethics & Dilemma	12		Moderate to Difficult
3 Problem Sets on Business Decision	9	Business Decision	Moderate to Difficult

Good Attempts & Sectional Cut off

• 15-16 questions could be attempted in 50-55 minutes with 80-85 percent accuracy
• Cut off to remain 7-8 marks

3. Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation

• Total Questions: 28
• More questions on Arithmetic (7 Questions)
• 22 Questions were on Quant
• 6 Questions were on Data Interpretation
• 2 DI sets in the section with 3 questions each
• Section difficulty level was moderate but was more difficult than last year
• 20 Quant questions were standalone questions
• 2 questions were in the form of a set on Venn Diagrams
• Out of 6 Questions on Geometry 3 were difficult

Quant DI Topics	Total Questions	Difficulty Level
Arithmetic	7	Moderate to Difficult
Geometry	6	Moderate to difficult
Modern Math	5	Moderate
Algebra	2	Moderate to difficult
Number System	2	Moderate
Table	3	Moderate
Multiple graphs	3	Moderate

Good Attempts & Sectional Cut Offs

• 18-19 questions with 80 percent accuracy could be attempted in less than one hour.
• Sectional cut off is expected to remain 10-12 marks

Part-2: General Knowledge

• Total Questions 25
• No Break between part I & II was given
• GK questions were on moderate difficulty side
• Many questions in the section were from latest GK topic published by MBAUniverse.com
• Questions were framed on Budget sessions, History, Merger-Acquisition​

Sectional Composition

Question Topics	Number of Questions
National Events	18
International Events	5
General GK	2

Overall analysis

• XAT 2020 exam paper was on moderate to difficult side
• Decision Making to remain turning point in merit calculation.
• Many questions in Decision Making were found more difficult
• Overall Cut off levels to remain 33-35 marks for XLRI

Stay tuned to MBAUniverse.com for more updates on XAT 2020