XAT Syllabus 2020 (Updated): Important Topics and Preparation tips for XAT

Updated On - December 2nd, 2019

Lokesh Gupta

Exam Prep Master

XAT 2020 is to be held on Jan 5, 2020. With less than 30 days remaining in the exam, it is time to fasten your preparation. The major components of XAT 2020 syllabus are Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation, Decision Making, Verbal & Logical Ability, and General Knowledge. Moreover, the revised syllabus of XAT does not include the Essay Writing section so you can skip preparing for this part. Candidates wishing to crack the exam with a high score should have a clear understanding of syllabus. The information about all the key changes and updates in the syllabus will help you to avoid unnecessary topics.

Your XAT preparation should be devised in accordance with the syllabus and exam pattern so that you can divide your time to prepare well for every section. From a total of 99 questions, 25 questions will be from GK with no negative marking and rest 75 questions from other sections will have negative marking for wrong attempts.

Based on the previous year’s question papers and analysis, we have curated a structured XAT syllabus and the most important topics for this year’s Xavier Aptitude Test.

Download Free XAT Practice Papers​

XAT 2020 Syllabus Analysis

The key sections to determine the percentile, merit position, and test the candidates are Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension & Logical Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation.

• XAT 2020 Syllabus for Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QA & DI): There are 15 topics of 27 marks. The difficulty level of this section is always high. An accuracy of 70% is considered good.
• XAT 2020 Syllabus for Verbal & Logical Ability (VA & LR): The section has moderate-high difficulty level questions. About 26 questions are expected this year.
• XAT 2020 Syllabus for Decision Making (DM): 21 questions are expected from this section. 
• XAT 2020 GK Syllabus: The section always has a moderate difficulty level and this section will have no negative marking for wrong answers. 

XAT Exam 2020 Syllabus: Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation (QA & DI)

The syllabus for this section is very wide and almost covers all the topics of maths. Candidates need to give more attention and extra efforts while preparing for this section.

Quantitative Ability: XLRI has brought significant changes in this section. Numbers, Geometry and Mensuration questions have become more prominent and around 50% of the Quant questions are based on these areas. Arithmetic, Venn diagrams, functions are other favorite topics on which questions are formed in XAT.

Data Interpretation: Data tables, graphs, charts, bar diagrams, data analysis & comparison are the major topics for DI and the questions are majorly asked in sets. Some key features of XAT Syllabus for Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation are given below:

• There are 27 questions asked from this section and we suggest you not take more than 2 minutes and 17 seconds to solve each question.
• QA and DI section is considered to be of the highest difficulty level.

Note: There is no percentage defined between the numbers of questions asked in the QA & DI section.

Important topics for Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation

Read  How to Prepare Quantitative Aptitude for XAT?

XAT 2020 Exam Syllabus: Verbal and Logical Ability (VA & LR)

This section will have questions of Verbal Ability, Reading Comprehension, and Logical Reasoning so we can say that this section is divided into 3 parts.

Verbal Ability: The syllabus you need to cover in this part is questions based on English vocabulary like fill in the blanks, synonyms, antonyms, correction of sentences, use of right words, etc.

Reading Comprehension: This part will take more time because you have to read the whole paragraph to mark the correct answers and also the share of questions from this part is high in VALR. The topics for RC could be form politics, economics or abstract.

Logical Reasoning: The syllabus for this part is analogy, clocks, inference & judgments, blood relations, seating arrangements, etc. The questions from this part are mostly asked in sets so if you are able to crack one LR question then it means you can answer at least 2-3 questions. Salient features of XAT Syllabus for English and Reasoning are given below:

• 26 questions of the objective type are expected to come from this section.
• Approximately 56 minutes are required to complete this section.
• The section can have moderate to high difficulty level questions.

Important topics for VA and LR in XAT

Check Here:Top XAT Coaching Institutes to Boost your Preparation

XAT Exam Syllabus 2020: Decision Making (DM)

The decision making section is going to be new for all the candidates because this section is not included by most of the MBA entrance exams. But there is no need to worry as this section is not going to be very difficult. Salient features of Decision Making XAT Syllabus are mentioned below:

• Syllabus for this section is decision making in a situation, data arrangement tests, etc.
• There are 21 questions expected from this section.
• Set-based questions are asked.
• The difficulty level of the DM section is moderate to tough.

Important topics in XAT Decision Making (DM)

Syllabus for XAT 2020: General Knowledge (GK)

To score in this section, a candidate needs to remain in constant touch with GK on a daily basis. Important features of General Knowledge XAT Syllabus are mentioned below:

• Topics to be covered in this section are from history, politics, author names, business, economy, current affairs (national and international), etc.
• 25 questions will be asked in total.
• You can spend 20 minutes to complete this section. 
• The difficulty level is moderate.
• Most questions are on current affairs and some on GK.
• 60:40 breakup is defined for GK and Current Affairs.

General Knowledge Important topics 

Previously asked questions in General Knowledge section:

Although, questions in the general knowledge section holds no bounds to a particular topic. Still, we have mentioned some of the sample questions to have an understanding of the type of questions been asked in the GK section.  

• Who acquired Glaxo Smithkline Consumer Healthcare
• Which of the following is not the part of VIACOM 18
• Highest import to India
• Giga fiber to be launched by which company
• Who is the SBI Chairman
• What are the names of Parliament Budget Sessions
• Name of Liquid for dissolving Gold
• Name of Rajasthan Snake Dance 

XAT Preparation Books for QADI/ VALR/ DM & GK

Books play an important role in the life of students. It is very important to choose the right books for proper preparation. Given below are some section-wise recommended books for candidates preparing for XAT 2020:

How to Crack XAT 2020?

XAT 2020 will be conducted on January 05, 2020 (tentatively) by XLRI. XAT 2020 Syllabus has no defined boundary, candidates appearing for it are suggested to practice as many sample papers and previous years question papers as possible. Listed below are major takeaways for XAT Preparations:

• Before starting the preparations, it is advised to go through all the previous years’ papers to get an idea about all the questions asked in the exam. Doing this will help a candidate to know about the level of questions that are asked from XAT Syllabus.
• Candidates must make sure to give equal importance to all the sections in order to fetch maximum marks to clear the sectional cut-off set by the conducting authority.
• As the level of exam is difficult, so managing the time in an efficient way will prove to be an asset. 
• For the GK section, it is important to keep oneself updated with both static and current happenings around the world. As per the trends, knowing about the past 6 months' news will be sufficient for XAT preparation for this section.

Read  XAT 2020: 7 Tips to Gear up your XAT 2020 Preparation

XAT Syllabus FAQs

We hope this article was helpful during your XAT Preparation. Once you are thorough with the exam pattern and syllabus, the preparation journey becomes a smooth-sail. We wish you luck with the exam! In case of any query ask in the comments below.

*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College