Ans. Yes, there is essay writing in XAT 2025. The essay writing question in XAT question paper 2025 is clubbed with the GK section in Part 3. XLRI provides a total of 30 minutes to attempt 25 questions of GK and 1 essay writing. It is best to devote 15 minutes to GK and 15 minutes to essay writing.

Ans. Yes, there is GK in XAT 2025. XLRI has not introduced any changes in the question paper pattern of XAT. There are 25 GK questions in the paper. Note that negative marking is not applicable to the GK questions in XAT. There is a negative marking 0.10 for every question left unanswered after the first 8 unattempted questions. Also, GK scores are not considered while calculating the final XAT scores and percentile.

Ans. In general, XAT is comparatively tougher than CAT especially due to the presence of additional sections of GK, decision making, and essay writing. The difficulty level of the quant & DI section in XAT is either higher or at par with CAT exam. CAT 2024 is already conducted on Nov 24 while XAT 2024 is scheduled on Jan 5, 2024. This year’s CAT exam was more difficult than the last 2 years. So, if you are appearing for XAT 2025, then it is highly recommended you attempt CAT 2023 question paper before the test day.

Ans. Yes, XAT 2025 has a unique negative marking scheme. There is a negative marking of 0.25 marks for each incorrect answer. What makes the marking pattern in XAT 2025 unique is the presence of negative marking for unanswered questions. Each question after the first 8 unanswered questions in a row carries a negative marking of 0.10 marks.