XAT 2019 – Last of the lot (well almost) for many out there. And it truly was the show stopper. If we compare it with the other top-notch exams of this season, XAT 2019 clearly takes away the award for being the toughest of the lot. With a few surprises thrown in for the candidates, it was also by far a “no technical glitches” kind of exam.
The top 10 highlights of the XAT 2019 exam were:
- It was conducted on 6th Jan 2019, 10 AM to 1 PM
- The overall difficulty was high but there few repetitions in the DM section
- There was a total of 99 questions
- There was no sectional time limit, although 15 minutes were awarded for GK section
- There was negative marking of -0.25 marks in for Part-1 (QADI, VLR and DM)
- There was no negative marking in Part-2 (GK)
- There was negative marking of -0.1 for more than eight un-attempted questions. This was increased from -0.05 from last year
- The overall break section-wise is as below:
|
XAT 2019 Exam Section |
No. of Questions |
Difficulty Level |
|
Verbal and Logical Reasoning |
26 |
Difficult |
|
Decision Making |
21 |
Moderate |
|
Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation |
27 |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
General Knowledge |
25 |
Moderate to Difficult |
- An overall attempt of 53 to 55 questions can be considered good
- A score of 33 to 35 can be considered good
Let’s take a sneak peek into each section in detail.
Section Name: Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning
No. of Questions: 26
Ideal Time to Spend: 45 – 50 Minutes
Sectional Break Up: Here is detail breakup of questions asked in this section
|
Area |
Questions |
Details |
Difficulty Level |
|
Reading Comprehension |
12 |
Passages - 4; Q per head – 3; Words 550 to 600; Areas: Psychology, Art and Social issues, Women Empowerment |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
CR |
5 |
Could be attempted |
Easy to Moderate |
|
Poem |
2 |
Tough and Uncanny. Ideally should not have been attempted |
Weird |
|
Analogy |
1 |
It was a tricky question |
Difficult |
|
Antonyms |
1 |
It was a tricky question |
Moderate |
|
PJs |
2 |
5 sentences |
Moderate |
|
Fill in the Blanks |
3 |
Could be attempted |
Difficult |
|
Total |
26 |
Time Consuming Overall |
Difficult |
Ideal Attempts: 17 to 18
Good Score: 11 to 12
Section Name: Decision Making
No. of Questions: 21
Ideal Time to Spend: 45 – 50 Minutes
Sectional Break Up: Here is detail breakup of questions asked in this section
|
Area |
Questions |
Details |
Difficulty Level |
|
Situational |
21 |
Surprise 1: There were three repetitions from previous years. Students should have been able to attempt these caselets without any challenge Surprise 2: There were no Analytical Reasoning |
Moderate |
Ideal Attempts: 15 - 18
Good Score: 11 to 12
Section Name: Quantitative Ability, Data Interpretation, and Data Sufficiency
No. of Questions: 27
Ideal Time to Spend: 65 – 70 Minutes
Sectional Break Up: Here is detail breakup of questions asked in this section
|
Area |
Questions |
Details |
Difficulty Level |
|
Quantitative Ability |
19 |
Arithmetic – All 4 questions were easy and based out of topics like R&P and Profit Loss Algebra – The questions were from surds, polynomials, and functions Geometry – This was tricky with questions from Trigonometry, and Co-ordinate Geometry were bouncers. Remaining were mensuration, triangles, and circles. |
Difficult |
|
Data interpretation |
6 |
There were 2 types – Time Zone and Mixed Graph |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
Data Sufficiency |
2 |
Doable questions |
Moderate |
|
Total |
27 |
It was a mix of time-consuming, difficult, easy and tricky questions. Candidates should have chosen the less time-consuming questions |
Moderate to Difficult |
Ideal Attempts: 17 – 19
Good Score: 12 to 14
Section Name: General Knowledge
No. of Questions: 25
Time Limit: 15 Minutes
Catch: No Negative Marking
Sectional Break Up: Here is detail breakup of questions asked in this section
|
Area |
Questions |
Details |
Difficulty Level |
|
Current Affairs |
2 |
A candidate who has bee regular in reading the newspapers can solve it easily. |
Easy |
|
Economics and Business |
7 |
Easy to Moderate |
|
|
Geography |
4 |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
|
History |
1 |
Moderate |
|
|
Miscellaneous |
2 |
Moderate to Difficult |
|
|
Personality Awards |
3 |
Moderate |
|
|
Polity |
2 |
Easy |
|
|
Science & Technology |
2 |
Moderate |
|
|
Sports |
2 |
Easy to Moderate |
|
|
Total |
25 |
Moderate |
Ideal Attempts: 13 - 15
Good Score: 8 to 10
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