XAT Previous Year Question Papers and Practice Guide
Previous XAT papers help candidates become familiar with long reading passages, decision-making cases, quantitative reasoning and the examination interface. Practise with the current 2027 structure in mind: 75 Part 1 questions in 170 minutes and 20 GK questions in 10 minutes. Older papers are useful practice, not a guarantee of the current question distribution or rules.
Benefits of practising previous papers
- Builds familiarity with XAT's case-based Decision Making questions and reading-comprehension style.
- Improves pacing across the shared Part 1 time, where the official 2027 overview permits switching between sections.
- Reveals recurring skill areas and helps identify accuracy, reading or calculation gaps.
- Creates a realistic basis for reviewing answers and planning revision.
Pattern to use for 2027 practice
The official 2027 overview lists 26 VALR, 21 Decision Making, 28 QA-DI and 20 GK questions. Part 1 is 170 minutes combined, GK is 10 minutes, and the full test is 180 minutes. Check official instructions for current scoring and negative-marking rules.
Official archive and download guidance
The official XAT website provides historical question-paper links in its Exam Resources area, including papers for 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Use the official portal for any newer paper. Confirm the year and source of a file before relying on it; label coaching or memory-based reconstructions as unofficial.
- Download the paper from the official XAT website where available.
- Attempt each paper under that year's published timing and instructions.
- Review the answer key or solutions only after finishing; distinguish official material from third-party explanations.
- Compare skills and question styles, not raw marks across different years without a reliable common scale.