New Delhi, January 4: The XAT 2026 exam analysis suggests that the overall difficulty level of the paper was moderate, with the Decision Making (DM) section emerging as the most challenging for many candidates. Compared to last year, Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (VALR) questions were slightly tougher, while Quantitative Ability was easier but Data Interpretation (DI) sets were more time-consuming.

According to initial feedback shared by Shiksha, the XAT 2026 question paper consisted of 95 MCQs, with most sections being manageable for well-prepared candidates. ICSI Adds Gaya as New Exam Centre for Company Secretary June 2026 Exams; CSEET Schedule and Format Announced.

XAT 2026 Exam Highlights

  • Total questions: 95 (MCQ format)

  • Decision Making: Lengthy but doable

  • VALR: Slightly tougher than XAT 2025

  • QA-DI: Easier quants, tougher DI sets

  • GK: Easy and doable within 10 minutes

  • Overall difficulty: Moderate

XAT 2026 Section-Wise Weightage & Difficulty

  • Decision Making: 21 questions | Moderate

  • Verbal & Logical Ability: 26 questions | Easy

  • Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation: 28 questions | Moderate to Difficult

  • General Knowledge: 20 questions | Easy

No changes were observed in sectional weightage compared to last year.

XAT 2026 Good Attempts (Expected)

• VALR: 13–14

• Decision Making: 11–12

• QA-DI: 18–19

• GK: 10–11

• Overall good attempts: Around 40 questions

Decision Making Section Analysis

The Decision Making section had 7 case-based scenarios, each followed by 3 questions. Several questions featured close and confusing options, making accuracy crucial. Attempting 11–12 questions with 75–80% accuracy is considered a good performance in this section. How To Download ICAI CA Foundation January 2026 Admit Card: A Step-by-Step Guide for Students.

Candidates can expect XAT 2026 cut-offs to remain largely similar to last year, subject to normalization and final result trends. Memory-based answer keys and the XAT 2026 question paper PDF are expected to be released soon.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2026 07:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).