XAT 2027 Exam Pattern: 12 Question Skipping Rule, Marking Scheme Explained, What It Means for Aspirants

XLRI has revised the XAT 2027 exam pattern and marking scheme just a few days before the exam. Now, the candidates will be allowed to leave 12 questions unanswered without penalty instead of 8. Check the revised latest exam pattewrn, marking scheme and what does it mean for aspirants in the article below.

Nov 10, 2026, 12:35 IST

Latest XAT Exam Pattern 2027: According to the latest announcement by XLRI, the conducting body, XAT 2027 exam pattern has been revised a few days before the exam. This has become a major change as the candidates will now be allowed to leave 12 questions unattempted instead of eight without penalty in the Part 1 of exam. Under the revised rule, a penalty of 0.10 marks will apply to unanswered questions beyond the revised limit.

The change is being seen as a major change for the candidates taking the exam because it seems to offer more flexibility during the exam, especially in case of difficult and time consuming questions. Having said that, the question is that would the changes in the XAT pattern really make the exam easier for the candidates or will the overall question paper structure be impacted?

XLRI has also increased the intake capacity for PGDM-HRM course and the addition of 17 new associate institutes. Read the article below to know the revised XAT exam pattern, marking scheme and latest changes.

Latest XAT 2027 Exam Pattern: What Changed?

The most important change in the XAT exam pattern 2027 is the increase in number of unattempted questions without penalty. Earlier, candidates were allowed to leave eight questions unanswered but now with the latest revision, they can leave 12 questions and not be charged a penalty on unanswered questions.

This revision in the number of questions does not mean that the complete XAT question paper structure has been revised. The exam will continue to assess candidates across four sections, i.e., Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, Decision Making, Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation, and General Knowledge.

Check the table below to know the key changes in the XAT exam pattern 2027:

Particulars	XAT 2026	XAT 2027
Unanswered questions allowed without penalty	8	12
Penalty beyond the permitted limit	0.10 marks	0.10 marks
Correct answer	+1 mark	+1 mark
Incorrect answer	-0.25 marks	-0.25 marks
XLRI PGDM-HRM intake	180	240
New associate institutes	Previous network	17 added

XAT 2027 Marking Scheme and New Rule

According to the latest marking scheme for XAT 2027 exam, candidates will be awarded 1 mark for each correct answer and 0.25 marks will be deducted for each incorrect answer. The marking scheme structure also includes a penalty of unanswered questions. That is, if the candidate leaves more than 12 questions unattempted, they will be penalized with 0.10 marks.

For example:

If a candidate leaves eight questions unanswered, no additional unanswered question penalty applies.
If a candidate leaves 12 questions unanswered, no additional penalty applies.
If a candidate leaves 13 or above questions unanswered, the three questions beyond the permitted limit attract a total penalty of 0.30 marks.

XAT 2027 Exam Pattern: Sectional Weightage

The overall question paper structure and the number of questions are still the same as before, and no changes have been made. There will be 95 questions and the duration of exam will be 3 hours or 180 minutes. Part 1 will include Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning, Decision Making, and Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation. Candidates will have 170 minutes to complete these sections. General Knowledge will be conducted separately in Part 2, for which 10 minutes will be allotted.

XAT 2027 Section	Number of Questions	Time Allotted
Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning (VALR)	26	Part 1: 170 minutes
Decision Making (DM)	21	Part 1: 170 minutes
Quantitative Aptitude and Data Interpretation (QA-DI)	28	Part 1: 170 minutes
General Knowledge (GK)	20	Part 2: 10 minutes
Total	95	180 minutes

Has The XAT Exam Pattern Change Made the Exam Easier?

The decrease in the number of unanswered questions penalty has offered the candidates appearing for the the XAT exam 2027 more flexibility but this does not mean that the exam will now be easier. Students taking the exam should know that the paper tests the candidates' abilities in decision making and how well they analyse and handle situtations under pressure. Choosing which question to attempt can be time consuming and that is where candidates need to put the real effort.

It is likely that the pressure of letting the questions unanswered may have been reduced but they may get questions which have lengthy calculations, confusing statements or other unfamiliar type of questions which may get students to loose marks.

The change introduced in the exam pattern does not mean easier questions. The difficult level of XAT 2027 exam is expected to be moderate to difficult. There will still be negative markings for incorrect answers and candidates will still need to maintain accuracy when attempting questions.

The best that students can do is take this opportunity and make a strategy to decide which question required additional time and offers opportunity to score better and which one can be skipped.

Increase in PGDM-HRM Seats Through XAT 2027

XLRI Jamshedpur has announced the increase in number of seats for the Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management. The institute has increased the programme’s intake to 60 more seats, taking it from 180 seats to 240 seatsfor the upcoming admission cycle. This means it is an increase of approximately 33.3% in the programme’s intake capacity.

Students seeking admission to the Human Resource Management programme have a better opportunity with this increase. Candidates will be offered admissions based on XAT scores, GDPI rounds, and other selection critera.

XAT 2027: New Institutes Added

Check the table below to know the new institutes added under XLRI's network.

Abhijit Kadam Institute of Management and Social Sciences, Solapur

ACCMAN Institute of Management, Greater Noida

Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management, Faridabad

Bharati Vidyapeeth Department of Management Studies, Navi Mumbai

Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Management and Research (BVIMR), New Delhi

Dayananda Sagar Business School, Bengaluru

Institute of Management, Kolhapur

Institute of Management and Entrepreneurship Development (IMED), Pune

Institute of Management and Rural Development Administration, Sangli

Lexicon Management Institute of Leadership and Excellence, Pune

Mahindra University, Hyderabad

Masters’ Union University, Gurugram

Narayana Business School, Ahmedabad

RV University, Bengaluru

Sparsh Global Business School, Greater Noida

Yashwantrao Mohite Institute of Management, Karad

Xavier Institute of Management and Informatics, Jaipur

Also Read:

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XAT 2027 Exam Pattern: 12 Question Skipping Rule, Marking Scheme Explained, What It Means for Aspirants

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