XAT ( 7th Jan 2007 ) :

The unique feature of XAT this year was that for each questions there were 5 options to select the correct answer from.  In total there were 130 questions and an Essay to be written in 120 minutes for the 130 questions and another 20 minutes for the essay. The 130 questions were divided into 3 sections and there was no sectional time limits. The negative marking scheme was similar to that of last year with 1/3 negative marking for first 5 wrong answers in each section and it increased  to ½ negative marking after that for any further wrong answer in that section. 

The three sections were :

1. English Usage :  41 questions
2. Quantitative Ability and Data Interpretation  : 49 questions
3. Reasoning and decision making : 40 questions.

ENGLISH USAGE :     Out of the 41 questions in this section 23 questions were based on reading comprehension.  There were 5 passages in total with 4 to 6 questions based on each , this included one RC  based on two poems. The other four passages were on Economics, Historical event, Science ( Bayesian Theory) and one on Socialism.  The passages were of mixed difficulty level, with some of the questions could be answered by just one reading of the passage while some questions were difficult and  inferential in nature.
The remaining 18 questions in this section were based on Jumbled sentences (6 sentence type), sentence corrections, synonyms, antonyms, punctuations and vocabulary .

A score of 14 in this section is a good score.

QUANTITATIVE ABILITY and DATA INTERPRETATION :  There were 49 questions in total with 34 questions based on Quantitative Ability and remaining on Data Interpretation.
QA  section : There  were around 5 questions each  based on Number system, Functions, Sequence & Series, Arithmetic, Geometry, Puzzles, Equations & In-equations.
The Data Interpretation questions were based on tables , graphs, and bar diagrams. 4 questions were based on data sufficiency too.
A score of 12 is a good score in this section.

REASONING AND DECISION MAKING :  There were 40 questions  most of them grouped in set of 3 to 5 questions and there were few individual questions . 
There were 4 Reasoning cases  with 5 or 6 questions based on it. The reasoning cases were based on single direction arrangement , multi dimensional arrangements.
In the decision making section,  there were 4 business cases related to typical corporate situations  to check the decision making ability of candidates. There were  3 to 5 questions based on each case.   There was a case based on traveling arrangement, one case based on personnel department policies, one cased was based on a company’s plan to launch a new product in different cities and one based in decision implementation of management.
A good score in this section will be 12.

After the test, a one-page essay on “Economic growth without environmental damage – a mirage or a reality. “ was to written in  20 minutes. This passage will not be used for selection of short listing for GD/PI but will be used during the interview stage.

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EXPECTED CUT OFF BY URPERCENTILE :

XLRI –BM  : A total score of  37 with  11 to 12  in each section.
XLRI – PMIR : A total score of  36 with 10 to 12  in each section.
SP JAIN : A total score of 26 to 33. If you have a very good work experience, can get calls at 26.
XIMB :  A total score of  32 with 9 or 10  in each section.
GIM / BIM  : 27
XIME :  22
LIBA :  20
XISS  : 18

Comments By UrPercentile Subscribers:

Som : XAT, the Xavier's Admission Test is the entrance test conducted by XLRI,Jamshedpur for admission to the Post Graduate Business Management Program in one of the most pretigious business schools of India,XLRI Jamshedpur.

XAT,it is considered to be one of the toughest B-school entrance test.It can be considered as tough as CAT since the pattern for the test changes almost every year just like CAT.Till 2005 there was a separate section for GK in XAT but it was removed from XAT 2006 which was conducted on 8th January 2006.Candidates sitting for XAT have to write an essay separately after they have completed filling up the answers for XAT question paper.The time alloted to this 20 minutes.This essay is taken into account only if the candidate makes it to the GD/PI session and it has got nothing to do with the candidate being short-listed for GD/PI.Generally speaking the questions asked in XAT tests the candidate's basic skill level in any section whether it be Quantitive Ability or Data Interpretation/Data Sufficiency/Logical Reasoning or English Usage/Reading Comprehension which are apparently the three sections in XAT.
What one really needs to do during the XAT,just like the CAT is to spot questions which he/she thinks she can do completely.Though there are a lot of questions but it is the accuracy of the candidate rather than speed which matters the most.
Its of no use if you stick to a relatively difficult question and waste your time in solving it till the end.

So as is the case in CAT,its the concepts which matters the most in XAT.