Preparing for an exam like XAT requires a lot of preparation from candidates. This year XAT is going to be conducted on 6th January 2019. There is no specific syllabus mentioned on the official website of XLRI. This article will provide syllabus based on previous years exam and best study material to prepare for XAT exam in less time.

Quantitative ability and data interpretation, general knowledge, verbal ability and logical reasoning, decision making, and logical reasoning are the main sections from which the questions are going to be asked in the XAT exam.

Following is the list of topics and best books to be covered for each section:

Quantitative ability and data interpretation:

Ratio and proportion, complex numbers, pipe and cistern, Boat and stream, Area and volume, work-time, Average and partnership, profit loss, Mensuration- 2D&3D, Arithmetic, time speed and distance, geometry, HCF-LCM, coordinate geometry, mixture and allegations, simple interest, compound interest, set theory, binomial theorem, set theory, permutation and combination,  arithmetic progression, geometric progression, arithmetic mean, geometric mean, logarithm, functions, probability, trigonometry, height and distance, linear and quadratic equation, direction, algebra function, percentage, tables graphs and pie charts

Followings are the reference books that candidates can use for the preparation of Quantitative ability and data interpretation section:

•    How to prepare for Quant. Apti. for CAT by Arun Sharma
•    Quant. Apti. for competitive exams by Abhijit Guha
•    Quant. Apti. Quantum CAT for admission into IIMs written by Sarvesh K Verma
•    How to prepare for Data Interpretation (DI) for CAT by Arun Sharma
•    Quant. Apti. for CAT by Trisha
•    Quant. apti. for the CAT by Nikshit K Sinha
•    Logical reasoning (LR) and Data Interpretation (DI) for CAT & other MBA exams by Nikshit K Sinha
•    Quant. Apti. for competitive examinations by R S Aggarwal

Verbal ability:

Reading Comprehension and answering questions, antonyms, synonyms, Vocabulary, Jumble paragraph, correct use of words, fill in blanks, Grammar, logical completion of ideas, critical reasoning and inference, arguments, cloze test, analogy-based vocabulary, spellings, poetry.

Followings are the reference books that candidates can use for the preparation of Verbal ability section:

•    How to build a better vocab. by Maxwell Nurnberg and Morris Rosenblum
•    How to prepare for Verbal ability (VA) and reading comprehension (RC) for CAT by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhya
•    PSC for VA for CAT/ Verbal ability (VA) and reading comprehension (RA) for the CAT
•    Word power made easy by Normen Lewis
•    High school English Grammar & Compo. by Wren, Martin
•    A modern approach to verbal and non-verbal reasoning (V & NV reasoning) by R.S. Aggarwal
•    The Student’s Companion by Wilfred D Best
•    30 days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk and Normen Lewis

Decision making

Decision making is one of the tricky sections of the XAT exam. In decision-making, students should practice analyzing various conflicting business scenarios. Students should analyze the situation and frame answer and pick the correct option as per their analysis.

Topics for decision making are:

Finding a strong and weak argument, case study, decision making in data-based questions, decision making in situation-based questions, data arrangement tests, identify valid inferences

Followings are the reference books that candidates can use for the preparation of Decision-Making section:

•    Target XAT 2019 (Past Papers 2005-2018+ 5 Mock tests by Disha Experts
•    Jabbing the XAT Mock test and solved papers by R K JHA
•    XAT (solved Papers 2008-2019) by Gautam Puri
•    Analytical and logical reasoning (A&LR) by Arihant Publications

Logical reasoning:

Blood relations, analogy, coding-decoding, number series, assumption- conclusion, linear sitting arrangements 2D & 3D, circular sitting arrangement 2D & 3D, grid matrix arrangements, syllogisms, odd man out problem, pattern recognition, mathematical operations,  visual reasoning, binary logic, clocks and calendars, fact – interference – judgement, critical reasoning, selection and conditional, grouping and pattern, number series, letter series, symbol series, mixed series, symbol-based logic, sequential output, cryptarithmetic, true-false – not given type questions, data sufficiency, cubes and dice, directions, ordering and ranking, missing pattern, complex letter series, Venn diagrams, network problems, games and tournaments based questions.

• To Discuss XAT Exam 2019 Preparation Strategies With Fellow Aspirants Click Here.

Followings are the reference books that candidates can use for the preparation of the Logical Reasoning section:

•   How to prepare for logical reasoning (LR) for CAT by Arun Sharma
•   Logical reasoning (LR) and Data Interpretation (DI) for CAT & other MBA exams by Nikshit K Sinha
• A modern approach to verbal and non-verbal reasoning (V & NV reasoning) by R.S. Aggarwal
•  Analytical and logical reasoning (A & LR) by Arihant Publications
•  A New Approach to Reasoning Verbal & Non- Verbal (V & NV) analytical by B. S.  Sijwalil
•  Analytical Reasoning AR) (2018-2019) by M K Panday