Step 1: Start with sectionals
In the first phase, take sectional tests in each of the three scored sections, untimed at first, then timed. The aim is to learn the question types and find your weak areas, not to chase a score. See the pages for Verbal and Logical Ability, Decision Making and Quantitative Ability and DI.
Step 2: Build stamina with full papers
Move to full papers around the midpoint of your preparation. A three-hour paper tests attention in the third hour, which is where many careless errors happen. Take full papers in the same time slot as the real exam, on the same kind of device, with no breaks other than what the real test allows. Add one paper a fortnight at first and weekly in the last six weeks.
Step 3: Decide your section order
Because the main part shares one clock, order is your decision (confirm the rules for your year). Test two orders across a few papers and compare net scores, such as Verbal first and Quantitative last against the reverse. Many candidates place Decision Making in the middle, because it benefits from a clear head and is not time-critical like long reading passages, but test it for yourself.
| Paper | Order | Net score | Questions left |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | VALR, DM, QADI | 34.5 | 11 |
| 2 | VALR, DM, QADI | 36.0 | 9 |
| 3 | QADI, DM, VALR | 37.25 | 6 |
| 4 | QADI, DM, VALR | 35.75 | 8 |
This is an illustration. The second order averages 36.5 against 35.25, but with only two papers each the difference is small. Take more papers before you decide, and fix the order well before the exam.
Step 4: Build a Decision Making routine
Decision Making is trainable but not by formula. Practise five cases a week and, for each, write down the stakeholders, the constraints and the value in conflict before you read the options. After the answer, write why the best option beat the second best. Over a few weeks, patterns appear in what the section rewards. See the Decision Making page for a worked example.
Step 5: Set an attempt policy from data
With −0.25 for a wrong answer and a small deduction for unattempted questions, the break-even accuracy for an attempt is about 20%, so eliminating even one option helps. In every mock, tag questions you answered with low confidence, and afterwards compute their net marks. If the sum over five papers is clearly positive, keep attempting such questions; if it is near zero, skip more. Revisit every five papers. See our negative marking guide.
Step 6: Review every paper
- Record section scores, questions left, time per section.
- Classify errors: concept gap, calculation, misreading, time pressure, guess.
- Redo skipped questions untimed.
- For Decision Making, write the reason the best option won.
- Add repeated errors to an error log and revisit it weekly.
- Choose one change for the next paper.
Step 7: Keep GK going
GK is a separate short part, excluded from the percentile as published, but XLRI uses it later. A daily 15-minute routine of current affairs and a weekly quiz is enough. Before the exam, revise the last six months.
A weekly plan for the last six weeks
| Day | Task |
|---|---|
| Monday | Review the weekend paper: scores, time, errors |
| Tuesday | Quantitative sectional and topic repair |
| Wednesday | Verbal sectional and a reading routine |
| Thursday | Decision Making cases and GK quiz |
| Friday | Light day: formulas, error log, rest |
| Saturday | Optional DI set or rest |
| Sunday | Full paper in the exam slot |
Common strategy mistakes
- Skipping full papers until the last fortnight.
- Changing the section order in the last week.
- Treating Decision Making as common sense that needs no practice.
- Reviewing only the questions you got wrong.
- Comparing yourself with ranks from tests of a different difficulty.
Start with a free XAT mock test and see the XAT hub and the exam pattern guide. Read how to use mock tests for XAT for a worked review. Confirm the pattern in the official notice.
