XAT 2013 Duration increased to 3 hours, GK Section Added: Prof. Vishwa Ballabh, admission chairperson, XLRI

Prof. Vishwa Ballabh, faculty and admission chairperson of XLRI has revealed some major changes in XAT 2013 to click4college. According to Prof. Ballabh, the main XAT 2013 paper will more or less be similar to last year’s, however the duration of the test will be increased to 2 hours 20 minutes as compared to 2 hours in the previous years. Another key change is the addition of a section on General Knowledge/Awareness which will test students in the areas of business, economics and politics related to business environment. The duration for this GK test will be 40 minutes. All in all, the total test duration of XAT 2013 will be 3 hours instead of 2.5 hours.

“These changes have been implemented to test the prospective candidates on a variety of dimensions. The test duration of XAT 2013 has been increased without increasing the number of questions. XAT has always been innovative and we will continue to keep this test like that”, said Prof. Ballabh.

“We have been pioneers in introducing testing patterns like case analysis and decision making in management entrance exams. These sections will continue. Similarly our Verbal Ability Section will continue to test language skills and also logical reasoning questions”, said Prof. Ballabh.

On being asked whether the selection procedure for admission to XLRI, post-XAT, would remain the same, Prof. Ballabh hinted at a few changes in the post-XAT selection procedures as well. “We will be making few changes in order to test the personality related variable of the candidates. Group discussions (GD) and personal interviews (PI) will continue but only to test the personality of the candidates”.

XAT has always been experimenting with its format and duration. XAT 2012 was a balanced paper. Most of the questions were doable but not exactly easy.There were some changes in the XAT 2012 paper as compared with the previous years. XAT 2013 which will be held on 6th January 2013 is just following the tradition of springing a surprise on students!

Nishatha Abraham Bijeesh

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