The XAT 2026 syllabus has been released by XLRI Jamshedpur on its official website, https://xatonline.in/ .
The XAT VALR section consists of topics such as critical analytical reasoning, reading comprehension, vocabulary, English grammar and other reasoning exercises such as para jumbles, cloze tests, etc.
The VALR section of the XAT exam has roughly 26 questions, and reading comprehension is given the most importance, with around 12 to 15 questions mostly featuring poems, cartoons and passages.
Questions in the VALR section test command over English language and logical structuring of thoughts.
Key Features of XAT VA and LR Section 2026
- There are approximately 26 questions that will make up the VALR section, with each question carrying +1 mark.
- As per the XAT marking scheme, every right answer gets +1 mark whereas 1 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer. The 0.10 mark will be deducted for every un-attempted question after the 8th un-attempted question.
- There is no separate sectional time limit for the VALR section, but the time limit for part 1 is 170 minutes.
| Features | Details |
|---|---|
| Types of Questions | MCQs with 5 options |
| Number of questions | 26 |
| Total Marks | 26 |
| Marks Awarded | +1 mark for every correct answer |
| Negative marking | -0.25 for every wrong answer |
| Unanswered questions | -0.10 for every unanswered question after the 8th un-attempted question. |
| Sectional Time limit | No separate time limit for the section inside Part 1. Duration of part 1: 170 minutes |
| Scores are considered for percentile calculations | Yes |
Related Links
- XAT VALR Preparations
- XAT Vocabulary MCQs with solution
- XAT Grammar MCQs with solution
- XAT Logical and Analytical Reasoning MCQs with solution
Key Summary
- The XAT VALR section usually gets 26 questions, making it the second highest weightage in XAT after the Quantitative section.
- XAT VALR sections consist of questions from the topics such as Reading comprehension, critical reasoning, error correction, grammar, vocabulary, para jumbles, etc.
- Reading comprehension has the highest weightage in the VALR section with 12-15 questions while critical reasoning has the second highest weightage with 5 - 7 questions.
- Error correction, jumbled paragraph and filling in the blanks have the equal weightage of 2 questions.
- Taking mock tests regularly and solving previous year’s papers is the most important step to include in the XAT VALR preparation strategy.
- Syllabus for XAT 2026 VALR
- XAT 2026: Important Topics to Focus on in the VALR Section
- Previous Year Exam Analysis on XAT VALR Section.
- XAT VALR Topic - Wise Preparation Strategy to score 95+ Percentile
4.1 How to Crack Poem Based RCs in XAT 2026?
- XAT Previous Year’s Question Papers
- Books to help Crack the VALR Section of XAT with High Percentile
- XAT VALR Syllabus FAQs
Syllabus for XAT 2026 VALR
The syllabus of VALR section of XAT 2026 is said to have remained consistent with the previous years XAT syllabus. It mainly focuses on testing comprehension, critical thinking and logical deduction skills.
The VALR section typically consists of 26 questions, with a mix of Verbal ability (VA) and Logical Reasoning (LR).
XAT VALR syllabus overlaps with the CAT VARC/DILR section but is tougher because of
- 5 options per each question
- Abstract Passages
- Integrated VA- LR topics
| Section | Key Topics | Weightage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Ability |
| 15 - 17 questions | RC passages are denser and inference heavy. This section emphasizes tone, assumptions, and weakening / strengthening arguments. |
| Logical Reasoning |
| 9 - 11 questions | LR section Integrates Verbal logic (statement - conclusion) with pure LR. |
Ques. Does XAT ask a poem every year?
Ans. Yes, since 2019 XAT has consistently asked 2 questions on one short poem, which is usually based on a modern or 20th century poem.
Ques. Are there logical reasoning sets in XAT VALR?
Ans. XAT contains 1 or 2 small sets ( 3 - 4 questions) on arrangements, blood relations or coding - decoding.
Ques. Is vocabulary high level in VARC?
Ans. The level of vocabulary is moderate to high. Direct synonyms/antonyms usually never asked. Mostly used in context to fill in the blanks, odd word out type questions.
XAT 2026: Important Topics to Focus on in the VALR Section
- Reading Comprehension is the highly weighted topic in the VALR section, with 12-15 questions appearing consistently throughout the years.
- Critical reasoning is the second most important topic in VALR with 5-7 questions in XAT every year with approx weightage of 19- 27%.
- Error correction, Jumbled paragraph and fill in the blank questions has the equal weightage with 2 questions.
Here is the expected detailed topic-wise weightage of the VALR section of the XAT 2026 paper.
| Topic | Number of questions | Approx Weightage | Important Level | Marks per question |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | 12-15 | ~45 - 58% | Most Important | 1 |
| Critical Reasoning | 5 - 7 | ~19 - 27% | Very Important | 1 |
| Error Correction | 2 | ~7.5% | Moderately Important | 1 |
| Jumbled Paragraph | 2 | ~7.5% | Moderately Important | 1 |
| Fill in the blanks | 1 - 2 | ~ 4 - 7.5% | Less Important | 1 |
| Analogy | 1 | ~ 3.8 % | Less Important | 1 |
| Antonyms | 1 | ~ 3.8% | Less Important | 1 |
| Para Completion | 1 | ~3.8% | Less Important | 1 |
Ques. How many questions come from reading comprehension?
Ans. Usually, there are about 12-15 questions (3 - 4 passages) that come from reading comprehension. RC dominates the XAT VALR section with 55- 65%.
Ques. Is grammar very important for XAT VALR?
Ans. The importance of grammar in XAT is moderate. 1- 3 grammar questions asked in the form of sentence correction. But grammar helps in para jumbles, fill in the blanks and spotting errors.
Previous Year Exam Analysis on XAT VALR Section.
- The VALR section XAT has consistently tested candidates’ comprehension skills, critical thinking, and logical reasoning skills.
- Based on the analysis of the previous year’s papers VALR section difficulty stayed moderate overall with little fluctuation over the years.
- Reading comprehension questions have the highest weightage every year with 13 - 15 questions with heavier passages and often contain 2 conceptual poem questions.
- Critical reasoning questions are more on the difficult side due to the 5 options.
Here is the detailed analysis on the XAT VALR section on its weightage and difficulty level.
| Year | Total Questions | Topic Distribution | Difficulty Level | Good Attempts (for 90+ percentile) | Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XAT 2025 | 26 | RC - 15 QuestionsPoem - 2 Critical reasoning: 4-5Grammar: 2Fill in the blanks:2Para Jumbles: 2 | Moderate | 15 - 18 ( with 80 - 90% efficiency) | RCs were based on abstract themes, difficult poems with closed endings. More challenging |
| XAT 2024 | 26 | RC: 13- 14 questionsPoem: 2 Critical reasoning: 5Grammar: 2Fill in the blanks: 2Para Jumbles: 2 | Moderate to high Difficulty | 14 - 17(with High accuracy needed) | Easier than XAT 2023. Easier verbal ability but heavy passages. |
| XAT 2023 | 26 | RC: 12 - 14 questionsPoem: 2 questionsGrammer/PJ/CR: 12 | Moderate | 13 - 16 | Slightly tough RCsFewer DI setsFocused on grammar and vocabulary |
XAT VALR Topic - Wise Preparation Strategy to score 95+ Percentile
The VALR section is the second highest weightage section after the quant. It is moderately difficult but difficult to prepare due to its variety of complex topics such as poem based questions, abstract passages and critical reasoning.
The most important strategy to include while preparing for VALR section is
- Review and analyse the previous years’ XAT papers
- Consistently take XAT Mock Tests to improve speed and accuracy
Include the topic - wise preparation strategies given below to score 90+ percentile in XAT.
| Topic | Preparation Strategy | User Insights |
|---|---|---|
| Reading Comprehension | Read slowly for the first few weeks and then speed up. Focus on tone, author’s perspective. Focus on weakening/strengthening arguments. | Go through previous year’s RCs from 2018 - 2025. Solve at least 10 of them in one go. Give more time to understand the RC and eliminate the options. If possible, try to spend more time on passages. |
| Poem | Read 50+ English short poemsPractice 2020 - 2025 XAT question based on poems | Poems are not literal, try to understand the meaning behind the poems before solving the questions. Questions are almost applicational type not direct. Try to read between the lines |
| Critical Reasoning | Focus on understanding the core components of an argument (premise, conclusion, assumption) | Use Venn diagrams for assumption questions to increase the accuracy. |
| Para Jumbles | Focus on active reading, identifying opening and closing sentences and recognizing logical connectors and pronouns. | Look for opening sentence, closing sentence and mandatory pairs. Opening sentence introduces to topic and may proper noun used in the sentence. |
| Grammar and sentence correction | Study core grammar rules like subject verb agreement and tenses. Read editorials to improve comprehensionMaster 25 most common errors (subject-verb, parallelism, modifiers, etc) | Focus on common error areas like subject verb agreemen, pronoun usage, adjective/adverb modification. |
| Vocabulary | Consistently read diverse materials such as newspapers and novels.Actively note down and learn new words. Focus on usage, not just meaning. | Vocabulary usually in the form of fill in the blanks. To solve FIBs, spot keywords (like conjunctions), tone (positive/negative) and part of the speech needed. Eliminate the mismatches by looking for grammar errors, semantic illogic. |
| Logical Reasoning | Practice Syllogism, puzzles, and logical sequence to build a strong foundation. Solve problems on coding-decoding, blood relations. | Always identify and understand the conclusion of the argument. Words like “always” “most” and “sometime” are very important. Look out for these words, these words can make or break an answer choice. |
How to Crack Poem Based RCs in XAT 2026?
Poem based RCs are unique to the XAT exam. XAT consistently gives 1 passage with 2 questions from the poem every year. Poems are usually very short (50 - 100 words), metaphorical and questions are not straightforward.
Here is the tips and tricks to solve poem based RCs
- Know that poems are not literal, they are metaphorical. You have to see beyond the sentences.
- For the first time read the poem line by line without looking for the meaning, just determine the general tone of the poem.
- Understand how the author feels, is the author angry, melancholic, sarcastic, hopeful?
Identify the trinity of the poem:
The subject: What is the poem literally about?
The Metaphor: What does the subject represent? (for e.g, loss of innocence, is it greed, youthfulness)
The Tone: The author’s attitude towards the subject.
- Translates the poet’s English to Plain English.
For example poem: “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” Plain English: “The Author had to make a choice between two different options in life.
- Eliminate the options which relate to the poem’s physical meaning not metaphorical, and the options with tone’s mismatch.
XAT Previous Year’s Question Papers
Check out the XAT previous year’s question papers with the solution PDF of the last 10 years.
Check Out: XAT VALR Practice papers
Books to help Crack the VALR Section of XAT with High Percentile
Having the best resources is the first step to start preparing for the VALR section.
Minimum 4 resource combination used by toppers to get high score in VALR section
- XAT Previous Papers
- How to prepare for VARC by Arun Sharma and Meenakshi Upadhyay
- GMAT official Guide
- Word Power by Norman Lewis
Here are the few best and recommended books to prepare for the VALR to get 90+ percentile.
| Book / Resources | Why is it the best? | How to use it? |
|---|---|---|
| Previous XAT Papers | The Most important resource for the preparation. XAT usually repeats question types, Critical reasoning Logics and tones of the poem. Solving PYQs 4 - 5 times is must to get 90+ percentile | Solve 1 full VALR section daily with timed conditions using alarm to practice speed and accuracy |
| How to Prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT - Arun Sharma & Meenakshi Upadhyay | The best Indian book for RC, Critical reasoning, Para Jumbles and Grammar | Do all questions LOD -2 and LOD-3 questions of RC, Critical reasoning, para jumbles, Grammar. LOD (Level of Difficulty) |
| Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension for CAT - Nishita Sinha | Excellent books for philosophical RCs and tough critical reasoning | Focus on RC and Critical reasoning |
| GMAT official Guide (2025 - 2026) | This is the gold standard for critical reasoning. XAT critical reasoning questions are 90% similar to GMAT critical reasoning. | Do 300-400 CR questions |
| Word Power made easy - Norman Lewis | Best vocabulary builder for XAT fill in the blanks, odd one out, and contextual usage | Use it daily to learn to 50+ words daily and revise everyday. |
| Logical Reasoning for CAT - Arun Sharma | Covers Logical reasoning sets (arrangements, blood relations and coding) | Do selected topics such as Arrangements, blood relations, coding - decoding. |
Also Read:Best Books for XAT 2026 Preparation
XAT VALR Syllabus FAQs
Ques. Is the XAT VALR syllabus exactly the same as CAT VARC?
Ans. No, the syllabus is not exactly the same; they overlap about 60-70% of the syllabus. CAT VARC emphasis on verbal ability and reading comprehension, while XAT VALR focuses on both verbal ability and logical reasoning. There is heavy critical reasoning involved in XAT VALR but not in VARC.
Ques. Is it true that XAT has a negative marking of -0.10 if you leave questions unanswered?
Ans. Yes, as per the XAT marking scheme, the correct answer gets +1 mark, the wrong answer gets -0.25 marks and -0.10 marks for each unanswered question beyond 8 un-answered questions.
*The article might have information for the previous academic years, which will be updated soon subject to the notification issued by the University/College.
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