By the Online Coaching 4u team
Last updated: 21 August 2026.
XAT 2027 registration has been open since 15 July 2026, and XLRI's official portal, xatonline.in, has confirmed a free mock test on 30 August 2026 — but only candidates who complete their application by 27 August are eligible to sit it, which puts a firm deadline this week in front of anyone who has registered but not yet finished the process.
What's actually confirmed
Per XLRI's official schedule, XAT 2027 registration runs from 15 July to 6 December 2026, with the exam itself set for Saturday, 3 January 2027, from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. The base application fee is Rs 2,300, plus Rs 200 for each additional XLRI programme applied for; candidates applying through GMAT/GRE pay Rs 2,600, and NRI/Foreign/PIO/OCI candidates pay Rs 5,000. The exam format is unchanged from prior cycles: 95 questions across four sections — Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (26 questions), Decision Making, Quantitative Aptitude & Data Interpretation, and General Knowledge (20 questions, 10 minutes) — in a 180-minute paper with no fixed section-wise time limits outside GK. Wrong answers cost -0.25 marks, and skipping more than eight questions overall costs -0.1 per additional skip; the GK section carries no negative marking and doesn't count toward the overall percentile. Over 250 B-schools, including XLRI and the XAMI group of institutes, accept XAT scores for admission.
What this means for aspirants
The mock test is the practical news here: it's free, run on XLRI's own platform, and restricted to candidates who have completed their application — so registering (or finishing an in-progress registration) by 27 August is the only way to get access before the 30 August sitting. For anyone who has already registered, this is the first chance this cycle to sit a full-length paper under something closer to real exam conditions, including the Decision Making section that trips up candidates coming from a pure CAT-prep background, since it's unique to XAT and not covered by most generic aptitude practice. With registration open until 6 December and the exam itself not until 3 January, there's no urgency to register early purely for the exam date — but the mock test creates a real, near-term reason to lock in registration this week rather than waiting.
Important pointers
- [27 Aug 2026] Deadline to complete XAT 2027 registration in order to qualify for the free mock test.
- [30 Aug 2026] XAT 2027 free mock test, run on XLRI's official platform, open only to candidates who registered by 27 August.
- [6 Dec 2026] XAT 2027 registration window closes.
- [3 Jan 2027, 2–5 PM] XAT 2027 exam day — 95 questions, 180 minutes, four sections.
- Myth check: The General Knowledge section carries no negative marking and is excluded from the overall XAT percentile — it's scored and reported separately, so a weak GK score alone won't sink an otherwise strong attempt.
Last updated: 21 August 2026. Source: xatonline.in (official XLRI XAT 2027 schedule, fees and exam pattern).
