XAT Sectional Cutoff 2026 College-wise: Check Percentile for Top Colleges

XAT sectional cutoff 2026 college wise will vary. However, it is expected to fall between 55 and 86 across the sections of QA & DI, VALR, and DM. For a top college like XLRI Jamshedpur, the anticipated cutoffs are 80 for VALR, 86 for DM, and 80 for QA & DI.

Table of Contents

Expected XAT Sectional Cutoff 2026 College-wise
Previous Year Sectional XAT Cutoff for XLRI and Other Top …
Is Sectional Cutoff Important for XAT 2026?
Percentile-wise XAT 2025 Accepting Colleges
Faqs

XAT Sectional Cutoff 2026 College-wise: For some of the top colleges accepting XAT scores, the sectional cutoffs can range anywhere between 55 and 86 percentile. Given that the difficulty level of the exam can be expected to be moderately high, cutoffs may go lower overall and for the QA and DI section. Sectional cutoffs for XAT are essential since most of the top business schools in India need you to score well in all sections. Even though the percentile obtained in aggregate gives an idea of how well the candidate has done, sectional cutoffs will guarantee that the candidate hasn't fallen behind any one section. Notably, the XAT cutoffs will be announced in February - March 2026 by all participating colleges.

Also Read:

What is a Good Score in XAT 2026?	XAT 2025 Percentile vs College
XAT 2026 Colleges with No Sectional Cutoff	XAT 2025 Score vs Percentile

Expected XAT Sectional Cutoff 2026 College-wise

The XAT cutoffs 2026 will vary for different categories and can be checked on the official website of the XAT accepting institutes. Find the expected sectional cutoffs for the XAT 2026 exam at some of the top B-Schools in India:

XLRI Jamshedpur Sectional Cutoff 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs for both BM and HRM programmes at XLRI Jamshedpur have been provided below:

XLRI Sectional Cutoff for Business Management

Section	Male Percentile Range	Female Percentile Range
QA	86 - 88	81 - 83
VALR	83 - 85	80 - 82
DM	85 - 87	80 - 82

Find the marks required for each XAT section below.

Candidate Category	VA-LR Section	DM Section	QA-DI Section	Overall (Part A)
Male candidates	6-7	7-8	9-10	25-26
Female candidates	5-6	6-7	8-9	23-24

Sectional Cutoff for Human Resource Management

Section	Male Percentile Range	Female Percentile Range
QA	80 - 82	73 - 75
VALR	90 - 92	85 - 87
DM	85 - 87	78 - 80

Find the marks required for each XAT section below.

Candidate Category	VA-LR Section	DM Section	QA-DI Section	Overall (Part A)
Male (Engineers)	7-8	7-8	8-9	24.5-25.5
Female (Engineers)	6-7	6-7	7-8	23-24
Male (Non-Engineers)	7-8	7-8	7-8	23-24
Female (Non-Engineers)	6-7	6-7	6-7	22-23

XIMB Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at XIM Bhubaneswar have been provided below:

Category	Gender	Verbal Ability (VA)	Decision Making (DM)	Quantitative Ability (QA)	Overall
Domicile (Engineering)	Male	50	40	40	88
Domicile (Engineering)	Female	50	40	40	87
Domicile (Non-Engineering)	Male	50	40	40	87
Domicile (Non-Engineering)	Female	50	40	40	86
Non-Domicile (Engineering)	Male	70	60	60	92
Non-Domicile (Engineering)	Female	70	55	55	91
Non-Domicile (Non-Engineering)	Male	70	60	60	91
Non-Domicile (Non-Engineering)	Female	70	60	60	90

SP Jain Institute of Management Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at SP Jain Institute of Management have been provided below:

Section	Expected XAT 2026 Sectional Score	Overall Percentile
QA	70–75 percentile	PGDM: 80 percentile PGPM: 80 percentile PG Programme in Management Flex: 80 percentile
VALR	70–75 percentile
DM	65–70 percentile

IMT Ghaziabad Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at IMT Ghaziabad have been provided below:

Section	Expected XAT 2026 Sectional Score	Overall Percentile
QA	80 percentile	PGDM: 90 percentile (30-32 marks) for General PGDM Finance: 90 percentile (30-32 marks) for General PGDM Marketing: 90 percentile (30-32 marks) for General OBC: 90 percentile (30-32 marks) SC: 90 percentile (30-32 marks)
VALR	80 percentile
DM	81 percentile

TAPMI Manipal Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at TAPMI Manipal have been provided below:

Section	Expected XAT 2026 Sectional Score	Overall Percentile
QA	65-70 percentile	85-87 percentile
VALR	70-75 percentile
DM	65-70 percentile

Great Lakes Institute, Chennai Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at Great Lakes Institute, Chennai have been provided below:

Campus	Expected XAT 2026 Sectional Score	PGPM Cutoff	PGDM Cutoff
Chennai	QA: 50-55 percentile VALR: 55-60 percentile DM: 50-55 percentile	90+ percentile	90+ percentile
Gurgaon	QA: 50-55 percentile VALR: 55-60 percentile DM: 50-55 percentile	85-90 percentile	80-85 percentile

GIM Goa Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at GIM Goa have been provided below:

Section	Expected XAT 2026 Sectional Score	Overall Cutoff
QA	60-70 percentile	80-85 percentile (20+ marks) for General Category
VALR	65-75 percentile
DM	60-70 percentile

LIBA Chennai Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at LIBA Chennai have been provided below:

Section	Expected XAT 2026 Sectional Score	Overall Cutoff
QA	60-70 percentile	80-85 percentile (20+ marks) for General Category
VALR	65-75 percentile
DM	60-70 percentile

Welingkar Mumbai Expected XAT Sectional Cut offs 2026

The expected XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs at Welingkar Mumbai have been provided below:

Section	Expected XAT 2026 Sectional Score	Overall Cutoff
QA	50-55 percentile	70-75 percentile for General Category
VALR	55-60 percentile
DM	50-55 percentile

Also Read:

XAT 96 Percentile Marks 2026	XAT 95 Percentile Marks 2026
XAT 97 Percentile Marks 2026	XAT 93 Percentile Marks 2026
XAT 92 Percentile Marks 2025	XAT 94 Percentile Marks 2026

Previous Year Sectional XAT Cutoff for XLRI and Other Top Colleges

To help understand trends, here's a comparison of XAT sectional cutoffs for XLRI from the previous years:

XLRI Previous Year XAT Cutoffs

XLRI BM Cutoff 2025
Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	95-96%	86%	83%	85%
Non-Engineer	Male	94-95%	85%	83%	86%
Engineer	Female	90-91%	81%	80%	80%
Non-Engineer	Female	89-90%	80%	80%	81%

XLRI HRM Cutoff 2025
Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	94-95%	80%	90%	85%
Non-Engineer	Male	92-93%	75%	90%	85%
Engineer	Female	89-90%	73%	85%	78%
Non-Engineer	Female	87-88%	68%	85%	78%

XLRI BM Cutoff 2024
Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	96%	86%	83%	85%
Non-Engineer	Male	95%	85%	83%	86%
Engineer	Female	91%	81%	80%	80%
Non-Engineer	Female	90%	80%	80%	81%

XLRI HRM Cutoff 2024
Stream	Gender	Total	QA	VALR	DM
Engineer	Male	95%	80%	90%	85%
Non-Engineer	Male	93%	75%	90%	85%
Engineer	Female	90%	73%	85%	78%
Non-Engineer	Female	88%	68%	85%	78%

PGDM Business Management (BM) XAT Cutoff 2023
General Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
Male	75	75	85	95
Female	75	75	80	92
General Non-Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
Male	75	75	85	95
Female	75	75	80	92

PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM) XAT Cutoff 2023
General Engineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
Male	90	75	85	93
Female	90	75	65	91
General NonEngineers	VA	DM	QA	Overall
Male	90	75	70	90
Female	75	75	60	88

PGDM Business Management (BM) XAT Cutoff 2022
Category	VALR	DM	QA	Overall
Male	75	72	80	93
Female	72	72	75	90

PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM) XAT Cutoff 2022
Category	VALR	DM	QA	Overall
Male (Engineering)	80	70	75	92
Female (Engineering)	80	70	64	90
Male (Non-Engineering)	80	70	70	90
Female (Non-Engineering)	80	70	60	87

PGDM Business Management (BM) XAT Cutoff 2021
Category	VALR	DM	QA	Overall
Male	76	74	83	94
Female	70	70	75	92
SC	60	60	60	65
ST	55	55	55	60

PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM) XAT Cutoff 2021
Category	VALR	DM	QA	Overall
Male Engineering	80	75	80	93
Female Engineering	75	68	74	90
Male Non-Engineering	80	75	73	90
Female Non-Engineering	75	68	64	87

PGDM Business Management (BM) XAT Cutoff 2020
XAT Sections	Male	Female
VALR	74	72
DM	78	74
QA	85	75
Overall	95	93

PGDM Human Resource Management (HRM) XAT Cutoff 2020
XAT sections	Male Engineer	Female Engineer	Male Non-Engineer	Female Non-Engineer
VALR	79	74	78	73
DM	73	68	73	68
QA	75	70	70	65
Overall	93	91	90	88

Find the XAT sectional cutoffs for other top colleges from the previous years.

College Name	VA-LR Cutoff	DM Cutoff	QA-DI Cutoff	Overall Cutoff (Percentile)
XIM Bhubaneswar	68	68	68	89
SP Jain Institute of Management	72	70	70	88
IMT Ghaziabad	60	60	60	85
TAPMI Manipal	58	58	58	80
Great Lakes Institute, Chennai	55	50	55	75
GIM Goa	53	53	53	73
LIBA Chennai	50	50	50	70
Welingkar Mumbai	50	48	48	68

From this comparison in detail, it could be clearly seen that as the overall cut-offs remained somewhat stable over time, few colleges have chosen to just slightly increase their sectional cut-offs for XAT 2026 colleges. This would imply a need to draw slightly better candidates who might belong to specific and indispensable competency profiles.

For example, the XLRI HRM program is a rather much-coveted course like its Business Management counterpart. Thus, the latter seems to need a little more the cut-offs for Verbal Ability and Logical Reasoning compared to the former, pointing out the special requirements to train leadership qualities and good communication at the candidate level for these candidates.

Is Sectional Cutoff Important for XAT 2026?

Sectional cutoffs play an essential role in the XAT 2026 admissions process for several reasons:

Balanced Skills Requirement

The reason why section-wise cut-offs are held in very high value by the screening process is because they ensure that students come out quite well in all the broad areas of the skill set required for winning.

In other words, take for example, if a candidate is able to score extremely high in the quantitative aptitude and data interpretation but has flopped terribly in the decision making section of the paper; then she may fail to get a seat in a college that she is eyeing so badly despite an overall very high percentile that makes her score one of the top ranks.

College-Specific Focus Areas

Many colleges tend to emphasize specific sections of entrance exams and tend to do so based on the specific requirements of their academic programs.

For example, XLRI Jamshedpur's famous HRM program focuses more on VA-LR and DM since those are what are important in the HR field.

On the other hand, the BM program will focus more on QA since that is what a student needs to get along well in that area. In this regard, a student should know the sectional cutoff of each college to know what the right academic program is for them.

Differentiator Among High Scorers

XAT is one of the most competitive MBA exams, so not scoring well in absolute percentiles is not good enough. Sectional cutoffs play the role of a differentiator among candidates who may score similar overall percentiles. For example, two students with a similar percentile score; their sectional performance in any domain would determine who will get a move towards the next round of admissions in any B-school.

Percentile-wise XAT 2025 Accepting Colleges

Here are links to the lists of colleges based on the cutoff percentile they accept. Check them out:

MBA Colleges Accepting 90-95 Percentile in XAT 2025	Top 10 MBA Colleges Accepting 80-90 Percentile in XAT 2025
Top 10 MBA Colleges Accepting 70-80 Percentile in XAT 2025	List of MBA Colleges Accepting 60-70 Percentile in XAT 2025
MBA Colleges Accepting 50-60 Percentile in XAT 2025	List of MBA Colleges Accepting 95-100 Percentile in XAT 2025
List of MBA Colleges Accepting Low XAT 2025 Score/Percentile

If you have resolved to opt for an MBA program at one of the elite colleges through the XAT 2026 exam, you must establish that you score the relevant specific cutoffs necessary at your desired institute. Towards this very goal, start by filling in the Common Application Form (CAF) . More so, our free student counseling service is also open to you, so you can easily navigate through a somewhat confusing application process.

Related Articles:

XLRI Jamshedpur Selection Criteria 2025	SP Jain XAT Cutoff 2025
Welingkar XAT Cutoff 2025	XAT 2025 Cutoff for XLRI Delhi
Top Institutes Accepting XAT 2025 Scores	XAT 2025 Cutoff for Non-XAMI Colleges

It will be there to assist you while ensuring you score all of the relevant parameters for the application. You are advised to call our helpline at 18005729877 and also visit the QnA zone for elaborative support and assistance towards any query.

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FAQs

Are there any changes expected in the sectional cutoffs for XAT 2026 compared to previous years?

The XAT sectional cutoffs are generally stable over years, but minor shifts could happen based on how the paper is and also according to the number of aspirants. For example, some colleges like IIMs, XLRI, SP Jain could make minor cut-offs slightly vary with competitions and trends observed in earlier years.

How can I prepare for the sectional cutoffs in XAT 2026?

To prepare for XAT 2026, analyze your strong and weak areas across each section. Focus your practice on your weaker areas, especially the sections like DM, which is only specific to XAT. Sustained practice and working through previous years' papers will equip you with sectional requirements confidence.

What happens if I miss the sectional cutoff for XAT 2026?

Failure to qualify the XAT 2026 sectional cutoff disqualifies you from proceeding further to subsequent stages of college admissions processes in those colleges. It may so happen that your percentile score overall is very high, but failing to qualify on any one sectional cutoff may leave you out of the subsequent rounds of selection.

How does the sectional cutoff affect my XAT 2026 score?

The XAT 2026 sectional cutoffs are vital, and the cumulative score would give you a broad perspective of your performance in the test. Prominent institutes such as XLRI Jamshedpur and SP Jain Institute of Management, amongst others would scrutinize every individual section to decide whether to admit you or not. Hence, it's an important test that is going to test your potential to handle the diversified challenges one encounters in an MBA programme.

Why is the sectional cutoff important for XAT 2026?

XAT 2026 Sectional cutoffs ensure that a candidate is capable of all the skills required for management roles such as verbal reasoning, decision-making ability, and quantitative aptitude. This is a must pass to take further in the admission process because colleges look for well-rounded students.