XAT and CAT are considered to be two of the most appeared for national-level management entrance tests. Though there are some overlapping areas where the two exams are the same, they are different in many ways. The way the exams are designed is one of the key differentiating points. Both the exams test candidates on Quantitative Ability, Verbal Ability, and Logical Reasoning and Data Interpretation areas. XAT on the other hand has two additional sections namely Decision Making and General Knowledge. The Quantitative Aptitude section in the XAT paper is considered to be lengthier and more time-consuming, thus making it more difficult than the CAT exam. The Decision-making section is the key area where most of the students find the XAT exam comparatively more difficult than the CAT exam. There is no devised framework or formulae to find the correct answer to the questions but solely depends on the decision taking ability of the candidate keeping in mind all the stakeholders. If compared directly to each other, the XAT exam is considered a bit tougher than the CAT exam.
The verbal section is a smidgeon tougher in XAT as compared to the CAT and the other management entrance exams in India. The role that the verbal section plays in deciding your percentile in XAT cannot be understated and thus it is of paramount importance that candidates prepare over and above the standards expected in the CAT exam for the XAT exam specifically for the verbal section as it has obscenely tough reading comprehensions, poems and Verbal ability questions.
The fact that are no sectional time limits in this exa slightly brings down the difficulty level as you can customize the time spent for each section in this exam. It is however advisable for a candidate to spend more time in this section so that they can comfortably clear the cutoffs and to be able to use this section to boost the percentile garnered from this section and from this exam.