Scores from either XAT or GMAT form the entry gate for the two-year PGDM offerings at XLRI Jamshedpur, which run in two streams: Business Management (BM) and Human Resource Management (HRM). For the 2023 cycle, general category aspirants had to land somewhere in the 92-95 percentile band to remain in the running. Rather than publishing a single figure, the institute breaks its XAT percentile requirement into six separate applicant groups, covering male, female, male engineer, female engineer, male non-engineer and female non-engineer candidates.

Clearing the written stage alone does not secure a seat. What follows is a group discussion and personal interview round run by the institute, and performance there decides the final outcome. Two patterns stand out over the 2020 to 2023 window documented here. First, BM has always sat above HRM on overall percentile. Second, in most sections, non-engineering male candidates have had to clear a slightly higher bar than women in the same bracket.

Table of Contents

XAT Cutoff 2023 for PGDM BM and HRM

Shortlisting in 2023 ran through four percentile buckets, and each one came with its own Overall, VALR, DM and QA marker. Against BM, the HRM track sat lower on every single category that year. Both sets of figures appear below, stream by stream.

PGDM BM

Category Overall VALR DM QA
Male Engineering 95 75 75 85
Female Engineering 92 75 75 80
Male Non-Engineering 95 75 75 85
Female Non-Engineering 92 75 75 80

PGDM HRM

Category Overall VALR DM QA
Male Engineering 93 90 75 75
Female Engineering 91 90 75 65
Male Non-Engineering 90 90 75 70
Female Non-Engineering 88 90 75 60

GMAT Cutoff 2022 for PGDM BM and HRM

Candidates entering through the GMAT route in 2022 were measured against a 730 requirement for BM, with HRM set lower at 700.

Course Percentile
BM 730
HRM 700

XAT PGDM Cutoff Movement: 2021 Against 2022

Across these two cycles the BM overall percentile softened a little for men and women alike, whereas the DM and QA sections barely budged.

PGDM BM

XAT Section Male 2021 Female 2021 Male 2022 Female 2022
Overall 94 92 93 90
VALR 76 70 75 72
DM 74 70 72 72
QA 83 75 80 75

PGDM HRM, Engineering Background

XAT Section Male Engineer 2021 Female Engineer 2021 Male Engineer 2022 Female Engineer 2022
Overall 93 90 92 90
VALR 80 75 80 80
DM 75 68 70 70
QA 80 74 75 64

PGDM HRM, Non-Engineering Background

XAT Section Male Non-Engineer 2021 Female Non-Engineer 2021 Male Non-Engineer 2022 Female Non-Engineer 2022
Overall 90 87 90 87
VALR 80 75 80 80
DM 75 68 70 70
QA 73 64 70 60

PGDM Selection Process and Weightage

Admission is settled over two stages. Registering for XAT or GMAT and clearing the qualifying bar makes up Stage I, after which qualifying candidates receive an interview call. Stage II is where the shortlisted set faces the group discussion and the personal interview. Every element of this process contributes a fixed share to the final merit score, as set out here.

Selection Component Weightage
Written Entrance Exam (Part A) 65%
GK (Part B) 10%
GD/PI 20%
Academic Profile/Work Experience 5%

XAT and GATE Cutoff 2021

Six applicant groups, namely male, female, male engineer, female engineer, male non-engineer and female non-engineer, made up the 2021 release for both streams. Where BM listed its numbers under the wider male and female headings, HRM chose to separate its applicants by whether or not they came from an engineering background.

PGDM BM XAT Cutoff 2021

Category VALR QA DM Percentile
Male 76 83 74 94
Female 70 75 70 92

PGDM HRM XAT Cutoff 2021

Category VALR QA DM Percentile
Male Engineering 80 80 75 93
Male Non-Engineering 80 73 75 90
Female Engineering 75 80 68 90
Female Non-Engineering 75 64 68 87

PGDM GATE Cutoff 2021

Course Percentile
BM 730
HRM 710

XAT Cutoff Movement: 2020 Against 2021

Between 2020 and 2021, a one point drop showed up in the BM overall percentile for male and female candidates alike, while QA held close to steady.

PGDM BM

XAT Section Male 2020 Female 2020 Male 2021 Female 2021
Overall 95 93 94 92
VALR 74 72 76 70
DM 78 74 74 70
QA 85 75 83 75

PGDM HRM, Engineering Background

XAT Section Male Engineer 2020 Female Engineer 2020 Male Engineer 2021 Female Engineer 2021
Overall 93 91 93 90
VALR 79 74 80 75
DM 73 68 75 68
QA 75 70 80 74

PGDM HRM, Non-Engineering Background

XAT Section Male Non-Engineer 2020 Female Non-Engineer 2020 Male Non-Engineer 2021 Female Non-Engineer 2021
Overall 90 88 90 87
VALR 78 73 80 75
DM 73 68 75 68
QA 70 65 73 64

What Decides the 2023 Cut off

Where the cutoff line finally settles in any given year comes down to three things: the size of the test-taking pool, the difficulty of that year's paper, and the seat count on offer for the intake.

  • Number of candidates appearing for the exam
  • Difficulty level of the exam
  • Total number of seats available for admission

XLRI FAQs

Ques. If I fall short of the minimum XAT cutoff, can I still be considered for XLRI?

Ans. There is no route around it. Meeting the minimum XAT cutoff is mandatory at XLRI, and anyone below that line is eliminated well before the group discussion and personal interview rounds are reached.

Ques. What is the minimum percentile needed to get shortlisted at XLRI?

Ans. BM calls go out at 96 percentile and upwards in XAT, whereas the threshold for HRM sits at 94 percentile. Sectional requirements form a second hurdle that must also be met for a candidate to move ahead.

Ques. Between XAT and CAT, which is harder for XLRI aspirants?

Ans. XAT includes separate Decision Making and General Knowledge sections that CAT does not have. That difference in structure, along with a paper that tends to be tougher overall, is why XAT is treated as the more demanding of the two.

Ques. How is the XAT paper structured for XLRI aspirants?

Ans. Three sections hold a combined total of 75 questions. Most test-takers struggle to push past 30-32 out of 75, and the 34-35 mark is reached by only a handful. With so few questions on offer and difficulty pitched high, even a modest raw score can convert into a strong percentile.

Ques. Does academic performance factor into XLRI's shortlisting?

Ans. It does. Candidates carrying a consistent record above 85% right from class 10th, together with 2-3 years of relevant work experience, pick up 5% weightage at the GD/PI stage.