XLRI is one of the oldest and most respected B-schools in India, and it’s also one of the most misunderstood. Most XAT aspirants know it only as “the XLRI cutoff college” without a clear picture of what the institute actually offers beyond its flagship BM and HRM programs. This guide gives you the full picture: XLRI’s programs, both of its campuses, its XAT-based admission cutoffs with the year-wise trend, fees, and placements—so you understand XLRI 2026 previous-year cutoffs in the context of the institute as a whole, not just as an isolated number.

About XLRI: A Quick Overview

Founded in 1949, XLRI (Xavier School of Management) is one of India’s oldest and most respected business schools, run by the Society of Jesus. For over seven decades, it operated from a single campus in Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, before expanding to a second campus, XLRI Delhi-NCR, in Jhajjar, Haryana, as part of the institute’s strategic decision to grow its footprint across the country.

XLRI is consistently ranked among India’s top management institutes and holds triple accreditation from AACSB, AMBA, and EQUIS — a distinction shared by very few B-schools in the country. It’s also the conducting body for XAT (Xavier Aptitude Test), the national-level entrance exam accepted by 250+ MBA and PGDM colleges across India, in addition to being the primary gateway into XLRI’s own programs.

Programmes Offered at XLRI

Table 1: XLRI Programmes, Duration, Admission Route & Fees

Programme	Duration	Admission Basis	Approx. Total Fees
PGDM – Business Management (BM)	2 years, full-time	XAT + GD/PI	₹27.4 Lakh
PGDM – Human Resource Management (HRM)	2 years, full-time	XAT + GD/PI	₹27.4 Lakh
PGDM – General Management (GM, formerly GMP)	18 months, full-time	XAT/GMAT + work-experience-weighted profile	₹23.15 Lakh
PGDM – Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Venture Creation (IEV)	2 years, full-time	XAT + GD/PI	₹15 Lakh
Fellow Programme in Management (FPM)	Doctoral, full-time	Research aptitude + interview	Institute-funded/stipendiary
Executive FPM	Doctoral, part-time	Research aptitude + interview	Varies
Online/Executive Diplomas (HRM, Finance, CHRO track)	12 months, online	Profile-based, XAT optional	₹2–4 Lakh (approx.)

Only BM and HRM carry the strict, published XAT percentile cutoff that most “cutoff” articles refer to—GM and IEV weigh XAT/GMAT scores alongside work experience and profile strength rather than applying a single hard percentile threshold.

XLRI’s Two Campuses: Jamshedpur and Delhi-NCR

A detail many aspirants miss: the PGDM-BM program is now offered across both XLRI campuses—Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, and Delhi-NCR (Jhajjar, Haryana)—with seats split between the two. The PGDM-HRM program, by contrast, currently runs only from the Jamshedpur campus. Both campuses admit through the same XAT-based cutoff and selection process, so the percentile trend discussed below applies to BM candidates regardless of which campus they’re eventually placed at.

XLRI 2026 Previous Year Cutoffs: Year-wise Trend (BM Programme)

Table 2: XLRI PGDM-BM Cutoff Trend—Male/General vs Female Candidates

XAT Year	Male / General Category	Female Candidates	Year-on-Year Change
2020	93 percentile	—	Baseline
2021	94 percentile	92 percentile	+1
2022	93 percentile	90 percentile	−1
2023	95 percentile	92 percentile	+2
2024	96 percentile	—	+1
2025	96 percentile	91 percentile	No change
2026	94 percentile	~88 percentile	−2

The BM cutoff climbed steadily from 2020 through 2024–25, peaking at 96 percentile, before easing back to 94 percentile for the 2026 cycle. That two-point drop is a meaningful signal—it suggests either a tougher-than-usual paper or a larger applicant pool, and it’s the kind of swing worth building a buffer for rather than assuming away.

XLRI 2026 Previous Year Cutoffs: Year-wise Trend (HRM Programme)

Table 3: XLRI PGDM-HRM Cutoff Trend — Male/General vs Female Candidates

XAT Year	Male / General Category	Female Candidates	Year-on-Year Change
2020	88 percentile	—	Baseline
2021	93 percentile	—	+5
2022	92 percentile	89 percentile	−1
2023	93 percentile	91 percentile	+1
2024	95 percentile	—	+2
2025	95 percentile	90 percentile	No change
2026	92 percentile	—	−3

Table 4: XAT Score-to-Percentile Estimate for XLRI-Relevant Bands

Approx. Raw Score (Out of 100)	Estimated Percentile
40–41	95 percentile
36–37	90 percentile
33–35	88 percentile
30–32	85 percentile

Sectional Cutoffs: The Part Most Aspirants Underestimate

Clearing the overall percentile isn’t enough at XLRI. The institute enforces section-wise cutoffs across Verbal Ability & Logical Reasoning (VALR), Decision Making, and Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation (QADI)—and a strong overall score with one weak section can still get you screened out before the interview stage.

Historically, VALR and Decision Making sectional cutoffs have run comparatively higher for HRM aspirants since the program weighs verbal and decision-making skills more heavily than pure quant ability. It’s also worth noting that XLRI’s sectional cutoffs don’t always move in step with the overall percentile—in some cycles, the Decision Making threshold held steady even as the overall cutoff eased, which is another reason a “just clear the overall number” mindset can leave a candidate short.

GM and IEV: How Their Admission Criteria Differ From BM/HRM

Since XLRI isn’t just a BM/HRM institute, it’s worth understanding how its other flagship programs select candidates:

• PGDM-GM (General Management): Designed for candidates with meaningful work experience, GM admission weighs your XAT or GMAT score alongside years of professional experience, career progression, and leadership exposure. There’s no single published percentile cutoff in the way BM/HRM have one—profile strength carries significant weight.
• PGDM-IEV (Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Venture Creation): This program does use XAT scores with a GD/PI process similar to BM/HRM but typically admits a smaller, more specialized cohort focused on candidates with an entrepreneurial or venture-building interest, and its selection also weighs a startup or innovation-relevant profile.

If your ambitions lean toward a general-management or entrepreneurial career path rather than the traditional consulting/BFSI route BM and HRM graduates often take, it’s worth researching GM and IEV as parallel options rather than treating XLRI 2026 cutoffs purely as a BM/HRM conversation.

What Determines XLRI’s Cutoff Each Year

• Paper difficulty: A tougher-than-usual XAT paper typically pulls the required percentile down slightly since fewer candidates clear the higher marks bands.
• Number of applicants: A larger applicant pool can push cutoffs up even with similar paper difficulty, simply because more strong scorers are competing for the same seats.
• Seat availability across both campuses: Since BM seats are now split between Jamshedpur and Delhi-NCR, overall intake capacity feeds directly into how the cutoff is calculated each year.
• Diversity and inclusion goals: XLRI’s consistently lower cutoff for female and non-engineering candidates reflects a deliberate institutional push toward a more balanced cohort.
• Previous year’s cutoff: XLRI’s admission committee reviews the prior cycle’s cutoff as one of several reference points, which is part of why year-on-year swings are usually incremental rather than dramatic.

Placements at XLRI: What the Cutoff Effort Leads To

For the 2026 placement season, XLRI reported a highest domestic package and a highest international package well into double-digit and triple-digit lakh figures, respectively, with top recruiters spanning consulting, FMCG, and BFSI sectors, including major global and Indian firms. Both the PGDM-BM and PGDM-HRM cohorts recorded strong placement completion during the 2024 drive, and the PGDM-GM cohort also posted a high placement percentage in its most recent cycle. These outcomes are a large part of why the BM/HRM cutoff stays consistently high—demand for seats tracks closely with XLRI’s placement track record.

What Happens After You Clear the Cutoff

Clearing the XLRI 2026 previous-year-style cutoff range only gets you a Group Discussion and Personal Interview (GD/PI) call—it doesn’t guarantee a seat. The process typically works like this:

1. Percentile and sectional screening: Your overall and section-wise XAT percentile is checked against the year’s cutoff for your category and chosen program.
2. Registration for GD/PI: Shortlisted candidates register separately (and free of charge) for the interview round at their preferred campus.
3. GD/PI Evaluation: XLRI evaluates aptitude, communication, ethical reasoning, and leadership potential during this stage.
4. Final Offer: Your final admission decision combines GD/PI performance with your academic record and XAT score, not the XAT score alone.

Preparation Strategy: Closing the Gap to XLRI’s Cutoff Range

1. Treat Decision Making as a scoring section, not a guessing section. HRM in particular weighs VALR and Decision Making heavily, and candidates who treat this section as pure intuition often underperform relative to their quant scores.
2. Build a sectional cutoff buffer, not just an overall one. A lopsided score profile—strong QADI, weak VALR—can knock you out even if your overall percentile clears the year’s threshold.
3. Track your category’s specific historical range. A female non-engineering candidate targeting HRM should benchmark against the female/non-engineering trend line, not the male-engineer BM figure most cutoff articles lead with.
4. Use the year-on-year swing as your buffer margin. The tables above show swings of 2–5 percentile points are common—build that same margin into your personal target rather than aiming exactly at last year’s published cutoff.
5. Consider GM or IEV if your profile fits better. If you have several years of work experience, GM’s profile-weighted admission route may suit you better than competing purely on XAT percentile for BM.

Summary

XLRI runs across two campuses. XLRI Jamshedpur and XLRI Delhi-NCR and offers a broader course portfolio than most aspirants realize, from the flagship XAT-admitted BM and HRM programs to the work-experience-weighted GM program and the entrepreneurship-focused IEV. The XLRI 2026 previous year cutoffs show BM climbing from 93 percentile in 2020 to a peak of 96 in 2024–25, before easing to 94 in 2026, with HRM following a similar arc down to 92 percentile in the latest cycle. Female and non-engineering candidates have consistently faced a lower threshold across both programs, reflecting XLRI’s diversity-focused admission policy. For XAT 2027 aspirants, the safest approach is to target comfortably above the recent 3-year average for your specific category and program, rather than assuming this year’s slightly eased cutoff will repeat.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

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Conclusion

Reading the XLRI 2026 previous year cutoffs in the context of the full institute—both campuses, all its programs, and its placement track record—gives you a far more realistic picture than looking at a single BM or HRM number in isolation. Use the tables above to identify where your category typically falls, build in a buffer above the recent average, and take a moment to check whether GM or IEV might actually suit your profile better than the traditional BM/HRM route.

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