Analytical Essay Writing (AEW) is an important component of the XLRI selection process. Earlier, it was part of the written XAT exam, but since recent years (including XAT 2026), the essay has been removed from the written test and is now administered during the Group Discussion & Personal Interview (GD/PI) stage for shortlisted candidates preparing for XAT 2027. Thus, if you clear the XAT 2027 cutoff (especially for XLRI), you need to prepare well for the essay as part of the final selection round.
The essay writing section did not appear in the written XAT from 2019-2021 and has been integrated into GD/PI since 2022. This pattern continued in XAT 2026 and is expected to remain the same for XAT 2027.
Previous year Essay Topics (from GD/PI or earlier written exam)
Given below is a list of essay topics asked in previous years (either in written XAT or GD/PI rounds). These are useful for practice while preparing for XAT 2027 GD/PI. Specific AEW topics from recent GD/PI rounds (2026, 2025, etc.) are not publicly disclosed in detail, but they typically focus on current affairs, ethics, management dilemmas, and socio-economic issues:
- 2026: Topics in GD/PI focused on contemporary issues like work-life balance, gig economy, AI ethics, and sustainability (specific essays vary by panel).
2025: Should employees have the right to decline work-related calls post-work hours? / Should gig workers be given permanent status?
- 2024: Ethical implications of AI in daily life / Impact of social media on mental health / Unity and diversity in modern India.
- 2023: Remote work culture and productivity / Sustainable business practices / CSR in modern corporations.
- 2022: Capitalism and democracy cannot co-exist.
In management, we don't need people who have never experienced setbacks.
- 2018: Ethical practices and sustainability: do they co-exist?
- 2017: Globalization and Jingoism always coexist.
- 2016: Technology and Nature are natural enemies.
- 2015: Listening is a dying art. We hardly listen to understand. We only listen to refute or reply.
- 2014: The most beautiful thing can neither be seen nor be touched but can only be felt.
- 2013: Corruption is the root cause of economic slowdown in India.
- 2012: Government is not addressing the root cause of poverty.
OR
Government is not able to implement the policies properly due to the huge magnitude of poverty.
- 2011: The statesman who would attempt to direct private people in what manner they ought to employ their capitals, would not only load himself with a most unnecessary attention, but assume an authority which could safely be trusted to no council and senate whatever, and which would nowhere be so dangerous as in the hands of a man who had folly and presumption enough to fancy himself fit to exercise it.
- 2010: Earth provides enough to satisfy everybody's need but not everybody's greed.
In recent years (2022 onwards), essays are part of GD/PI and often aligned with current socio-economic, ethical, or management-related themes. Older topics (pre-2022) were from the written exam.
Sample Essay (for XAT 2027 GD/PI Preparation)
Listening is a dying art. We hardly listen to understand. We only listen to refute or reply.
"It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and another to hear."
― Henry David Thoreau
The pursuit of knowledge distinguishes man from beast. However, it has never been linear or smooth, being interrupted and redirected by dogmas, suppression and extremism. Democratic systems were supposed to provide freedom of speech but limitations still exist due to our inability to listen without ulterior motives.
Selective listening is a hurdle in our efforts to synthesize diverse viewpoint. Political discourse in the country has been reduced to a sham, as opposition leaders are more interested in finding faults in the government, rather than discussing our nation's problems. Public debates are limited to finger pointing and name-calling, as there is no room left for listening to voices of disagreement.
Fault lies with the media as well, wherein quality of journalism has somehow become a function of the decibel levels of news anchors. While discussions in news channels are supposed to highlight national problems, they now behave like entertainment channels, with the sole aim of increasing TRPs.
As we continue to embrace liberalism, there is a greater need to adopt it more comprehensively. When we open our mind and heart to different views, only then will true harmony be established. When we stop being offended at the slightest opposition, only then will social consciousness strengthen. When we actually start listening, only then will we speak in one voice.
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