ICAI CA

Overview

Chartered Accountancy (CA) is the professional course run by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). ICAI launched its current New Scheme of Education and Training on 1 July 2023. The scheme has three levels, Foundation, Intermediate and Final, plus self-paced online modules, IT and soft-skills courses, and two years of practical training (articleship). ICAI says the scheme follows the International Education Standards of the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the National Education Policy 2020.

You pass the Final examination, finish all the required training, and then apply for ICAI membership to qualify as a Chartered Accountant.

Who can apply

There are two ways into the course.

• Foundation route: You can register for Foundation once you have passed Class 10. You must have taken your Class 12 exams before you sit the Foundation exam. After passing Class 12 and Foundation, you move to Intermediate.

• Direct entry to Intermediate: You can skip Foundation if you are a commerce graduate or postgraduate with at least 55% in aggregate, or a graduate or postgraduate from another stream with at least 60%. The same applies if you have passed the Intermediate level of the Institute of Company Secretaries of India or the Institute of Cost Accountants of India. For commerce graduates, the degree must include enough accounting, law, tax, costing, management or similar papers to meet ICAI's rules. Final-year students can register provisionally, but they must show that they passed with the required marks before they apply for the Intermediate exam.

All registrations go through ICAI's Self Service Portal at eservices.icai.org.

Levels or stages

Foundation

• Four papers of 100 marks each: Accounting, Business Laws, Quantitative Aptitude (business mathematics, logical reasoning and statistics), and Business Economics.

• Papers 1 and 2 are descriptive. Papers 3 and 4 are objective, and each wrong answer in them loses 0.25 marks.

• Exams are held three times a year, in January, May and September.

• You must register at least four months before the first day of the exam month.

• Your registration is valid for four years from your first eligible attempt, and it cannot be renewed.

Intermediate

• Six papers in two groups:

  • Group I: Advanced Accounting; Corporate and Other Laws; Taxation (Income-tax Law and GST, 50 marks each).

  • Group II: Cost and Management Accounting; Auditing and Ethics; Financial Management and Strategic Management (50 marks each).

• In every paper, about 30% of the marks come from MCQs based on case scenarios and 70% from descriptive questions. Wrong MCQ answers do not lose marks.

• Exams are held three times a year, in January, May and September.

• You must register at least eight months before the first day of the exam month. You register for both groups, but you can sit one group at a time.

• Your registration is valid for five years and can be renewed once, for another five years.

Practical training

After passing both Intermediate groups, you complete the four-week Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (ICITSS). Then you start two years of practical training. You can spend nine to twelve months of it as industrial training in the last part of the two years. After practical training, and before you sit the Final exam, you complete the four-week Advanced ICITSS.

Final

• Six papers of 100 marks each:

  • Group I: Financial Reporting; Advanced Financial Management; Advanced Auditing, Assurance and Professional Ethics.

  • Group II: Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation; Indirect Tax Laws; Integrated Business Solutions.

• Integrated Business Solutions is an open-book paper made up entirely of case studies that draw on several subjects. It includes Strategic Management. The other five papers are closed-book. These five follow the same format as Intermediate: 30% case-based MCQs and 70% descriptive questions, with no negative marking.

• To sit the Final exam, you must be registered for Final and have finished practical training by the cut-off, which is six months before the first day of the exam month. You must also have completed Advanced ICITSS and passed all four self-paced online modules.

• Your registration is valid for ten years and can be renewed every ten years.

Self-paced online modules

You register for the modules when you register for Final. Set A (Corporate and Economic Laws) and Set B (Strategic Cost and Performance Management) are compulsory. You also choose one subject from Set C (10 options) and one from Set D (4 options). You qualify in a module by scoring at least 50%, and you can attempt a module as many times as you need. There is no negative marking, and module marks are not added to your Final exam marks.

Exam pattern

Passing criteria and results

• Foundation: In one sitting, score at least 40% in each paper and at least 50% in aggregate across all papers.

• Intermediate and Final: For each group, score at least 40% in each paper and at least 50% in aggregate across that group's papers, in one sitting. If you sit both groups together, you can also pass both by scoring at least 40% in every paper and at least 50% in aggregate across both groups combined. You can pass the groups in different sittings.

• Exemptions: Say you sit every paper in a group, fail the group, but score 60% or more in some papers. You are exempted from those papers for the next three exams. To pass the group, you need at least 40% in each remaining paper and at least 50% in aggregate, with the exempted papers counted in the aggregate. If you still have not passed after those three exams, you can keep the exemption permanently. After that, you need at least 50% in each remaining paper of the group.

Important dates

For the September and November 2026 cycle, ICAI scheduled the Foundation and Intermediate exams for September 2026 and the Final exam for November 2026. The online exam forms were open from 6 July to 19 July 2026 without a late fee, and until 22 July 2026 with a late fee. The Final November 2026 form reopened with a late fee from 1 to 5 August 2026. Check the ICAI examination page for the exact paper dates.

Fees

Course registration fees, as given in ICAI's FAQ on the new scheme:

Exam fees for the September and November 2026 cycle, for centres in India:

For this cycle, the late fee was Rs 600. The fees are higher at the Kathmandu, Bahrain and Dubai centres.

How to apply

1. Register for the course (Foundation, or Intermediate through direct entry) on the ICAI Self Service Portal.

2. Complete the minimum study period for your level before the exam month.

3. Fill in the online exam form on eservices.icai.org within the announced window. Forms usually open about two months before each exam.

4. Download your admit card and follow the guidance notes ICAI publishes for each exam.

Preparation tips

• Download the syllabus and study material from the ICAI Board of Studies pages for the new scheme.

• In Foundation Papers 3 and 4, wrong answers lose marks, so avoid guessing blindly there.

• At Intermediate and Final, practise case-based MCQs as well as long descriptive answers. They carry 30% and 70% of each paper.

• Plan your training so that ICITSS, articleship, Advanced ICITSS and the self-paced modules all finish before your Final exam.

FAQs