CA Exam Pattern 2024 for Foundation, Intermediate and Final

Want to know the CA Exam Pattern 2024? Chartered Accountancy Course is divided into four levels CA Foundation, CA Intermediate, Articleship Training and CA Final. Each level tests students on different paper patterns based on their level and maturity.

ICAI has a tendency to bring changes as per the demand of the industry from time to time. It revised the whole syllabus on 01/07/2017 in which CA Foundation replaced CPT, CA Intermediate replaced CA IPCC and CA Final (new course) replaced CA Final (Old Course).

And once again, ICAI has issued a notification where ICAI brought some changes in the Paper pattern at CA Intermediate and CA Final levels and also introduced some tests during the articleship training period.

In this article, we are discussing the various CA exam patterns at different levels in the CA Course.

CA Foundation Exam Pattern

CA Foundation is the entry-level test in CA Course which tests whether students are capable to pursue Chartered Accountancy or not.

CA Foundation Exam Overview

Registration Mode	Online
Frequency	May & Nov
Mode of Exam	Offline
Time Duration of Examination	3 hours per paper
Total No. Of Papers in CA	4
Negative Marking	Allotted in only fourth subject with 1/4th marks
Eligibility	Candidates appearing for class 12th, candidates who have cleared class 12th, candidates after completion of graduation
Official Website	icai.org
Difficulty Level	Moderate

Eligibility

Candidates can register for CA Foundation Course after appearing in 12th Examination constituted by law or recognized by the CG. Thereafter, you have to undergo a study period of 4 months after registration to appear in CA Foundation Examination.

CA Foundation Paper Pattern

The CA Foundation exam pattern is based on partially subjective and partially objective questions. CA Foundation syllabus is covered four subjects:

1. Principles and Practices of Accounting.
2. Business Law and Business Correspondence and Reporting.
3. Business Mathematics and Logical Reasoning and Statistics.
4. Business Economics and Business and Commercial Knowledge.

The first two papers in the above list are subjective and the latter two are objective-based. There is no negative marking in the subjective papers but objective papers contain negative marking where each wrong answer will deduct your 0.25 marks.

Students appearing in CA Foundation Exam have to score a minimum of 40% marks in each individual subject and 50% in aggregate of all the subjects to qualify for this entrance test.

Papers	Subject	Marks Distribution
Paper 1	Accounting	(100 Marks)
Paper 2	Business Laws	(100 Marks)
Paper 3	Quantitative Aptitude	(100 Marks)
Paper 4	Business Economics	(100 Marks)

Also, Read: How to clear ca foundation in the first attempt

Exam Pattern of CA Intermediate

After qualifying CA Foundation candidates are eligible to pursue this course where they meet the first level as CA Intermediate. The syllabus of CA Intermediate has covered 8 subjects and 2 groups. ICAI conducts the subjective-based test in CA Intermediate.

Students can appear in a single group or both groups at a time according to their preparation and they must secure 40% marks in each and every subject along with 50% marks in aggregate of all the subjects in one sitting.

Conducting Body	ICAI (Institute of Chartered Accountants in India)
Level of Exam	National Level
Registration Mode	Online through the Official Website
Frequency	In the month of May and November
Exam Mode	Offline
Medium of Exam	In both Hindi and English Languages
Total No. Of Papers	6
Total Marks	100 Marks per paper
Negative Marking	No Negative Marking
Official Website	icai.org
Question Pattern	Both Objective and Subjective

Objective Exam Pattern from May 2024

CA Intermediate exam pattern is slightly changed from this year. ICAI has issued a notification in which students are informed that from May 2024 attempt, the following papers at such level will be partially based on objective-type questions –

Intermediate (New Course)
Paper	Subjects
2	Corporate and Other Laws
4	Taxation
6	Auditing and Assurance
7	Enterprise Information System and Strategic Management

ICAI has informed that the above papers will comprise 30% objective-type questions and the remaining 70% would be based on the present CA exam pattern. Objective-type questions will be MCQ-based questions, having one or more marks. Unlike CPT, there will be no negative marking for the wrong answers. Students shall also note that objective-based questions will be compulsory and there be no internal or external choice in them.

To Know about the CA Intermediate Exam Pattern you can analyze the CA Intermediate previous year’s papers and we also suggest you to download the CA Intermediate Papers.

2.5 Years of Articleship Training

Articleship training can be commenced once you have cleared either single or both groups of CA Intermediate. This training is a mandatory part of the Chartered Accountancy course. Till now, students are not required to appear in any exam during their articleship period except in ITT and OT programs.

However, ICAI has announced some mandatory tests during the articleship period to test the practical knowledge the candidates have gained from the practical training. It will also test the candidate’s ability to implement theoretical knowledge in the real world. The test will be a compulsory part of your practical training. Council has decided to conduct two tests after the first and second years of articleship training.

For first-year students, the test would conduct 75 marks, and the duration for such will be 2 hours. While the second-year student will have to face a 100 marks test, and the duration for such will be 3 hours.

Students completing their first and second year of training in a particular quarter are required to appear in the subsequent quarter for such a test.

Grades will be assigned based on student performance, and such grades will appear in your CA Final Marksheet. Unlike CA exams, a student can occur in such tests a maximum of two times only to improve their grades.

CA Final Exam Pattern

After qualifying both the groups of CA Intermediate, one can get himself to enrol for the CA Final course. CA Final is the last level in the Chartered Accountancy curriculum and its vast syllabus is divided into 6 subjects. As per the present assessment, CA Final is a completely subjective based exam pattern.

Conducting Body	ICAI- Institute of Chartered Accountants in India
Level of Exam	National Level
Registration Mode	Online
Frequency	May and November
Exam Mode	Offline
Medium of Exam	In both Hindi and English Languages
Duration of Exam	3 Hours per paper
Types of question Pattern	Objective and Subjective
Total Marks	100 Marks per subject
Total Subjects	As per the old and new syllabus total of 8 subjects
Negative Marking	No Negative Marking

However, from May 2024 CA Final attempt, ICAI has introduced a partially objective-based exam pattern in the following subjects similar to CA Intermediate –

CA Final (New Course)
Paper	Subject
3	Advanced Auditing and Professional Ethics
4	Corporate and Economic Laws
7	Direct Tax Laws and International Taxation
8	Indirect Tax Laws

The objective-based questions will be MCQ-based questions and they will form a compulsory part of the paper. Although, ICAI has cleared that there will be no negative marking for such wrong answers.

After clearing this level, you will become a Chartered Accountant. Hope you found this information on the CA Exam Pattern helpful, any query can be asked in the comment box.

Also, Download the CA Final Paper with Suggested Answers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. How many papers have to be attempted by the aspirants for the CA foundation exam, CA intermediate, and CA final exam?

Ans: For the CA foundation exam aspirants have to appear for 4 subject exams, for CA intermediate aspirants have to appear for 6 subjects including both old and new subjects, and for CA final exam aspirants have to appear for 6 subjects including both old and new subjects.

Q2. What is the study time required for the CA intermediate preparations?

Ans: The study time required for the CA intermediate preparations is 8 months.

Q3. Can CA aspirants use calculators in the CA foundation, CA intermediate, and CA final exams?

Ans: CA aspirants are allowed to use calculators in the CA foundation, CA intermediate, and CA final exams as per ICAI guidelines. The calculators used by the aspirants must be battery operated, have only 6 functions, and only 12 digits with 2 memories.

Q4. Is ICAI study material enough for the CA Foundation, CA Intermediate, and CA final exams?

Ans: Yes, ICAI study material is enough for the preparation of the CA foundation, CA Inter, and CA final exams point of view.