CA Institute, the world’s largest accounting body, has decided to hold its Foundation and Intermediate Course exams thrice in a year. Instead of twice a year in May and November, the exams will now be held in January, May/June, and September.

This was decided at a meeting of the Central Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) in the capital on Thursday. 

Ranjeet Kumar Agarwal, President, ICAI, said, “The decision taken by the ICAI will benefit the students who have completed their study period to appear in the exam without waiting for 2 months. Globally, the frequency of examinations is more so that students can get more opportunities to sit in the exam. Considering this, ICAI has aligned itself with global best practices. I am sure that this decision would be a great step forward towards encouraging the young aspirants who wish to pursue their dream of becoming Chartered Accountants.”

However, sources said the exam calendar for the Final Course has not changed, and it will continue to be held in the months of May and November each year, sources said. 

Currently, ICAI has 4 lakh members and 8.5 lakh students. 

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Agarwal recently said that ICAI sees the need for the country to have at least 30 lakh chartered accountants by 2047 when the country aims to be a developed country. 

Exam frequency

As the interval between the exams is reduced by 2 months, from the existing 6 months to 4 months, students are expected to have more opportunities to appear in the examination.

This will benefit the students who have completed their study period to appear in the exam without waiting for 2 months. 

Meanwhile, in the scheduled examination to be conducted in May / June 2024, as many as 4,36,500 students have enrolled so far. This is the highest enrollment for the exam till date, according to Agarwal. 

Tech-savvy professionals

In recent years, the ICAI has been proactively redesigning the education and training scheme to produce skilled and technology-savvy accounting professionals. 

ICAI’s new scheme of education and training introduced in 2023 covered all three levels of the CA course —CA Foundation, CA Intermediate, and CA Final. 

This new scheme has significantly altered the CA course curriculum and practical training duration. 

The new curriculum, implemented on July 1st of last year, aims to shape accounting professionals proficient in technology.

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