CA Foundation Exam Dates 2026 (May & Sep): Check Complete ICAI Exam Schedule Here

If we compare CA Foundation with the other two levels of CA course, the difficulty level of CA Foundation papers is easy to moderate. But, as this is the first level of CA course, students might find the paper tough to crack.

The total pass percentage of CA Foundation exam conducted in January 2026 was only 19.23%. This means that candidates usually take more than one attempt to clear the exam.

Candidates need to score 40 per cent in each paper of every group/course level and 50 per cent in aggregate in all the papers of a group/course level. This minimum mark criterion is applicable to all three courses - CA Foundation, CA Intermediate and CA Final. Candidates cannot move to the next level of the Chartered Accountancy course until they clear the previous level. A very few percentage of candidates get a high score as the scores of All India toppers are usually below 75%. Candidates can take any number of attempts to clear a course level. The process includes practical training as well.

CA exams for all the three levels are being held thrice in a year from 2025. The first phase exams are held in May and June and the second phase exams are held in September. The third phase exam is held in January. Registrations for the May-June exams is held in February-March and registrations for September exam is done in July and registration for January exam is done in October-November. Candidates can register and appear for the exam as per their preparation and articleship completion. For any phase of exam, they need to fill the form and pay exam fee through registered login ID.

Yes, candidates will get up to 15 minutes of late entry to CA Foundation Paper 1, 2, 3, and 4. However, students are advised to reach the exam centre early to avoid getting late.

There are four papers in CA Foundation exam. According to exam pattern, Paper 1 & 2 have subjective type questions, and Paper 3 & 4 have objective type questions. ICAI will only give 15 minutes advance reading time for Paper 1 and Paper 2. 

The question paper seal for Paper 3 and 4 will be opened at 2 PM, i.e., the exam commencement time only.

No, ICAI will not send physical admit card to any candidate for CA Foundation exam. Eligible candidates will have to download and take a print out of their admit card on their own.

The time duration of ICAI CA exams varies for each paper. For some papers, the duration is three hours whereas for some papers it is two hours. The time limit of CA Foundation paper 3 and 4 is two hours and for rest of the papers across levels is three hours. There is no sectional time limit in CA exams. 

One can register for CA Foundation after Class 10 but can pursue the course only after completing Class 12. Until then, ICAI registration will remain provisional, as the minimum eligibility criteria for CA Foundation is Class 12 pass. The advantage of registering for the course after class 10 though is that you can start preparing for it along with your studies. If you choose commerce stream in class 11 and 12, it will be even easier for you to prepare for CA Foundation.

Ernst & Young (EY), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) and Deloitte are the top private companies that hire CAs. They are known as The Big Four. CA professionals can seek employment in these companies as well as other enterprises if they don't want to practice independently.

The ICAI has its own placement cell to, through which it provides placements to candidates who complete the Chartered Accountancy course. Some of the top companies that participate in the campus placements are Infosys, Pankaj Somaiya Associates LLP, Prism Johnson Limited, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Bandhan AMC Ltd, Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited, Hindalco Industries, Ford Motor Private Limited, LIC Housing Finance Ltd, Axis Bank among others.

There are four papers in CA Foundation exam. Check below marks and timings of CA Foundation papers:

No, there is no sectional time limit in CA Foundation exam. Candidates have to complete their Paper 1 and Paper 2 in 3 hours and answer questions of Paper 3 and Paper 4 in two hours.

Note: There is no break between two papers.

CA exams are held in over 150 cities across India and in 8 overseas locations – Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Kampala, Kathmandu, Kuwait and Muscat. 

Indian cities where the CA exams are held include Port Blair, Anantapur, Eluru, Guntur, Kadapa, Kakinada, Kurnool, Nellore, Ongole, Rajamahendravaram, Srikakulam, Tirupati, Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat, Silchar and Tinsukia, Bilaspur, Durg, Raigarh, Raipur, Rajnandgaon, Chandigarh, Delhi, Mapusa, Margao, Ahmedabad, Anand, Bharuch, Bhavnagar, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Gandhinagar, Himatnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Mehsana, Nadiad, Navsari, Palanpur, Porbandar, Rajkot, Surat, Surendranagar, Vadodara and Vapi, Ambala, Bahadurgarh, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Fatehabad, Gurgaon (Gurugram), Hisar, Jind, Kaithal, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Narnaul, Panipat, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa, Sonepat and Yamuna Nagar, Shimla, Jammu, Srinagar, Bokaro Steel City, Deoghar, Dhanbad, Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur, Ramgarh and Ranchi, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Bellary, Bengaluru, Chikkaballapur, Chitradurga, Davangere, Gadag, Hassan, Haveri, Hubli, Kalaburgi (Gulbarga), Kolar, Koppal, Mandya, Mangalore, Mysore, Raichur, Shimoga, Sirsi, Tumakuru, Udupi, Vijayapura, Adoor, Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Idukki, Kalpetta, Kannur, Kasaragod, Kollam (Quilon), Kottayam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur, Bhopal, Burhanpur, Chhindwara Gwalior, Indore, Jabalpur, Katni, Khandwa, Mandsaur, Neemuch, Ratlam, Rewa, Sagar, Satna and Ujjain, Ahmednagar, Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad, Badlapur, Beed, Bhiwandi, Khamgaon (Buldhana), Chandrapur, Dhule, Gondia, Ichalkaranji, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nanded, Nandurbar, Nasik, Navi Mumbai, Palghar, Panvel, Parbhani, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg, Solapur, Thane, Vasai, Wardha and Yavatmal, Shillong, Balangir, Berhampur (Brahmapur), Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Jharsuguda, Rayagada, Rourkela and Sambalpur, Puducherry, Amritsar, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Mandi Gobindgarh, Pathankot, Patiala, Sangrur, Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Beawar, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittorgarh, Churu, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Kishangarh, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Marwar, Rajsamand, Sikar, Sirohi, Sri Ganganagar and Udaipur, Gangtok, Chennai, Coimbatore, Cuddalore, Dharmapuri, Dindigul, Erode, Hosur, Kancheepuram, Karaikudi, Karur, Kumbakonam, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Nagercoil, Namakkal, Pudukkottai, Salem, Sivakasi, Theni, Tiruchirapalli, Tirunelveli, Tirupur, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Tuticorin, Vellore and Villupuram, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda, Nizamabad and Warangal, Agartala, Agra, Aligarh, Allahabad (Prayagraj), Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Noida, Saharanpur and Varanasi, Dehradun, Haldwani, Haridwar and Kashipur, Asansol, Durgapur, Hooghly, Kharagpur, Kolkata, Raniganj and Siliguri.

The fees for registration of CA Foundation course is INR 9,000 for single group and the exam fee is INR 1500. Candidates have to pay CA exam fee at the time of form submission. They must do so before the deadline set for the CA Foundation exam of a particular phase to avoid penalty of late fee of INR 600. The fee is non-refundable. The fee payment is to be done through credit card, debit card or net banking. 

ICAI certification for CA professionals has a lot of credibility across the world which is why many candidates living abroad pursue this course. Members of Indian communities who live abroad also pursue the CA course by ICAI. The exam is conducted in eight cities for all course levels. They are:

1.     Abu Dhabi

2.     Bahrain

3.     Thimpu

4.     Doha

5.     Dubai

6.     Kathmandu

7.     Muscat

8.     Kuwait

Candidates living in the above mentioned cities can pursue the CA course and appear for the level while exams by registering at ICAI website. The test city will be allotted to candidates as per the choice mentioned in the ICAI CA application form.

No, there is no paper-wise exemption in CA Foundation exam. Candidates must appear and clear all four papers in the same attempt. In case a candidate fails any of the paper/s, he or she must retake all papers again to pass this level.

The Integrated Professional Competence Course or IPCC examination is an improvised version of the PCC examination for Chartered Accountants in India. A student can register for IPCC after completing the CA CPT (Foundation) exam, without article registration.

After clearing the Group-I papers of the IPCC, the aspirant can register for the articles. Under the new scheme of IPCC, the student is eligible to appear for the final year examination during their last six months of their article ship.

All the candidates who had registered for the PCC examination on or before January 2009 were eligible to appear in the new version of the IPCC examination. They have to complete the nine months of the study course and a hundred hours of orientation course and Information Technology Training before taking up the final Group-II examination of CA Intermediate course.  

The CA Intermediate and Final exam results are announced on the same day and CA Foundation result is announced on a separate date. The CA Foundation exam results are announced a few days after the announcement of CA Intermediate and CA Final results for a particular session. For example, the CA Inter and CA Final results of May 2023 were released in July and CA Foundation result of the same session was announced in August 2023. The CA result announcement date for each course is announced by the ICAI beforehand. The announcement is made on the website and social media platforms so that students know the when to download their scorecards.

There are two types of questions asked in CA Foundation exam. Paper 1 and Paper 2 have subjective type questions. Paper 3 and Paper 4 have objective type questions.

There is negative marking of 0.25 for every incorrect answer in Paper 3 and Paper 4 only.

Check below to know exam duration for all papers of CA Foundation exam:

• Paper 1 & 2 - 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM
• Paper 3 & 4 - 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM

To clear CA Foundation exam, a candidate must score at least 40% in each of the four papers and overall 50% in aggregate in all papers. If a candidate fails to do so, he/she will have to retake the exam.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India will conduct upcoming session of CA Foundation exam in May 2026. The exam dates have been released. The ICAI CA Foundation May 2026 exam will be conducted on 14th, 16th, 18th & 20th May 2026.