ICAI CA Exemption Rules for Inter and Final Exams

ICAI offers exemptions to students in CA Intermediate and CA Final exam. Under this provision, candidates who have scored 60% or more in one subject can avail exemption in another subject with a low score. To get exemption from ICAI, candidates must meet certain eligibility requirements. Check this page to know ICAI exemption rules and more.

ICAI CA Exemption Rules

ICAI Exemption Rules: Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) conducts CA exam at three different levels - Foundation, Intermediate and Final. Keeping the difficulty level of these exams and the fact that students usually take 2-3 attempts to clear this exam, ICAI offers some exemptions to students. Students must note that ICAI exemptions are given for CA Inter and CA Final exam only. No exemption is given for CA Foundation exams.

There are 2 groups in both CA Inter and CA Final exam. If a candidate has secured 60% or more marks in one subject and fails in another, he/she will be granted exemption. This means that the candidate does not have to re-appear for that paper in next attempts.

Check this page to know more about CA exemption rules for CA Inter and CA Final, how it works, what is the eligibility criteria to avail exemption, how many exemptions are offered, how to get exemption, and more.

ICAI Exemption Rules for Inter and Final Exam

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has laid down the same CA exemption criteria for both CA Intermediate and CA Final course. Only those candidates who will meet these requirements will be given exemption.

• A student must have scored 60% or more in any paper(s) of same group to get exemption
• Exemption is only valid for next three attempts.
• The student must have appeared for all papers in that group.
• After availing exemption, a candidate can appear for those subjects in next attempt in which they have score less than 60%.
• ICAI offers exemption subject-wise and not for complete group.

Note - A candidate will be declared PASS in a group only if he/she has scores a minimum of 40% in each subject and an aggregate of 50% in all subjects, with 60 marks in their previous exam.

Check Out:

CA Intermediate Exam Dates 2026

CA Final Exam Dates 2026

Important Points Related to CA Exemption

Check out some important things to know regarding ICAI CA Exemption for Inter and Final exam:

• ICAI will automatically grant exemptions to a CA Final or CA Inter student, if eligible.
• The status of exemption will be mentioned on the candidate’s marksheet.
• A student cannot take new exemption until previous exemption has been used.
• The exempted students can find # sign against the subject in which they have scored less than 60%.
• If the exemption for a certain subject is still valid and not used by the candidate, it will be carried forward to next attempt. Such subjects will be marked as

Common Mistakes Students Make While Availing ICAI Exemptions

There are some confusions among students regarding CA Exemption rules which results in mistakes and lost opportunity. Check out below points to know what to avoid:

• Most students believe exemption is valid forever.
• Students do not appear for all papers of a group and try to seek exemption.
• Most students are confused about passing marks and exemption marks.
• Many students miss the three consecutive attempt period validity.

Note - ICAI also offers Permanent Exemption to students whose 3 attempt exemption criteria have lapsed.

Check Out: Guidelines for CA Final May 2026 Permanent Exemptions

How Many Exemptions Can I Avail?

As there are two groups in CA Intermediate and CA Final each and 3 subjects per group, a candidate can only avail for 2 exemptions in one group. It is because if a candidate is given exemption in all three subjects of a group, it would mean that the candidate has cleared the group, which is not possible.

Note - If a candidate does not uses his/her exemption within given period, their exemption will lapse. Also, a candidate is not eligible for an exemption until he/she has completely exhausted previously availed exemptions.

For How Long is CA Exemption Valid?

As per ICAI exemption rules, a candidate can use one exemption for the next 3 attempts of that exam. For example, if a candidate availed for exemption in CA Final May 2025 exam, that exemption is valid for September 2025, January 2026 and May 2026.

Read More:

CA Intermediate Syllabus

CA Intermediate Question Papers

CA Intermediate Exam Pattern

CA Final Syllabus

CA Final Exam Pattern