The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has announced the eligibility criteria for candidates aiming to appear for the CA Final Examinations in September 2025 and January 2026.
The guidelines specify the necessary completion of articleship, course participation, and Self-Paced Online Modules (SPOM) for exam qualification.
For the September 2025 session, candidates must complete their three-year articleship training by 31 August 2025.
Alternatively, those in the final six months of articleship as of 1 September 2025, completing by 28 February 2026, may apply if they belong to the Intermediate/IPCC/IIPCE student category.
Completion of the Advanced Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (AICITSS) is also required.
Candidates transitioning from the old CA Final course to the new course, having appeared in the older format at least once, are exempt from completing AICITSS before the exam but must do so before applying for ICAI membership.
An essential eligibility component is the SPOM and the Self-Paced Module Test (SPMT).
Candidates admitted to the CA Final exams until November 2023 are exempt from Set C and D of the SPMT but must qualify Sets A and B.
Those registered for the May 2024 exams are also exempt from SPMT but need to pass Sets A and B before membership application.
Other candidates must qualify all sets — A, B, C, and/or D — based on the number of Intermediate-level papers cleared.
Students who cleared both groups of the CA Intermediate exam up to November 2023 and completed 2.5 years of articleship training (including excess leave) by 31 August 2025, are exempt from Sets C and D.
Those who cleared one group by November 2023 and the other under the unit scheme between May 2024 and May 2025 must qualify all applicable SPOM sets based on the number of Intermediate papers passed.
For the January 2026 session, the rules are similarly structured.
Candidates in a three-year articleship must complete training (including excess leave) by 31 December 2025 or be in the final six months of training as of 1 January 2026, completing by 30 June 2026.
Those in the two-year articleship model must conclude training by 30 June 2025.
All other eligibility conditions, including SPOM and AICITSS requirements, mirror those set for the September 2025 exams.
In March 2025, ICAI announced the CA Foundation and Intermediate January exam results 2025.
