CA Foundation

CA Foundation is ICAI’s entry-level professional examination for students beginning the Chartered Accountancy route. It tests foundational knowledge in accounting, business law, quantitative aptitude and business economics before a student progresses to ICAI’s Intermediate level. It is a professional-qualification examination, not a replacement for an undergraduate degree such as B.Com or BBA; students may pursue those degrees separately alongside the CA pathway.

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• ICAI’s New Scheme comprises Foundation, Intermediate and Final levels, with self-paced online modules included in the broader CA structure.
• Candidates who pass Foundation and Class 12 are eligible to register for Intermediate through the Foundation route.

Students can register for the Foundation Course after passing Class 10. ICAI requires a minimum four-month registration period ending on or before the first day of the examination month, and candidates must have appeared in the Class 12/Senior Secondary examination conducted by a legally constituted examining body or a recognised equivalent.

For the September 2026 sitting specifically, ICAI required Foundation registration on or before 1 May 2026. Applicants who had appeared in Class 12 could apply provisionally, but had to upload their Class 12 admit card or marksheet in the Self Service Portal (SSP) by 10 August 2026 for an admit card to be issued.

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• A recognised Class 12 equivalent can meet the academic-examination condition.
• Foundation registration is ordinarily valid for four years from the first eligible Foundation attempt; ICAI’s FAQ states that revalidation is not permitted at Foundation level.
• Certain graduates/postgraduates and candidates who have passed the intermediate examination of ICMAI or ICSI may be exempt from passing Foundation and may use ICAI’s Direct Entry route to Intermediate, subject to ICAI’s stated criteria.

CA Foundation is a 400-mark, four-paper descriptive-cum-objective examination. Papers 1 and 2 are subjective/descriptive, while Papers 3 and 4 are objective. ICAI applies negative marking of 0.25 mark for each wrong answer in the objective papers.

The four papers are Accounting; Business Laws; Quantitative Aptitude, covering Business Mathematics, Logical Reasoning and Statistics; and Business Economics. ICAI permits candidates to choose English or Hindi medium when submitting the examination form, although it specifies particular bilingual and OMR arrangements for some papers.

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• Paper 1: Accounting — 100 marks.
• Paper 2: Business Laws — 100 marks.
• Paper 3: Quantitative Aptitude — 100 marks.
• Paper 4: Business Economics — 100 marks.
• Pass requirement: at least 40% in every paper and 50% aggregate in the same sitting.
• No paper-wise exemption is available at Foundation level.

First, create or access an ICAI Self Service Portal account and register for the Foundation Course with the Board of Studies. After the required study period and Class 12 condition are met, submit a separate online examination application through SSP for the intended session; course registration alone does not enter a student for the examination.

ICAI’s September 2026 guidance states that applicants should verify their course-registration status, uploaded photograph and signature, Class 12 documentation, selected examination centre and medium before making online payment. After successful payment, retain the generated bar-coded examination-form PDF. ICAI states that a hard copy does not need to be sent to the Examination Department.

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• For September 2026, ICAI opened the exam form on 6 July 2026, set 19 July 2026 as the no-late-fee deadline, and allowed submissions with late fee through 22 July 2026.
• For that session, ICAI scheduled a correction window from 23 to 25 July 2026; centre and medium changes were not entertained after the correction window closed.
• For September 2026, the India-centre exam fee was ₹1,500; Kathmandu was ₹2,200; Bahrain and Dubai were US$325. These are session-specific charges, so applicants should consult the current fee notice.

Start with ICAI’s prescribed Foundation study material and syllabus, then plan study across all four papers because the pass rule requires both a paper-wise minimum and an aggregate minimum. For the objective papers, include timed MCQ practice and account for the 0.25-mark penalty for wrong answers; for Accounting and Business Laws, practise descriptive answers under examination timing.

ICAI’s Board of Studies publishes Foundation study material, mock-test information and academic-support announcements. For the September 2026 session, ICAI announced mock-test-paper series and ‘Success at CA Exam’ sessions for Foundation candidates; these official resources are useful supplements to the prescribed material rather than substitutes for it.

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• Use the latest ICAI material and session-specific applicability announcements, particularly where business-law provisions or other examinable content may be updated.
• Practise the full four-paper sequence and preserve time for revision before the scheduled session.
• Use official mock tests and Board of Studies classes where available; availability and schedules vary by session.

Passing CA Foundation, together with passing Class 12 or its recognised equivalent, enables registration for ICAI’s Intermediate Course through the Foundation route. It is the first professional milestone in the CA pathway, rather than a qualification that by itself confers Chartered Accountant status.

As a dated indication of examination outcomes, ICAI reported that 18,124 of 90,217 candidates who appeared in the May 2026 Foundation examination passed, a pass percentage of 20.09%. This result is historical session data, not a prediction of difficulty or pass rates for later sessions.

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• Next CA step: register for ICAI Intermediate through the Foundation route after satisfying the stated Foundation and Class 12 conditions.
• B.Com, BBA and integrated law-commerce degrees can be pursued as separate academic programmes; admission rules are set by the relevant university or institution, not by CA Foundation alone.