Know this. There are no paper-wise exemptions at Foundation: missing 40% in any single paper means sitting all four again.
- Run by
- The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)
- Admits you to
- The first level of the CA course under ICAI's new scheme. Passing it (after Class 12) lets you register for CA Intermediate, then articleship and CA Final.
- Who can sit
- Register with ICAI's Board of Studies after Class 10; you may sit the Foundation exam once you have appeared in the Class 12 exam, provided you registered at least four months before the exam month. Graduates (55% for commerce, 60% for others) can skip Foundation through Direct Entry to Intermediate.
- Pattern
- Four papers of 100 marks each: Accounting, Business Laws (both descriptive), Quantitative Aptitude (business mathematics, logical reasoning and statistics) and Business Economics (both objective, with negative marking). To pass you need at least 40% in each paper and 50% aggregate in one sitting.
- When
- Three sittings a year, in January, May and September.
- Limits
- No age limit and no cap on attempts is set in the prospectus; you must pass all four papers together in one sitting.
Courses it leads to
Sources, checked 2026-09-28: www.icai.org · resource.cdn.icai.org · resource.cdn.icai.org · boslive.icai.org