Requirements Guide To Using Process For May 2025 CA Exams

Becoming a Chartered Accountant (CA) is an esteemed and fulfilling career path, albeit a challenging one. To attain the coveted CA designation, aspiring individuals must successfully navigate a rigorous series of examinations administered by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). These examinations occur three times in a year, in May/June, September, and January, serving as the gateway to the CA profession. If you are planning to sit for the May 2025 Exams, it is essential to comprehend the prerequisites and steps involved in the application process. In this guide, we will outline the key requirements for applying to these exams. For the May 2025 Exams CA Foundation, Intermediate, and Final examinations, ICAI has published the eligibility criteria.

Those aspiring to take these exams in May 2025 should ensure their eligibility status through the Self-Service Portal (SSP). This verification step is crucial in confirming that they meet all the requirements before proceeding to conveniently complete the exam forms within SSP.

Applicants Must Meet the Following Criteria

Before commencing the application process, it’s imperative to confirm that you meet the eligibility criteria outlined by the ICAI. These criteria for the CA exams are detailed below:

• Foundation Course: Students who have enrolled in the CA Foundation course are eligible to sit for the Foundation examination, provided they have fulfilled a four-month study period from their date of registration.
• Intermediate (IPC) Course: Candidates who have either completed the CA Foundation course or have passed the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) are eligible to apply for the Integrated Professional Competence (IPC) examination.
• Final Course: Individuals who have successfully passed the IPC examination and completed the requisite articled training period are eligible to pursue the CA Final exam.

Membership in the ICAI is Required

To participate in the November or December CA exams, it is imperative to be officially enrolled with the ICAI. If you haven’t completed the registration process yet, you’ll need to initiate the registration procedure.

Here are the essential steps for becoming a registered CA student:

• Visit the official ICAI website (www.icai.org) and establish a student account.
• Complete the registration by remitting the necessary registration fee and providing the requisite documents.
• Upon successful registration, you will be issued a student registration number, a vital component for your exam application

Application for Examination

Candidates are advised to check their status at the Self-Service Portal (SSP) who wish to appear in the May 2025 Exams and be assured that they fulfill the eligibility criteria to be able to fill out the exam forms easily at SSP.

Please check the following before filing the exam form-

After ensuring your eligibility and successful registration with the ICAI, you can move on to the examination application process. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to apply:

Access the ICAI exam portal (https://icaiexam.icai.org).

• Sign in using your student registration number and password.
• Choose the examination you intend to take, which will typically be the November or December CA exams.
• Complete the examination application form, supplying precise personal and academic details.
• Utilize the provided online payment methods to remit the examination fee.
• Before submission, meticulously review the form to confirm its accuracy and completeness.

You are required to validate the following things before filing the exam form

• Candidates are obligated to keep valid login credentials on SSP. If not, please proceed to https://eservices.icai.org/ to create the login.
• Candidates are directed to have valid course registrations. For the case of expired course registration, please ensure to revalidate/convert on SSP.

Revalidation: Registration for the Final course remains valid for 5 years, Intermediate for 4 years, and Foundation Course for 3 years. To extend this validity after the specified period, students must revalidate their registration through the Self-Service Portal by paying the respective fees of INR 500, 400, or 300.

To Revalidate, use your login credentials of SSP and go to Student Functions–> Student Module–> Course Registration–> Revalidation

Conversion– Candidates whose course code in their dashboard is not required to convert to the new course before applying for the May 2025 Exam. No fees are needed to be paid. 

Final: NEWFIN23 or CONFIN23

Conversion: For Conversion, use your login credentials of SSP and go to Student Functions -> Student Module →Course Registration–> Apply for Conversion Convert Old to New Course

• Final: NEWFIN or CONFIG
• Intermediate: NEWINT or CONINT
• CPT: NEWFND or CONFND

Candidates whose latest photograph and signature are not available or are not of acceptable quality to be printed on marksheets are needed to upload/ change the same on the Self-Service Portal before filling up the exam form. The photograph/signatures should be as per the details furnished under “Photo Requirements” and “Signature Requirements” in this announcement.

Candidates whose articleship status (final) is in pending mode i.e. other than Registered (Registered inactive, Requested, Terminated, Requested for Termination, Approved by Member, Submitted, Asked for Correction, Saved, On Hold, Awaiting Competent Authority Approval, Rejected, Rejected by Member, rejected by RO) are needed to get their Articleship Training Deed status updated on SSP as registered). For Articleship Status, use your login credentials of SSP and go to Article Functions–> Articleship/Audit–> Articleship–> Articleship Application (Form 102/103). For any clarification, contact us at the email ids/phone numbers. At https://resource.cdn.icai.org/29576contact-sro19221.pdf

3. For any additional correction needed, raise a ticket in SSP or send mail to 

Final: final_examhelpline@icai.in

Below are the detailed Eligibility conditions for the May 2025 Final exams. It is suggested to the candidates to check that the data on SSP is updated to fulfill these additional needs

Intermediate candidates must confirm that they are registered for the specific group(s) they plan to attempt in the examination. You can verify your group-wise registration information within your SSP login.

If, for Intermediate candidates, their Registration Mode/Intermediate Flag (i.e., the pathway through which they registered for the Intermediate course, such as CPT/Foundation/Graduation/Post Graduation/The Institute Of Company Secretary Of India/Intermediate Examination Of The Institute Of Cost Accountants Of India, etc.) is either not visible or inaccurately displayed on their Student function dashboard, it is essential to create a support ticket in SSP to rectify this issue. This update should be addressed before the commencement of the examination application. Please note that for Intermediate candidates, updating the Intermediate Flag/Registration Mode is a mandatory requirement in SSP.

For any other necessary corrections, please raise a support ticket in SSP or contact us via email at [provide email address].

• Foundation: foundation_ examhelpline@icai.in
• Intermediate: intermediate_examhelpline@icai.in
• Final: final_examhelpline@icai.in

Realted – ICAI Guideline for Centres & Candidates for CA Exams

Final Course

A. Candidates must have registered/converted for the Final New Course.

B. Article Training-

The candidate should have completed the specified duration of 3 years or 3½ years, as the case may be, of articled training as of the date of filling out the exam application form

Or, 

The candidates should be due to complete the specified duration of 3 years or 3½ years as the case may be of articled training along with the excess leave if any on or before 30th April 2025,

Or, 

The candidate should be in service as on 01st May 2025 and serving the last 12 months of articled training including excess leave, if any, and due to complete 3 years on or before 30th April 2026. (for PE-II stream students and PE-II stream students converted to IPCC/IIPCC)

Or, 

The candidate should be in service as of 01st May 2025 and serving the last 6 months of articled training, including excess leave, If any, and due to complete 3½ years on or before 31st October 2025 (for PCC stream student),

Or, 

The candidate should be in the service as of 01st May 2025 and serving the last 6 months of training including excess leave, If any, and due to complete 3 years on or before 31st October 2025. (for Intermediate/IPCC/IIPCE students).

Or,

The candidate should be in service as on 01st May 2025 and serving the last twelve months of training including excess leave, if any, and due to complete 3½ years articleship on or before 30th April 2026. (for students converted from PE-II to PCC as well as students converted from PE-II to PCC and then to IPCC/IIPCE)

The candidates who have opted the termination are suggested to re-register for the balance period of training to be in the service as of 1st May 2025 and due to complete 3 years or 3½ years of training, as applicable (including excess leave taken, if any) on or before 31st October 2025 or 30th April 2026 as the case may be.

C. Advanced Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (AICITSS):

Students in terms of Regulation 29D(1)(iii) read with 51E/72E of the CA Regulations 1988, under the New Scheme of Education and Training ( implemented with effect from 1st July 2023) are needed to complete the Advanced Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (Advanced ICITSS) successfully for being qualified to appear in the Final Examination held under the syllabus approved by the Council under Regulation 31(v) of the CA Regulations 1988, the next examination of which is to be held in May 2025.

Or it can be said that the students must have completed Advanced ICITSS on or before 10th April 2025 to be qualified to appear in the May 2025 examinations. Candidates who have not passed the AICITSS – IT Test till now are suggested to visit https://resource.cdn.icai.org/82794exam66866.pdf to know the schedule of AICITSS– IT Test and clear the test to be eligible for the Final May 2025 exams.

Advanced ICITSS is a combination of Management & Communication Skills and Advanced IT Course, which comes into force from 1st July 2023 with the implementation of the New Scheme of Education and Training. Candidates are directed to experience the Advanced ICITSS Advanced IT test, driven by the Exam Dept. of ICAI, post completing the Advanced Information Technology component of the above-mentioned course.

It is cited that the students who experienced merely one, i.e. either GMCS II or

Advanced ITT under the Final (Old) course would be required to perform the left component, i.e. Advanced ICITSS (IT) or Advanced ICITSS(GMCS-II). They are not needed to perform the Advanced ICITSS (IT and MCS) in its entirety.

The candidates who have converted from the Final old course to the Final new course but appeared at least once in the Final (old) examination before then they are not need to complete Advanced ICITSS before appearing in the Final examination to be conducted in May 2025 though in any case they are needed to complete the Advanced ICITSS course before applying for the membership of the Institute. 

By tapping on the following link:

https://www.icai.org/post/exam-announ-221223 Candidates may also visit the announcement dated 22-12-2023

D. Self-paced Online Modules (SPOM)

The ICAI Exam department has launched Self-paced Module Test (SPMT) Portal https://spmt.icai.org for candidates who have completed prescribed learning hours for respective Self-Paced Online Module SET A: Corporate and Economic Laws and Module SET B: Strategic Cost & Performance Management.

Details of eligibility of such candidates are as below:

• The students who were admitted to the Final Examination till November 2023 are waived from appearing in Self-Paced Online Module Tests Set C and Set D. However, they must qualify for Set A and Set B before applying for membership as per below eligibility criteria:
• Students, excluding those who are covered under (A) above, who were admitted to the Final Examination of May 2024 are waived from appearing in Self-Paced Online Module Tests Set C and Set D. But, such students must qualify Set A and Set B before applying for membership.
• Students, excluding those covered under (A) & (B) above, who were admitted to the Final Examination of November 2024 are needed to mandatorily qualify Set A, B, C, and/or D as applicable on or before the 10th April 2025.
• Intermediate candidates who had cleared both the groups of Intermediate Examinations till November 2023 and completed the AICITSS Exam along with 2.5 years of article ship training, along with excess leave, on or before 30th April 2025 are waived from appearing in the Self-Paced Online Module Test Set C & D. However, it is obligatory to qualify SET A and Set B before applying for membership.
• Intermediate candidates who had cleared both the groups of Intermediate Examinations after November 2023 and completed the AICITSS Exam including with 2.5 years of article ship training, including excess leave, on or before 30th April 2025 are directed to mandatorily qualify all the Modules (i.e., SET A, B, C & D) before appearing in the Final Examinations i.e., on/before 10th April 2025.

Or

Intermediate students who had cleared either of the groups up to November 2023 or before and cleared the remaining Group under Unit Scheme from May 2024 to January 2025 and completed AICITSS Exam along with 2.5 years of article ship training, including excess leave, on or before 30th April 2025 are mandated to undergo and pass Self-Paced Online Modules before appearing in the Final Examinations i.e., on/before 10th April 2025 to become eligible for Final Examination to be held in May 2025 under the below eligibility criteria:

For any clarification concerning online registration/booking of slots of Self-Paced Online Module Tests, please mail to exam_spmt@onlineregistration.org or spmt_examhelpline@icai.in

Needs of Photo in Forum

The photograph requirement is-

• The photo should be coloured or black/white with 80% face (without face mask) visible including ears against a white background.
• Must have a clear contrast of the image.
• Do not wear goggles and caps while taking the photo. However, they can wear spectacles.
• The background of the photograph must be white and must be visible.
• A straight-looking relaxed face should be there
• If flash is used while taking the picture, then make sure that there is no “red-eye”
• No caps or goggles are allowed, however, religious headwear is allowed but it should not cover the face.
• No selfies are allowed
• The photograph will be scanned as a jpg/jpeg having a size of 20-50 KB
• The scanned Photo should be well cropped so that there are no extra/white spaces and the image is stored as jpg/jpeg
• Take care that the photo as described above fits in the size 4.5 cm by 3.5cm

Requirements of Signature 

The needs for the scanned signature shall be:

• The signature must be accomplished on a white sheet via a black pen.
• The file size of the image should be between 10-20 KB (clearly visible)
• The scanned signature must be cropped effectively so that there are no extra/white spaces and the image is stored as jpg/jpeg
• Ensure that the signature as depicted above fits in the size 6 cm by 2cm

The ICAI has also integrated eligibility criteria for exam registration, and candidates are strongly encouraged to thoroughly review the related document, which can be found here.

Important Dates in the Examination

ICAI provides a comprehensive examination schedule well in advance, encompassing the commencement and closure dates for exam applications. It is imperative to closely monitor these dates and strictly adhere to them. Missing the application deadline may lead to additional fees or, in certain instances, exclusion from the examination.

Admission Card For Examination

Upon the submission of your examination form and the associated fee, ICAI will issue your admission card. This vital document contains crucial information, including your examination centre, roll number, and examination guidelines. It is your responsibility to download and print the admission card from the ICAI website.

Preparation for Exams

Preparing for CA exams is an extensive endeavour, often involving months of focused study. Ensure you have the requisite study materials and resources, and adhere to a structured study plan to enhance your chances of success.

CA Examination

When the examination dates approach, ensure you arrive at the examination centre well in advance. Don’t forget to bring your admit card, a valid ID, and any other necessary documents. Be ready for a challenging yet rewarding experience.

Review the results

ICAI typically releases the CA exam results a few months following the examinations. You can access your results on the ICAI website or opt to receive them via email or SMS if you have registered for those services.

In conclusion, applying for the May CA exams necessitates a clear understanding of the eligibility criteria and the application process. By confirming your eligibility, registering with the ICAI, submitting your examination form on time, and preparing adequately for the exams, you can pave the way for a successful career as a Chartered Accountant. Always keep in mind that dedication, hard work, and effective planning are crucial elements in reaching your CA aspirations. Best of luck on your journey toward becoming a Chartered Accountant!

The ICAI has incorporated the eligibility criteria for exam registration as well. Read more official announcements, Click here. https://resource.cdn.icai.org/84068exam67751.pdf