The Chartered Accountancy curriculum is divided into four levels CA Foundation, CA Intermediate, 3 Years Articleship Training, and CA Final. Till now, students are required to pass all three levels and mandatorily undergo 3 years of practical training in the Chartered Accountancy curriculum.
The motive of ICAI behind such 2 years of practical training is to make CA students expertise in implementing theoretical knowledge in the practical world and also make them capable of facing the corporate world right after passing Chartered Accountancy.
However, some students do not consider articleship training important. Few of them undergo a dummy articleship and others are taking it as time passes. Hence, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has introduced tests amid articleship to make the students understand the importance of Practical training.
For CA Articleship Registration follow the link given.
Compulsory Part of the CA Course
As per the notification issued by the ICAI, these exams will be a compulsory part of the CA Course, and grades given in such will appear in the CA Final Marksheet. On the basis of such grades, the company will be able to test the practical knowledge of the candidate.
Eligibility Criteria
ICAI has issued a notification where it has been said that the Council will assess the students on the basis of the online test based on objective questions after completion of a first and second year of practical training. As per the said notification, first-year students will have to undergo a test of 75 marks having a duration of 2 hours, and second-year students will have to undergo a test of 100 marks having a duration of 3 hours.
Candidates will be eligible to appear in tests in the quarter following the quarter in which they have completed their first and second year of practical training.
Assessment of Grades
The institute will assign the grades to the students based on their performance in the test. Criteria for such grades are as follows –
80% and above – A grade
60% and above but below 80% – B grade
40% and above but below 60% – C grade
Below 40% – D grade
The above grades will be printed on the CA Final mark sheet of all the candidates.
Maximum Sitting
Unlike CA Exams, here students will get only two more chances to improve their grades. That means a student can appear in a particular test a maximum of three times only to improve his/her grade. Although, your best grade will be chosen to be included in the mark sheet.
To know about CA Articleship Termination follow the link.
Assessment
Council has announced, the test is to be held on 23rd September 2025 and 21st Oct 2025 for both the class students. This announcement is an alert for the students who are completing their first or second year of articleship in the second quarter of 2025. Students who are completing their first or second year of training period between April 2025 to June 2025 should be ready to get assessed in September – October 2025.
The students who are completing their 1st and 2nd Year of Articleship Training in the third quarter of 2018 i.e. July – September 2025 may register themselves for the test to be conducted on 21st Oct 2025 for which the registration will open in Oct 2025.
Online Application Form
The students eligible to sit in the examination to be held on 23rd September and 21st October may register themselves on https://pttest.icai.org/index.php?p=Login till 7th September 2025, giving their preferred test date and exam location as well. However, students may be assigned any date depending on the number of candidates in that region on that particular date. Although, preference will be given to your selected date.
The application form will start on 29th August at 2.00 PM and will last until 7th September 2025.
Admit Card for the Test
As per the ICAI guidelines, admit cards will be available on the above ICAI portal 5 days before the test for which candidates are requested to take a printout of the same and students shall also bring to their notice that physical admit cards will not be issued in any case.
Declaration of the Test Result
Till now, ICAI has not officially announced any date for the declaration of the Articleship Test Result. But the result will be announced on the same portal. We will update you as soon as ICAI announces any date for its result declaration. Regularly visit our page for more information.
Structure of ICAI Articleship Exam at 1st Level
Subjects like Accounting and Auditing (including corporate laws) are the mandatory part of your practical test. Further, students have to choose one module out of three from the optional modules at the first level as per their practical training specialization area. Have a look at the below-given bifurcation of modules, number of questions, and marks at the first level –
| Subjects | Marks | Number of Questions | Marks Per Question | Compulsory/ Optional |
| Accounting and Auditing (Including Corporate Laws) | 50 | 50 | 1 | Compulsory |
| Direct Tax | 25 | 25 | 1 | Optional |
| Indirect Tax | 25 | 25 | 1 | Optional |
| Internal Audit | 25 | 25 | 1 | Optional |
Seeing the above bifurcation, now you have an idea that the 1st Level exam will consist of 75 questions each carrying one mark.
Structure of ICAI Articleship Exam at 2nd Level
Similar to the first level, Accounting and Auditing (including corporate laws) will be mandatory here also. However, here students have to select two modules out of the three optional depending on their practical training specialization area. The bifurcation of modules, number of questions, and marks are given as follows –
| Subjects | Marks | Number of Questions | Marks Per Question | Compulsory/ Optional |
| Accounting and Auditing (Including Corporate Laws) | 50 | 30 10 | 1 2 | Compulsory |
| Direct Tax including International Taxation | 25 | 15 5 | 1 2 | Optional |
| Indirect Tax | 25 | 155 | 1 2 | Optional |
| Internal Audit | 25 | 155 | 12 | Optional |
Seeing the above bifurcation, you must be clear that there will be 80 questions asked in your second-level examination. Out of such 80 questions, 60 questions will carry one mark each, and 20 questions will carry 2 marks each.
Sample Papers
Level 1 –
| Accounting and Auditing (including corporate laws) | Sample Questions 1 |
| Sample Questions 2 | |
| Sample Questions 3 | |
| Sample Questions 4 | |
| Sample Questions 5 | |
| Direct Tax | Sample Questions 1 |
| Sample Questions 2 | |
| Sample Questions 3 | |
| Indirect Tax | Sample Questions 1 |
| Sample Questions 2 | |
| Sample Questions 3 | |
| Internal Audit | Sample Questions 1 |
Level 2 –
| Accounting and Auditing (including Corporate Laws) | Sample Papers 1 |
| Sample Papers 2 | |
| Sample Papers 3 | |
| Sample Papers 4 | |
| Sample Papers 5 | |
| Direct Tax including International Taxation | Sample Papers 1 |
| Indirect Tax | Sample Papers 1 |
| Sample Papers 2 | |
| Sample Papers 3 | |
| Internal Audit | Sample Papers 1 |
To check the ICAI notification regarding the practical training click here.
Conclusion – In the above article we have shared with you the motive behind the introduction of the ICAI Articleship Exam, its eligibility criteria, Assessment of Grades, Online Application form, Admit cards, declaration of test results, the structure of practical assessment tests at both the levels and also the sample papers as well.
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