CA Intermediate New Scheme 2026 | Darsh CA Classes

Quick answer: Under ICAI’s New Scheme of Education and Training, CA Intermediate now has 6 papers instead of 8, split into Group I (Advanced Accounting, Corporate and Other Laws, Taxation) and Group II (Cost and Management Accounting, Auditing and Ethics, Financial Management and Strategic Management). Each paper carries 100 marks with a 70% descriptive and 30% MCQ pattern, and unlike CA Foundation, there’s no negative marking on the MCQ portion. Students must also clear 4 Self-Paced Online Modules before they’re allowed to sit for CA Final. The New Scheme has applied to CA Intermediate since May 2024, and by the May 2026 exam the entire Intermediate level was running on it — so every student appearing from the September 2026 attempt onward follows this structure. Darsh CA Classes in Greater Noida offers coaching across all six CA Intermediate papers, through face-to-face, live streaming, and recorded class formats.

What Is the CA Intermediate New Scheme?

The CA Intermediate New Scheme is the revised CA Intermediate structure introduced by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) as part of its New Scheme of Education and Training, effective July 1, 2023, and first applied to exams from May 2024 onward. It replaced the older syllabus, which had eight Intermediate papers, with a streamlined six-paper structure built around case-study-based learning rather than pure memorisation.

The change isn’t cosmetic. ICAI consolidated overlapping content across papers, added objective and case-scenario-based questions to every paper, and restructured the course timeline around the idea that a chartered accountant needs to apply concepts to real business situations, not just recall them. The stated goal behind the redesign is to align Indian CA education more closely with international professional standards, while shortening the overall path to qualification without diluting what students are expected to know. If you cleared CA Foundation any time in the last couple of years, or you’re registering for Intermediate now, you’re on this structure — there’s no separate “old scheme” option left to choose.

How Does the New Scheme Compare to the Old One?

If you’re comparing notes with someone who attempted CA Intermediate a few years ago, here’s what’s actually different. The headline change is fewer papers, but the timeline and assessment structure shifted just as much.

The net effect across these changes is a shorter, more frequent, more application-focused path through Intermediate — fewer papers to juggle, more chances to attempt an exam within a given year, and continuous online assessment through SPOM rather than everything riding on a handful of written papers.

How Do You Become Eligible for CA Intermediate?

There are two routes into CA Intermediate. The Foundation route means clearing all four CA Foundation papers first, then registering for Intermediate. The Direct Entry route is available to commerce and non-commerce graduates or postgraduates who meet ICAI’s minimum marks criteria, letting them register for Intermediate without first appearing for the Foundation exam. Both routes lead into the same six-paper New Scheme structure described below — Direct Entry skips the Foundation exam itself, not the New Scheme that follows it. If you’re still at the Foundation stage, our guide to what the CA Foundation course covers is a good starting point.

What Are the 6 Papers Under the CA Intermediate New Scheme?

CA Intermediate now consists of six papers, divided equally into two groups. Students can attempt one group at a time or both together, and clearing either group on its own is enough to register for CA Articleship.

Group I builds the core financial and legal foundation — accounting, law, and taxation. Group II shifts toward management and assurance: cost control, audit standards, and financial decision-making. Taxation (Paper 3) is itself split into Income-tax Law and GST sections, and Financial Management and Strategic Management (Paper 6) is similarly split into two sections, so in practice you’re studying closer to eight distinct topic areas even though there are six papers on the mark sheet.

What’s the Exam Pattern for Each Paper?

Every CA Intermediate paper carries 100 marks and follows a 70:30 split — 70% descriptive, long-answer questions and 30% objective, case-scenario-based MCQs. This is a deliberate design choice under the New Scheme: the MCQ portion tests whether you can apply a concept quickly to a realistic situation, while the descriptive portion still tests depth of understanding and the ability to construct a full answer.

One detail that catches students off guard: there’s no negative marking on the MCQ portion at the Intermediate level. That’s different from CA Foundation, where the two objective papers do carry a penalty for wrong answers. At Intermediate, an MCQ you’re unsure about is always worth attempting — there’s no downside to a guess.

To pass, you need a minimum of 40% in each individual paper and 50% in aggregate across the three papers in a group. You can sit for one group or both in the same attempt, and once you clear a group, that result stands — you only need to clear the remaining group in a future attempt if you didn’t take both together.

Most papers run for three hours, though a few can extend to a maximum of four hours — check the specific duration for each paper on your admit card rather than assuming all six follow the same timing.

What Are the Self-Paced Online Modules (SPOM)?

The Self-Paced Online Modules are one of the more genuinely new additions in this scheme, and they catch a lot of Intermediate students off guard simply because nothing like them existed before. There are four modules — Set A, Set B, Set C, and Set D — and each one is completed online, at your own pace, followed by its own assessment.

Sets A and B cover core compulsory content. Sets C and D work differently: instead of one fixed syllabus, you choose an elective from a basket of options that has included subjects like risk management, financial services, and capital markets. The idea is to let students start specialising slightly even before CA Final, based on the kind of finance career they’re aiming for.

The practical point to plan around: all four modules need to be cleared before you’re allowed to sit for the CA Final exam. Most students chip away at SPOM during articleship rather than leaving it until just before their Final attempt, since trying to clear four self-paced modules in the same window as Final-level revision adds avoidable pressure.

How Have Articleship and Course Duration Changed?

Two structural changes affect your overall timeline. Practical training (articleship) has been reduced from three years to two years, and the total course duration — Foundation through Final, including articleship — now runs to roughly 42 months, down from about 48 months under the older structure.

Clearing either Group I or Group II of CA Intermediate is enough to become eligible to register for articleship; you don’t need both groups cleared first. That said, you do need both groups cleared, plus your articleship and SPOM requirements completed, before you’re eligible to register for CA Final.

When Is the Next CA Intermediate Exam?

CA Intermediate exams are now held three times a year — January, May, and September — instead of the old twice-yearly cycle. The next attempt after May 2026 is the September 2026 session, and ICAI’s own announcements confirm preparation for it is already underway: mock test paper series and Board of Studies revision sessions for Intermediate students appearing in September 2026 were both live by late June 2026.

Exact exam dates, the registration window, and any late-fee deadlines should always be confirmed directly on the official ICAI website or through the SSP portal at eservices.icai.org, since these details are occasionally revised and ICAI is the only fully authoritative source for them. As a general pattern, registration for a September attempt typically opens in early July of the same year.

How Should You Prepare for CA Intermediate Under the New Scheme?

A few adjustments matter specifically because of the New Scheme’s structure, beyond general CA Intermediate study advice:

• Don’t treat the MCQ portion as an afterthought. At 30% of every paper’s marks with no negative marking, the objective section is a meaningful, low-risk place to pick up marks — but only if you’ve actually practised case-scenario-style MCQs, which read differently from straightforward recall questions.
• Decide your group strategy early. Attempting both groups together front-loads the workload but finishes Intermediate faster; attempting one group at a time spreads the load but extends the timeline. Either is valid — the mistake is not deciding deliberately and instead drifting into it.
• Start SPOM during articleship, not after. Since all four modules are a precondition for Final, clearing them early removes one more thing competing for your attention when Final-level revision actually begins.
• Use ICAI’s own study material as your base. It’s built directly to the current syllabus and exam pattern, and most coaching support — including structured classes — works best as a supplement to it rather than a replacement for it.
• Work through Revision Test Papers and mock tests, not just the modules. RTPs and mock tests are where the New Scheme’s case-scenario MCQ style actually shows up in practice — reading the modules alone won’t expose you to that question format the way a timed mock test will.

What Mistakes Should CA Intermediate Students Avoid Under the New Scheme?

A few patterns show up repeatedly among students adjusting to this structure, and most are avoidable with a bit of planning.

• Treating the MCQ section like an afterthought. Some students still prepare as if every paper is purely descriptive, then lose easy marks on case-scenario MCQs they never practised. With no negative marking at this level, the objective section should be a confidence-builder, not a risk to avoid.
• Leaving all four SPOM modules until just before Final. Since SPOM is a precondition for Final registration, stacking all four modules against Final-level revision adds last-minute pressure that’s easy to avoid by spreading them across articleship instead.
• Underweighting the GST half of Taxation. Paper 3 splits roughly evenly between Income-tax Law and GST, but Income-tax tends to get more attention since it builds on Foundation-level economics. GST deserves equal study time, not leftover time.
• Picking a group strategy by default rather than on purpose. Attempting both groups together or staggering them are both reasonable choices — the mistake is drifting into one without deciding deliberately based on your actual study capacity and timeline.

Where Can You Prepare for CA Intermediate at Darsh CA Classes?

Darsh CA Classes, founded by Ravindra Ojha, is based in Greater Noida and offers coaching across CA Intermediate, alongside CA Foundation, CA Final, and separate Stock Market and Skill Development courses. Classes run in three formats — face-to-face at the institute, live streaming with real-time doubt-clearing, and recorded sessions accessible anytime — so Intermediate students can structure preparation around school, college, or articleship schedules rather than the other way around. Ravindra Ojha, the founder and lead faculty, specialises in Mathematics, Law, and Stock Market courses, which lines up directly with Corporate and Other Laws — one of the three Group I papers covered in this guide.

The institute is located at Office No 11, 4th Floor, KB Complex, Alpha 2, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201308, and is open Monday to Saturday, 9 am to 9 pm. You can reach the team at +91-7428118333 (WhatsApp preferred) or connect@darshcaclasses.com for current batch details and fee information for CA Intermediate, since fees aren’t listed online and are best confirmed directly for your specific group and mode of study.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many papers are there in CA Intermediate now?

Six papers under the New Scheme, down from eight previously, split evenly into Group I and Group II with three papers in each.

Is there negative marking in CA Intermediate?

No. The MCQ portion of every CA Intermediate paper has no negative marking, which is different from CA Foundation, where the two objective papers do carry a penalty for incorrect answers.

What are the Self-Paced Online Modules, and when do I need to complete them?

SPOM is a set of four self-paced online modules — Set A, B, C, and D — each with its own online assessment. Sets C and D let you pick an elective subject. All four must be cleared before you’re eligible to sit for the CA Final exam, and most students complete them during articleship.

Can I attempt just one group of CA Intermediate instead of both?

Yes. You can sit for Group I or Group II separately, or both together in the same attempt. Clearing either group individually is enough to register for articleship.

How long is articleship under the New Scheme?

Two years, reduced from the earlier three-year requirement, which is part of why the total course duration has shortened to roughly 42 months overall.

When is the next CA Intermediate exam after May 2026?

September 2026, since CA Intermediate is now held three times a year — January, May, and September. Confirm exact dates and the registration window directly on icai.org, as these can be revised.

If I clear CA Foundation now, am I automatically on the New Scheme for Intermediate?

Yes. Every student registering for CA Intermediate today follows the New Scheme’s six-paper structure — the earlier eight-paper format is no longer offered to new entrants.

Can I take the CA Intermediate exam online?

No. The CA Intermediate exam itself is conducted offline, in pen-and-paper mode, at designated ICAI exam centres. Online and recorded classes are common ways to prepare for it, but the exam delivery format hasn’t changed under the New Scheme.

The CA Intermediate New Scheme changes more than the number of papers on your admit card — it changes how you should weight MCQ practice, when you tackle SPOM, and how you plan your articleship timeline. Darsh CA Classes in Greater Noida teaches all six papers across face-to-face, live streaming, and recorded formats — call +91-7428118333 or visit the contact page to discuss a batch that fits your September 2026 or later attempt.