CA Final Exams: Eligibility Criteria for the January 2026 Exams

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has notified the eligibility criteria for applying for January 2026 chartered accountants final examinations.

To be qualified for the January 2026 Chartered Accountants Final Examinations, candidates must complete particular requirements for articleship training, the Advanced Integrated Course on Information Technology and Soft Skills (AICITSS), and Self-Paced Online Modules.

Here, in this article, read the full details.

Eligibility criteria for candidates who are registered under 3 Years of Articleship Training

The candidate must have completed prescribed period of 3 years of articleship training as on the date of filling the examination application form.

Or

The candidate must complete the prescribed period of 3 years of articleship training, including excess leave, if any, on or before 31st December 2025.

Or

The candidate must be in service as on 01st January 2026 and serving the last six months of articleship training, including excess leave, if any, and due to complete three years of articleship training on or before 30th June 2026. (for Intermediate/IPCC/IIPCE candidates).

Eligibility criteria for candidates who are registered under 2 Years of Articleship Training
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The candidate must have completed a prescribed period of 2 years of articleship training (including excess leaves) on or before 30th June, 2025.

ADVANCED INTEGRATED COURSE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND SOFT SKILLS (AICITSS)

The candidate should have completed Advanced ICITSS to be eligible to appear in the January 2026 final examination.

Candidates who have converted from Final (Old Course) to Final (New Course) and appeared at least once in the Final (Old Course) examination under regulation 31(ii) are not required to complete Advanced ICITSS before appearing in the Final examination to be held in January 2026 but in any case, candidates are required to complete Advanced ICITSS before applying for the membership of ICAI.

SELF-PACED ONLINE MODULES (SPOM)

The Examination department of ICAI 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 and Performance Management, SET C and SET D.

Details of eligibility of such candidates are as below:

a) The candidates who were admitted to the Final Examination till November 2023 are exempt from appearing in Self-Paced Online Module Tests Set C and Set D. However, it is mandatory for them to qualify for Set A and Set B before applying for membership as per the table given below:

b) Candidates, other than those who are covered under (a) above and were admitted to the Final Examination of May 2024, are exempt from appearing in Self-Paced Online Module Tests Set C and Set D. However, it is mandatory for such candidates to qualify for Set A and Set B before applying for membership.

c) Candidates, other than those covered under (a) & (b) above, are required to mandatorily qualify for Set A, B, C, and/or D as applicable.

d) Intermediate candidates who had cleared both groups of Intermediate Examinations till November 2023 and completed Advanced ICITSS along with 2.5 years of articleship training, including excess leave, on or before 31st December 2025 are exempt from appearing in Self-Paced Online Module Test Set C & D. However, it is mandatory to qualify for SET A and Set B before applying for membership.

e) Intermediate candidates who had cleared both groups of Intermediate Examinations after November 2023 and completed Advanced ICITSS along with 2.5 years of articleship training, including excess leave, on or before 31st December 2025 are required to mandatorily qualify all the Modules (i.e., SET A, B, C and D) before appearing in the Final Examinations.

Or

Intermediate candidates who had cleared either of the group upto November 2023 or before and passed the remaining group under the Unit Scheme from May 2024 to September 2025 and completed Advanced ICITSS along with 2.5 years of articleship training, including excess leave, on or before 31st December 2025 are required to undergo and pass Self-Paced Online Modules before appearing in the Final Examination to become eligible for the Final Examination to be held in January 2026 as per the below eligibility criteria:

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