Skip to Content

CA Intermediate: Pass in First Attempt

Complete guide to the CA Inter exam under ICAI’s New Scheme

2 Groups · 6 Papers3 attempts/year8 months study periodGroup-wise or both

Exam Pattern & Papers

Group I

  • Paper 1: Advanced Accounting
  • Paper 2: Corporate & Other Laws
  • Paper 3: Taxation (Income Tax + GST)

Group II

  • Paper 4: Cost & Management Accounting
  • Paper 5: Auditing & Ethics
  • Paper 6: Financial Management & Strategic Management
Pass criteria: 40% in each paper and 50% aggregate per group. Score 60+ in a paper for a permanent exemption.

First-Attempt Strategy

1
Attempt both groups if time permits

Aggregate benefit works in your favour — a strong Accounts or FM score lifts weaker papers.

2
ICAI material is the syllabus

Study Material, RTPs, MTPs and past papers. Every year 60-70% of the paper maps to these.

3
Master Tax and Costing numericals

Daily practice slots — these two papers create rank-holders and first-attempt passes.

4
Write like ICAI wants

Working notes, section numbers in Law, headings in theory — presentation earns real marks.

5
3 full mocks per group

Exam-condition mocks with honest self-evaluation in the last 6 weeks.

6
Revise 3 times

No chapter is done until revised thrice. Keep a one-page summary per chapter.

Mistakes that cost attempts

Ignoring ICAI study material for coaching notes alone

Skipping theory papers until the last month

No answer-writing practice — knowing is not scoring

Leaving GST amendments for the end

Get the complete CA Intermediate success kit — free

Study plan PDF + chapter priority list + past-paper analysis, on WhatsApp