Decoding the ICAI CA New Scheme of Education: Your Complete Guide for 2023-24

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has introduced significant changes to the Education and Training of the CA Course with the proposed ICAI New Scheme for the 2023 exams. The CA Course now comprises three levels: CA Foundation, CA Inter, and CA Final. These changes involve the removal of certain sections, the merging of others, and the introduction of new elements within the CA Syllabus for the 2023 exams. For a more comprehensive understanding, continue reading to explore the details of ICAI's new scheme for the upcoming exams in 2023.

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Here are the key modifications in the ICAI's new exam pattern. Students are encouraged to thoroughly review these changes and understand the prerequisites before commencing their preparations.

1. Two subjects have been eliminated from the CA Foundation level.

2. The CA Intermediate level now consists of 6 papers, grouped into two sections.

3. The CA Final level comprises 6 papers, once more grouped into two sections.

4. The duration of the articleship period has been shortened from 3 years to 2 years.

Here's the information presented in a table format for better clarity:

This table outlines the differences between the proposed changes in the ICAI CA Foundation New Syllabus and the old CA Foundation Syllabus.

The ICAI's new syllabus for CA Foundation in 2023 introduces several changes, which are outlined below:

1. The new scheme reduces the number of subjects from 6 to 4 and papers from 4 to 4. The removed subjects are Business Correspondence & Reporting and Business & Commercial Knowledge.

2. A new negative marking system of 0.25 marks for every incorrect answer has been introduced. This was not a part of the previous system.

3. To pass the Foundation level, students now need to achieve a minimum score of 50%.
 

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ICAI New Scheme 2023- CA Intermediate Level

This table summarizes the key distinctions between the CA Intermediate New Course Scheme and the CA Intermediate Old Course Scheme, providing a clear comparison of their respective features.

Here are the key highlights of the ICAI CA Inter New Syllabus for 2023, summarized:

1. Two subjects have been eliminated from the CA Inter syllabus.

2. Papers 1 and 5 have been merged into a single subject called "Advanced Accounting."

3. "Enterprise Information Systems" has been removed.

4. "Economics for Finance" is no longer part of paper 8; its content is now integrated into paper 6, under the title "Financial Management and Strategic Management."

5. Paper 2 of CA Intermediate is solely focused on the "Companies Act."

6. The new scheme for 2023 introduces two groups, each consisting of three papers, in the CA Intermediate Syllabus.

7. Business Law is now part of the CA Foundation Level syllabus.

Exemptions and passing criteria for CA Intermediate level under the ICAI New Scheme are outlined below:

1. All papers of the CA Intermediate exam will consist of 30% multiple-choice questions (MCQs).

2. Following the implementation of the new scheme, ICAI will consider exempted papers in CA Intermediate as permanently passed. However, students must individually achieve a minimum of 50% marks in the remaining papers.

3. A negative marking of 0.25 will be applied.

4. If a student attains a score of 60% or higher in one or more papers in a single attempt, they will be exempted from those papers for the immediate next three attempts at the intermediate level of CA.

5. Students can opt to surrender the exempted papers only after three attempts have passed.

Here are the changes in the CA Articleship and CA Final Course within the ICAI's New Scheme for 2023:

CA Articleship Changes:

             1. The duration of CA Articleship has been reduced to 2 years from the previous 3 years.

             2. Students are required to have a minimum of 1 year of experience in a CA firm.

CA Final Course Changes:

1. To be eligible to take the CA Final exam, students must complete four sets of self-paced modules, categorized as SET A, SET B, SET C, and SET D.

2. All these sets include the following subjects:

•    Economic Laws (Compulsory set)
•    Strategic Cost Management and Performance Evaluation (Compulsory set)
•    Specialization Elective

3. The changes incorporate a multidisciplinary approach in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) of 2020.

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Now, take a look at the key highlights of CA Final Syllabus changes proposed by ICAI:

By the CA Final new scheme, students are required to attain scores exceeding 50% in each module. The compulsory papers that were part of the CA Final old course have been removed. In the remaining sets, students have the flexibility to select their preferred topics and proceed with their preparations. The number of CA Final papers in the syllabus has been reduced from 8 papers to 6 papers. Subjects previously found in papers 4 and 5 will be excluded and incorporated into self-paced modules as mandatory sets.

Elective subjects such as "Risk Management" and "Financial Services" are now included in Set C of self-paced modules. Under the new CA Final exam pattern, papers will include 30% MCQ-based questions, and there will be a negative marking system for incorrect answers. This marks a departure from the previous CA scheme, which did not feature negative markings. It's important for aspirants not to be discouraged by these changes. Regardless of the proposed modifications, being well-prepared remains the key to achieving success.

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