How Many Attempts Are Allowed in CA Foundation, Inter and Final?

ICAI does not cap the number of attempts at any CA level. What runs out is your registration. Foundation registration lasts 4 years from your first eligible attempt and cannot be revalidated. Intermediate registration lasts 5 years and can be revalidated once for another 5. Final registration lasts 10 years and can be revalidated every 10 years. These rules come from ICAI's FAQs on the New Scheme of Education and Training.

If you read somewhere that CA Foundation allows six attempts or CA Final allows nine, that is out of date. Under the new scheme the limit is time, not a count.

Quick answer

• CA Foundation: valid 4 years from your first eligible attempt, no revalidation. With exams in January, May and September, that is up to 12 sittings.
• CA Intermediate: valid 5 years from registration, revalidated once for 5 more years (fee ₹400).
• CA Final: valid 10 years from registration, revalidated every 10 years (fee ₹500).
• Passing needs at least 40% in each paper and 50% in the aggregate, in one sitting.

Is there a limit on CA attempts?

No. ICAI sets a validity period for each registration and lets you write as many sittings as fall inside it. The number of chances you get therefore depends on how often the exam is held and when you start counting.

This matters most at Foundation, because that is the only level where the clock cannot be reset by paying a revalidation fee.

How many attempts do you get in CA Foundation?

ICAI holds the Foundation exam three times a year, in January, May and September. Your registration is valid for 4 years from your first eligible attempt, so you can sit up to 12 times before it lapses. Revalidation is not allowed at Foundation.

Your first eligible attempt depends on when you register. You must be registered at least four months before the first day of the exam month: by 1 January for May, by 1 May for September and by 1 September for January. If you registered while still in Class 11 or 12, your first attempt comes after your Class 12 board exam.

To pass, you need at least 40% in each of the four papers and 50% in the aggregate of all four, in the same sitting. There is no paper-wise exemption at Foundation, so a single low paper means writing all four again.

How many attempts do you get in CA Intermediate?

Intermediate exams are also held in January, May and September. Your registration is valid for 5 years from the date you register for Intermediate, which covers up to 15 sittings. You can revalidate once, for another 5 years, by paying ₹400.

You must be registered for at least eight months before the first day of the exam month. That applies to students coming through Foundation and to graduates on the Direct Entry route, who register provisionally and become eligible once their degree result and the eight months are both complete.

How exemptions change the count

If you write all the papers of a group and fail, but score 60% or more in a paper, ICAI exempts you from that paper for the next three exams. In those exams you need 40% in each remaining paper and 50% in the aggregate of the whole group, with the exempted paper counted.

If the three exams pass without clearing the group, you can keep the exemption permanently, but then you need 50% in each remaining paper instead of 40%. That is a harder bar, so try to clear the group inside the three exams.

How many attempts do you get in CA Final?

Final registration is valid for 10 years from the date you register for Final, and you can revalidate it every 10 years for ₹500. In practice no student runs out of Final attempts. The same 60% exemption rule applies at Final, for the next three exams and then on the permanent-exemption terms.

The November 2026 Final papers end on 13 November, so the next Final sittings are May 2027 and November 2027.

The real constraint at Final is not registration but articleship and the self-paced modules, which you must complete before you become eligible. Plan those first and the attempts will look after themselves.

What happens if your registration expires?

• Foundation: revalidation is not permitted, so you would have to register again as a new student.
• Intermediate: you can revalidate once on ICAI's self-service portal. After the second 5 years, the registration cannot be extended again.
• Final: you can revalidate every 10 years.

Check your registration date and validity on the ICAI self-service portal before you fill an exam form, especially if you took a long break.

How do you avoid using up attempts?

1. Write full papers before the real exam. Most repeat attempts come from running out of time or losing presentation marks, not from chapters you never studied.
2. At Inter and Final, look at your mock scores paper by paper. One paper under 40 fails the group however good the rest are.
3. Write one group first if your mocks are not above 40 in every paper of both groups.
4. Get your answer sheets checked by someone who marks the way ICAI does, and keep a list of the mistakes they find.

Gradehunt's CA test series gives you ICAI-pattern papers for Foundation, Inter and Final. You write them by hand and upload them, and ex-examiners check them within 48 hours of upload with marks and remarks on every answer. Your first paper is checked free.