How to Use ICAI RTP, MTP and Suggested Answers in Revision

Use ICAI's study papers in this order: suggested answers of past attempts while you study each chapter, the RTP when you start revision, and the two MTP series as timed mock exams in the final weeks. All three come from ICAI's Board of Studies and sit on the BoS Knowledge Portal, free. Most students download all of them and use none properly. Here is how to use ICAI RTP and MTP papers so that each one changes your marks.

An MTP you solve with the answer key open is a reading exercise. An MTP you write in three hours and then mark yourself is an exam.

TL;DR

• Suggested answers: ICAI's solutions to the last attempts' real papers. Use them chapter by chapter.
• RTP: revision questions with solutions, plus the amendments that apply to the attempt. Use it at the start of revision.
• MTP: two mock papers per subject per attempt, with answer keys. Write them under exam conditions.
• For January 2027 CA Inter, MTP Series I is reported to start on 19 November and Series II on 3 December 2026.

What is the difference between RTP, MTP and suggested answers?

• Revision Test Paper (RTP): a set of questions with ICAI's solutions, released for each attempt. For tax and law papers it also states which amendments and notifications apply to that attempt.
• Mock Test Paper (MTP): a full paper in the exam format, set in two series for each attempt, with an answer key.
• Suggested answers: ICAI's own answers to the actual question paper of a past attempt, published after the exam.

Suggested answers show what the examiner accepted. RTPs show what ICAI wants you to revise. MTPs show whether you can do it in three hours.

RTPs are revision sets, MTPs are mock exams, and suggested answers are the official solutions to past papers.

When does ICAI release RTPs and MTPs?

The RTP comes out a few weeks before the exam. The MTP series follow ICAI's announcement for each attempt. For the November 2026 CA Final, reports of ICAI's 10 August 2026 announcement put MTP Series I from 9 September and Series II from 23 September, with answer keys uploaded within 48 hours of each paper.

For the January 2027 CA Inter, Series I is reported to start on 19 November 2026 and Series II on 3 December 2026, from 10 AM to 1 PM, in physical and virtual mode. Check the BoS announcement before you plan around these dates.

Both MTP series land in the last eight weeks before the exam, so plan them into your timetable early.

In what order should you use ICAI's papers?

1. While studying a chapter, solve the suggested-answer questions on it from the last three attempts. Note how ICAI words its answers.
2. When the syllabus is done, read the RTP's amendments section first, then solve the RTP questions with a 40-minute limit per 10 marks of questions.
3. Write MTP Series I in full, three hours, by hand, in one sitting. Mark it the next day against the answer key.
4. Spend the gap before Series II fixing only the topics where Series I lost you marks.
5. Write Series II the same way. Compare the two scores subject by subject.

Our CA Final suggested answers post and CA Inter suggested answers post list the past papers to start with.

Past papers while learning, the RTP for revision, then two timed MTPs with a fix-up gap between them.

How do you check your own MTP against the answer key?

Numerical questions

Do not stop at the final figure. Compare each working note with the key and give yourself step marks only where your step matches. A wrong closing stock in a 16-mark FR question can still earn 10 marks if the format and the other adjustments are right. Count that honestly.

Theory questions

Mark the key's answer into points, usually one point per mark. Tick each point your answer actually states, not one it hints at. In the theory answers I check, students lose most marks on missing provisions and missing conclusions, not on wrong law. Our post on the ICAI marking scheme shows how examiners split the marks.

Self-mark step by step and point by point; a total that is too kind teaches you nothing.

What should you do with the RTP amendments?

Copy the amendments that apply to your attempt into the margin of your notes, next to the chapter. In Direct Tax, Indirect Tax and Law, an answer based on a provision that has been changed loses the mark however neat it is. Students often solve the RTP questions and skip the first pages, which is where these updates sit.

Read the RTP's amendment pages first and mark them into your notes.

Which mistakes waste these papers?

• Reading solutions instead of writing answers. You learn the answer, not the speed.
• Writing MTPs in parts over three days. The paper only tells you something if you write it in three hours.
• Skipping the second MTP series because the first went badly. Series II is where you check the fixes.
• Treating RTP questions as a guess at the exam. They are revision material, not a prediction.

Gradehunt's CA Final test series gives you full papers on the ICAI pattern, written by hand and checked by ex-examiners within 48 hours, with step-wise marks so you can see what a strict examiner would award. The first paper is checked free, and mentorship plans are available.