CA Inter Test Series and Mentorship

The Gradehunt CA Inter test series is for students preparing for the next CA Inter attempt in January 2027, with papers on all six new scheme subjects and answer sheets evaluated by practising Chartered Accountants. From today you have roughly 14 weeks, which is the most comfortable window CA Inter students get: long enough to cover chapters properly and still write two rounds of full-length papers before the exam. Candidates planning for May 2027 or September 2027 can use the same series on a longer schedule.

CA Intermediate now has three attempts a year — January, May and September — so the cost of drifting past one sitting is lower than it used to be. The cost of arriving at a sitting without ever having written a marked paper has not changed at all.

First decision: both groups or one?

Everything else on this page depends on this, so settle it in the first week.

Both groups, six papers. Across 14 weeks that is a little over two weeks per paper plus revision. It works only if you pair subjects — one Group I paper and one Group II paper running together each week — so that Group II is not sitting untouched in December. Take the Detailed Test Series if you go this route; you need the chapter-wise coverage.

One group, three papers. You get roughly double the time per subject. Spend the surplus on more full-length attempts and more evaluated scripts, not on rereading the same chapters. Students who take one group and then write only two mock papers have wasted the advantage they paid for.

Check ICAI's current passing and exemption rules before you commit, rather than relying on what a senior told you about their attempt.

The six papers, and what each one punishes

Group I

• Advanced Accounting. The volume paper. Marks are lost to unfinished questions and missing working notes far more often than to conceptual gaps. Chapter-wise tests here pay for themselves.
• Corporate and Other Laws. Language-driven. An answer that states the provision, applies it to the facts and then concludes scores; a correct conclusion with no provision behind it does not. This is the paper where written practice changes your marks fastest.
• Taxation. Income tax and GST in one sitting, with two different habits of mind. Confirm which Finance Act and assessment year apply to January 2027 before you begin solving.

Group II

• Cost and Management Accounting. Format matters. Cost sheets, reconciliation statements and variance workings have expected layouts, and evaluators mark against them.
• Auditing and Ethics. Standards on Auditing quoted correctly, applied to the situation in the question. Vague general answers are the standard failure here.
• Financial Management and Strategic Management. Two halves that behave differently: one computational and time-pressured, the other written and easy to waffle through. Practise them as one paper, not as two subjects.

CA Inter test series formats, and who each one suits

Availability varies by subject and attempt, so check which batches are open on this page.

• Detailed Test Series — about 5 chapter-wise tests plus 2 full syllabus tests per subject. The best fit for January 2027 if you start now, and the default recommendation for students attempting both groups.
• One Chapter One Test — a chapter-wise paper for every chapter of a subject. Use it where your foundation is shaky, typically Advanced Accounting or Costing, rather than across all six papers.
• 2 Full Syllabus Test Series — two full-length mocks per subject. For students who have already finished their reading and need exam practice, or who are reattempting a group they narrowly missed.
• Fast Track Test Series — about 2 chapter-wise tests plus 1 full syllabus test per subject. A realistic option if you are joining late, in November or December, or preparing alongside other commitments.
• Mentorship and chapter-wise combos — the same papers, plus a mentor who builds the schedule.

You can mix: Detailed for two weak subjects, Full Syllabus for the rest, is a common and sensible combination.

What happens to your answer sheet

Upload a script and it is read by a Chartered Accountant with 7 or more years of experience, marked stepwise against a scheme rather than on overall impression. You get it back in under 48 hours with comments on each part of every question — which step earned the mark, which working note was missing, where the applied provision was right but the conclusion drifted.

Presentation is scored separately from content. In our evaluators' experience presentation is worth 10 to 12 marks a paper, and CA Inter students lose those marks in predictable ways: no working notes, answers written out of order, sub-parts run into a single block of text, no underlining of the section or standard. These are cheap marks and they are easy to fix once someone points at them.

Alongside the marks you get the suggested answers with their stepwise scheme, an All India rank for the test, and the topper's answer sheet for that same paper. Reading the topper's script next to your own is usually more instructive than reading the suggested answer, because it shows what a strong answer looks like under real exam constraints. If anything in your evaluation is unclear, raise a doubt on that test and you will have a reply within 24 hours.

Subject-wise notes and MCQs are included for revision between tests, which matters for the objective portions of the papers that carry them.

For comparing your attempts against ICAI's official answers, our guide to CA Inter suggested answers sets out which attempts are available and how to use them.

A 14-week plan to January 2027

ICAI had not published the January 2027 time table at the time of writing, and press reports expect the exam from early January. Treat the plan below as counted back from the first week of January and adjust once the official notice is out.

Weeks 1 to 4 (late September to late October). List every chapter you have not studied or do not trust, paper by paper. Cover them, and write a chapter-wise test within a few days of finishing each one — not a month later, when you no longer remember what you did not understand. Two tests a week is a reasonable rate.

Weeks 5 to 8 (late October to late November). Complete the chapter-wise round across all papers you are attempting. Watch for the exam form window, expected in November, and fill it in early rather than on the last day. This is also the point to confirm the Taxation amendments applicable to your attempt.

Weeks 9 to 12 (late November to late December). First full-syllabus round: one three-hour paper per subject, written in one sitting, no notes. Book them a few days apart so the evaluation of one arrives before you write the next. Act on the comments; a repeated mistake across three evaluated scripts is a habit, not an accident.

Weeks 13 and 14 (into January). Second full-syllabus round for the papers that went worst, MCQs and subject-wise notes for the rest, and a careful reread of your own evaluated answer sheets. Stop writing fresh tests about four days before the exam.

If your attempt is May 2027 or September 2027, run the same four stages over a longer period rather than adding more of them. Two well-analysed full-length papers per subject beat five unread ones.

Mentorship, if the schedule is the problem

The mentorship programme gives you one-to-one interaction with an expert Chartered Accountant through the attempt. The mentor sets a personalised schedule around your group choice, your working hours and the subjects you keep postponing, then follows up on whether the tests were actually written. The papers are identical to the chapter-wise series; what mentorship adds is accountability and planning.

It tends to help most where the issue is not understanding but sequencing: students carrying one group forward, students studying with articleship or a job, and students whose last attempt failed on incomplete coverage rather than weak concepts.

How to enrol

Choose your subjects and format from the CA test series hub, and you get the papers and portal access straight away. Write, upload, and read the evaluation within 48 hours.

If you are still at the entry level, the CA Foundation test series is built for first-attempt candidates. Once you clear both groups here, the CA Final test series runs on the same model, as does the CMA Inter test series if you are taking the cost qualification alongside. Check each page for the batches open now.

Start with one subject if you are unsure. One evaluated script will tell you more about your preparation than another week of reading will.