The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has issued new guidelines for CA Final May 2025 candidates regarding permanent exemptions in certain papers.
According to the latest guidelines, candidates who secured exemptions in the May 2023 examination, originally valid until the November 2024 exam, will now have the opportunity to make the exemption permanent after the November 2024 results are declared. However, ICAI has clarified that candidates will get only one chance to opt for this. If they fail to do so, the exemption will permanently lapse.
Key Guidelines for Permanent Exemptions
Candidates who wish to make their exemptions permanent must follow specific guidelines set by ICAI. If a candidate has exemptions in two papers of the same group (for example, Papers 1 and 2 of Group-1), they must either apply to make both exemptions permanent or let both exemptions lapse. ICAI has strictly stated that candidates cannot choose to retain one exemption while letting the other expire.
To qualify for a permanent exemption in any group, candidates must pass the remaining papers of that group with at least 50% marks in each paper. It is also important to note that ICAI will not provide any correction window or accept late fee submissions once the inputs have been taken. Candidates will have only one opportunity to apply for this exemption, and if they miss it, their exemption will lapse permanently.
Candidates who obtain a permanent exemption will still have the option to surrender it and reappear for the exempted paper(s) if they wish to improve their scores. Additionally, those who had exemptions in Paper-4 of the CA Final exam (from May 2022, Nov 2022, May 2023, or Nov 2023) will automatically receive a permanent exemption from appearing in Self-Paced Module SET-A and do not need to apply separately. Similarly, candidates with an exemption in Paper-5 (from the same exam sessions) will be permanently exempted from Self-Paced Module SET-B without any additional application.
Once a candidate has secured a Permanent Exemption (50PE) in a group, no new exemptions will be granted in that group. If a candidate exhausts their exemption and later decides to make it permanent, the marks for that exempted paper will be limited to 50. Any excess marks from the permanently exempted paper will not be considered for meeting the 50% aggregate marks requirement in that or any other group.
Meanwhile, ICAI has announced the results for the CA Intermediate and Foundation course examinations held in January 2025 on March 4, 2025. The overall pass percentage for the ICAI CA Foundation January 2025 exam stands at 19.67%. The ICAI CA Intermediate January 2025 exam recorded a pass percentage of 14.17% for group I and 22.16% for group II.
Candidates can check their results on the official ICAI website for detailed scorecards and further instructions.