The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has introduced a number of measures to update examination and training. Now candidates can register for the Common Proficiency Test (CPT) after clearing 10th boards as compared to the existing scheme where they could only register after their 12th board result.

The CPT exam will now be an objective paper of 200 marks and will be held once in three months across the country. Earlier, the CPT exam was held once in six months. The emphasis of CPT will be on core subjects accountancy, mercantile law, quantitative aptitude and general aptitude. As per the new norms, students who have cleared the CPT will engage in articleship training, the duration of which has been increased from three to three years and six months, following which the candi­date can appear for the Proficiency Competence Exam (PCE).

Once a student clears his PCE he can apply for the 11 final examination. Around 100 hours of IT training is also ; mandatory as per the new norms. General Management and Communication Skills (GMCS) can be completed 1 even during articleship training making the scheme more effective.

Praveen Choudhry, deputy secretary, ICAI, said: The new scheme will be implemented from this year. Now a candidate can be a qualified CA in four years.