Soon, a minimum of 60 per cent marks in an under-graduation course would make one eligible to enter the Chartered Accountancy course. The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) will soon introduce the lateral entry option for graduates that will exempt them from appearing for the Common Proficiency Test.

Currently, even a commerce graduate has to clear the entrance test just like a class 12 student. Once introduced, the lateral entry option will save one year for the graduates. Hopefully, we will introduce the changes by the first week of July. We have proposed this about a year back and now we have completed getting public comments for the proposed changes. We will submit our replies for the questions raised by the public to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs soon. The final approval of the Ministry is a must, said Nilesh S Vikamsey, Chairman of Board of Studies, ICAI, said on Saturday.

Vikamsey said that the institute had proposed a minimum of 55 per cent marks for commerce graduates and 60 per cent for graduates from other streams as eligibility criteria.