Company Secretary Online Course: ICSI's Free Classes, Coaching and Fees

The CS course in brief

The course is run by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) and has three stages:

• CSEET (entrance test): four papers, held in the first week of February, June and October. Class 12 students (passed or appearing) can register.
• CS Executive: seven papers in two groups. Graduates, final-year graduation students, and students who have passed ICAI Intermediate or ICMAI Final can register directly without CSEET.
• CS Professional: seven papers in two groups, including two electives, after passing both Executive groups.

Executive and Professional exams are held in June and December. Training runs alongside the exams. Our guide to the CS course covers eligibility, papers and training in full.

What you can do online and what you can't

Sources: ICSI Student Services FAQs (18 Sep 2026) and Student Training Guidelines 2024.

ICSI's own online classes

If you are looking for a free CS online course, start here. ICSI runs these classes for its registered students and describes its online classes and video lectures as free.

• CSEET: the ₹7,500 CSEET fee includes the SIP and free online classes for each CSEET session (ICSI fee schedule, 29 Sep 2026).
• Executive and Professional: ICSI's headquarters runs online master classes and centralised classes, and doubt-clearing classes for students taking the June and December exams. ICSI's classroom teaching page lists "Free Online Master Classes" for Executive and Professional students.
• Recorded lectures: ICSI records video lectures and puts them on its e-learning portal. Login details are emailed to registered students.
• Before the exams: ICSI runs mock tests, crash courses and revision classes.

ICSI's FAQs list online master classes, online doubt-clearing classes and recorded lectures in answer to the question about classes for working students.

Classroom teaching at ICSI offices

ICSI's regional offices, chapters and study centres run their own classes. Students registered for CSEET and registered Executive and Professional students can join. Under ICSI's classroom teaching guidelines (amended 15 June 2025):

• Taking these classes is optional.
• Every regional office and chapter must run classes for CSEET students.
• There are at least 30 lectures per CSEET paper and 20 per Executive or Professional paper, each lasting at least two hours.
• Each Executive and Professional subject has two tests, and you must pass at least one with 40%.
• Each centre sets its own fee. ICSI's FAQs call it a "very nominal fee", payable at the centre.
• Regional offices and chapters may also run online or virtual classes jointly with other offices in the same region.

Students who attend these classes are exempt from the online Pre-Exam Test, but ICSI says this is subject to conditions (clearing the centre's tests in that subject or group). Confirm the rule with your centre. ICSI's list of classroom teaching centres gives each office's address and email.

Choosing paid online coaching

Private online coaching usually comes as live classes, recorded lectures (on a pen drive or by download) or a mix. Before you pay, check that the course follows the current structure:

• CSEET (from June 2026): Business Communication, Fundamentals of Accounting, Economic and Business Environment, and Business Laws and Management (an OMR paper: 60 marks law, 40 marks management). A CSEET course without Fundamentals of Accounting was probably made for the test as it was before June 2026.
• CS Executive: Jurisprudence, Interpretation & General Laws; Company Law & Practice; Setting Up of Business, Industrial and Labour Laws; Corporate Accounting and Financial Management (Group 1); Capital Market & Securities Laws; Economic, Commercial & Intellectual Property Laws; Tax Laws & Practice (Group 2).
• CS Professional: ESG – Principles & Practice; Drafting, Pleadings & Appearances; Compliance Management, Audit & Due Diligence; Elective 1 (Group 1); Strategic Management & Corporate Finance; Corporate Restructuring, Valuation & Insolvency; Elective 2 (Group 2). Check that your chosen electives are covered.

Courses sold as "Module I/II/III", or with eight or nine papers per stage, follow an older syllabus. Also ask how doubts are answered, whether tests are included and for how long you can watch recorded lectures. For CS Executive specifically (tax lectures and the Finance Act, pen drive versus live classes), see our guide to CS Executive online and pen drive classes.

Online or classroom classes: which suits you

This comparison is our opinion, not an ICSI rule.

Online study works best if you already study well on your own. If you need a fixed routine, a classroom batch or live online classes with tests may suit you better. You can also combine ICSI's free resources with paid classes only for the papers you find hardest.

What the CS course costs: ICSI fees and coaching

ICSI's fees are the same whichever way you study. From ICSI's fee schedule dated 29 Sep 2026:

The Executive totals include the ₹1,000 Pre-Exam Test fee, the ₹2,500 TDOP fee and an optional ₹500 journal subscription. Concessions apply to some categories of students. See our CS course fee guide for concessions and cut-off dates.

Coaching fees are set by each provider and are paid on top of ICSI's fees. Classroom teaching at ICSI's own centres is priced by each centre.

Weighing CS against CA? Our guide to studying CA online covers what ICAI offers.