CSEET Exam Pattern, Dates and Marking Scheme

CSEET exam pattern

This pattern applies from the June 2026 session, the first CSEET held under ICSI's restructured scheme.

Source: ICSI's restructuring announcement (10 April 2026) and Student Services FAQs (updated 18 September 2026).

• Mode: pen and paper at designated exam centres in cities across India (ICSI's February 2027 session notice calls it "Centre based (Pen & Paper)"). There is also an overseas centre in Dubai, which costs a surcharge of US$100 on top of the ₹1,500 exam fee.
• Timing: all papers are in the afternoon, and each session's time table sets the exact hours. ICSI's FAQs on the restructured CSEET (Q 6) and the October 2026 time table give 2:30 pm to 5:45 pm for the subjective papers and 2:30 pm to 4:45 pm for the OMR paper. The February 2027 time table starts at 2:00 pm instead (2:00 to 5:15 pm and 2:00 to 4:15 pm). Each slot includes 15 minutes for reading the question paper, so check your session's time table and admit card.
• Negative marking: none in the OMR paper, so a wrong answer costs you nothing (Student Services FAQs, Q 31).

How each paper is set

ICSI has published sample question papers for the restructured CSEET on its sample papers page. Set 1 of those papers is laid out like this:

The marks per question in the first two rows are our addition of the marks printed against each question. Sample papers show how ICSI sets the paper; the choice of questions in the real exam can differ. ICSI has also published guideline answers for the June 2026 CSEET on its CSEET Academics page.

CSEET exam dates

ICSI's Student Services FAQs (updated 18 September 2026) give this schedule for every session:

The e-admit card is generated from ICSI's website about 10 days before the exam. ICSI publishes a time table for each session on its CSEET page, and the four papers are not always on consecutive days. For the October 2026 session, the time table was:

Under the FAQ schedule, its result is due on 15 November 2026.

February 2027 session

ICSI's notice for the February 2027 session says the exam will be held in the first week of February 2027. Registration is open from 1 July to 31 October 2026, and exam enrolment runs from 16 November to 15 December 2026, or until 20 December 2026 with a late fee. ICSI published the February 2027 time table on 7 October 2026. The four papers are on consecutive days, and they start at 2:00 pm, half an hour earlier than in October 2026:

The first 15 minutes of each paper, 2:00 pm to 2:15 pm, are reading time for the question paper (ICSI time table, February 2027 session).

Before you can sit the exam

Registering is not enough. After you register, you must complete ICSI's one-day Student Induction Programme and then enrol for a session and pay the ₹1,500 exam fee in that session's enrolment window (Student Services FAQs, Q 21 and Q 27). Fees, concessions and the windows for each session are in our CSEET registration guide.

Marking scheme and passing marks

All four papers carry 100 marks, so CSEET is out of 400. ICSI's passing rule is that you must score, in one sitting, at least 40% in each paper and 50% in the aggregate of all papers. That works out to:

Both conditions apply together. CSEET has no exemption for papers you have passed and no carry-forward of marks, so if you fall short you sit all four papers again (restructuring announcement, 10 April 2026). There is no fixed limit on attempts: you can sit any session while your CSEET registration is valid, which is 3 years from the month you registered (Student Services FAQs, Q 32 and Q 33).

ICSI issues the result as an e-marksheet only. Our CSEET result guide explains how to download it and how to apply for verification of marks.

CSEET syllabus in brief

The four papers above are the CSEET subjects. Two of them are split into parts: Business Laws and Management into Business Laws (60 marks) and Business Management (40 marks), and, in ICSI's sample papers, Economic and Business Environment into Economics (50 marks) and Business Environment (50 marks). ICSI publishes the detailed syllabus ("Syllabus for Restructured CSEET, applicable from June 2026 session onwards"), its study material, the sample question papers and guideline answers on the CSEET Academics page. Registered students receive the study material when they register (Student Services FAQs, Q 29).

What changed in the new CSEET

ICSI restructured CSEET for candidates who registered on or after 16 December 2025 (Student Services FAQs, Q 1). The last CSEET in the old remote-proctored online mode was held on 10 January 2026. From the June 2026 session, CSEET is the centre-based, pen-and-paper test described above, with a new syllabus and updated study material (restructuring announcement, 10 April 2026).

If you search for the CSEET pattern, you will still find pages, books and mock tests made for the remote-proctored test. Check that the papers, marks and question types match the table above; if they don't, the material is out of date, so prepare from ICSI's restructured study material and sample papers.

After CSEET

Once you pass, your result is valid for one year from the date it is declared, and you must register for CS Executive within that year (restructuring announcement, 10 April 2026). Graduates, post-graduates and some other groups skip CSEET and register for CS Executive directly. CS Executive and CS Professional exams are held in June and December sessions (Student Services FAQs); our guides to the CS Executive exam pattern and the CS Professional exam pattern cover those stages.