ICAI Advanced IT Test Dates 2027: AICITSS CBT Schedule, Form Dates and Fee

The ICAI Advanced IT test dates for 2027 are out. In an important announcement dated 14 November 2026, the Examination Department of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has fixed twelve monthly sittings of the Advanced ICITSS Advanced Information Technology Test in computer-based mode (CBT), running from 8 January 2027 to 8 December 2027. Every sitting is held from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM IST, and the first online form window opens on 10 December 2026 and closes on 14 December 2026 for the test on 8 January 2027.

The schedule matters to every CA student under the New Scheme of Education and Training who is working towards the Final examination. ICAI's Examination Department announcement of 22 December 2023 makes successful completion of Advanced ICITSS, which combines the Advanced IT course and the Management and Communication Skills (MCS) course, a condition of eligibility for the Final (New) examination, and the Advanced IT test is the assessment that closes the Advanced IT component. Completing the four-week classroom course on its own is not enough; the test has to be cleared as well.

AICITSS Advanced IT test schedule: eligibility date, form window and test date

Each sitting follows the same rhythm. A candidate must have completed the Advanced IT course by the eligibility date (the 8th of the month), the form window then runs from the 10th to the 14th, and the test is held on the 8th of the following month. The one exception is the October 2027 sitting, which falls on Monday, 11 October 2027 instead of the 8th. The full calendar from the ICAI announcement is below.

Most sittings fall on working days: the January test is on a Friday and the February and March tests on Mondays. Only two fall on a weekend, the May 2027 sitting on a Saturday and the August 2027 sitting on a Sunday.

How the eligibility date decides which test you can take

The announcement says candidates who "have/would have undergone" the Advanced IT course as per the respective exam eligibility can apply. In practice the eligibility date is the cut-off for course completion, and missing it by a single day pushes the candidate to the next month's sitting.

Illustration: Riya finishes her Advanced IT batch on 5 December 2026. She meets the 8 December 2026 eligibility date, applies between 10 and 14 December 2026 and sits the test on 8 January 2027. Her batch-mate Kunal's batch ends on 12 December 2026. He misses the 8 December cut-off, so his first chance is the second sitting: eligibility date 8 January 2027, form window 10 to 14 January 2027, test on 8 February 2027. A four-day difference in course completion costs him a full month, which can matter when the Final examination form is due.

The same arithmetic applies to anyone who fails a sitting. ICAI's Student Skills Enrichment Board FAQs state that a candidate who does not clear the Advanced IT test must reappear in the test under ICAI's examination guidelines but does not have to repeat the course unless specifically directed. With monthly sittings, the earliest reattempt after a failed test is normally the next month's window.

Advanced IT test fee: free first attempt, ₹500 from the second

A candidate applying for the test for the first time pays no test fee. From the second application onwards the fee is ₹500, paid online through the payment gateway. Candidates choosing the Dubai centre pay USD 150, and the Kathmandu centre fee is ₹850. This test fee is separate from the course fee for the Advanced IT course itself, which the Student Skills Enrichment Board FAQs put at ₹7,500 (and ₹7,000 for MCS).

Applications are accepted only online at the ICAI Advanced IT test portal (advit.icai.org), where ICAI says the remaining details and guidance notes will be hosted. No physical application will be entertained, and the announcement is explicit that there is no concept of a late-fee application. Once the five-day window closes, the only option is the next sitting.

Exam centres: Option-I and Option-II cities

The CBT will be held in the listed cities only if enough candidates choose them, and ICAI reserves the right to cancel a centre and move candidates to another city. Every candidate must pick one Option-I city and will normally be allotted that city. Choosing an Option-II city is optional, but it comes with a condition: if at least 25 candidates opt for an Option-II centre, those candidates will be allotted the Option-II centre only, and no change of centre is permitted. A candidate who does not want to risk being locked into a smaller Option-II town can simply leave that choice blank.

The city lists change with the month. For the January, February, May, June, July, August, November and December 2027 sittings, Annex 1 lists 75 Option-I cities (including Dubai and Kathmandu) and Annex 2 lists 99 Option-II cities. For March and September 2027, Annex 3 widens Option-I to 95 cities, moving places such as Bathinda, Bhilwara, Bilaspur, Cuttack, Gwalior, Kakinada, Latur, Madurai, Mysuru, Prayagraj, Sangli, Solapur, Srinagar, Tiruchirapalli and Vellore into the guaranteed list, with 79 Option-II cities in Annex 4. For April and October 2027, Annex 5 also lists 95 Option-I cities, this time adding centres such as Alappuzha, Amravati, Asansol, Belgaum, Bharuch, Bhuj, Dhanbad, Hubli, Jalgaon, Kolhapur, Kottayam, Nanded, Nellore, Patiala, Rourkela, Salem and Satara, with 79 Option-II cities in Annex 6. Students in these towns who want to test close to home may find the March, April, September or October sittings more convenient.

Intermediate passouts and students converted from Final (Old)

The Student Skills Enrichment Board FAQs say Advanced ICITSS cannot be completed before the student clears Group 2 of the Intermediate examination, and that it is to be done before appearing in the Final examination. Students who cleared Intermediate in the CA Intermediate September 2026 result and are now in articleship are the next large group who will have to fit the course and this test into their Final timeline.

The 2023 announcement also covers students who converted from the old Final course. Those registered before 1 July 2017 who had not appeared in the Final (Old) examination must finish the component they had not completed and pass the Advanced IT test before the Final (New) examination. Those who had already appeared in Final (Old) may complete it before or after the Final (New) examination, but before applying for membership.

The first deadline to note is 8 December 2026, the course completion cut-off for the January 2027 sitting, followed by the form window that shuts at the end of 14 December 2026. ICAI has said all other details and guidance notes for the test will be hosted on the advit.icai.org portal.

Official source: View the official source document