Passing CS Professional: Group Rules, Exemptions and Fees for 2026

Passing the CS Professional Programme uses the same qualifying-marks rules as the Executive stage: at least 40% in every paper and 50% in the aggregate of a group, or of both groups sat together, with two further provisos for a 60% paper exemption and a one-paper re-sit. We explain those tests once, with a checker, in our Executive passing-marks guide, and do not repeat them here. This guide covers what is different at Professional: an elective inside each group, the paper-wise exemptions a CMA must claim again, how old-syllabus module passes count, whether to sit one group or both, and every fee, concession and date for December 2026. ProSyllabus is an independent study site. We are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, the Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI); every rule below is quoted or summarised from ICSI's published documents, and ICSI decides every individual case.

ICSI fee schedule and December 2026 important dates (25.08.2026).

A wording point. The qualifying-marks text still says "module", the Syllabus 2017 word. Under Syllabus 2022 the same unit is called a "group". We read them as the same thing and write "group" throughout; ICSI has not issued a separate Syllabus 2022 version of the text that we could find.

Clause (a)(ii) is the Professional-only line. It covers a student who passed one or more Syllabus 2017 modules before switching. Such a student passes the whole Professional Programme by clearing the remaining papers at one sitting, with 40% in each and 50% in their aggregate. Which old papers exempt which new ones is in the switchover table in our papers guide.

You can enrol for one group or both in a session. The rules and the fees differ in three ways: the registration cut-off is two months later if you register to sit one group; the exam fee is per group; and a student sitting both groups is judged on the aggregate of all seven papers (or of each group), while a one-group student is judged on that group alone.

Two restrictions from the December 2026 notice matter here. You can add a group after enrolling, for the group fee plus a Rs 250 service charge, until the enrolment deadline. You cannot delete a group once enrolled; ICSI says a request to reduce the number of groups is not allowed. So enrol for both only if you mean to sit both.

Two date conflicts, printed as found. First, the last day for enrolment services is 21 November 2026 at 4 PM in the December 2026 session notice, but 20 November in ICSI's 2026 calendar, and the FAQ says changes must be made at least 30 days before the exam. Second, the qualifying-marks text lets you cancel a 60% exemption "on or before the last date of enrolment", while the session notice lists "cancellation of exemption request" among the services open until 21 November. Doing either by 20 November satisfies both readings.

The pre-examination test is the one mandatory pre-enrolment step at Professional; the Three Days Orientation Programme applies only at Executive. ICSI issues the admit card about ten days before the exams.

ICSI issues a pass certificate on completing the Professional Programme, and puts it on DigiLocker. The printed marksheet arrives by post. None of this makes you a member: admission as an Associate (ACS) needs the training described in our EDP and practical training guide and the CLDP and clearance steps in our CLDP and ACS membership guide. If your registration will expire before you finish training, you keep it alive by continuation of registration at Rs 1,000 a year.