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CS Executive guidance: how the paper is cracked, from your own numbers

Company Secretary Executive Programme — the professional stage of the CS qualification. Conducted by The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), a statutory body under the Company Secretaries Act, 1980. Suresh knows this paper from the site's own pattern pages — and reads your scores, your mocks and what you haven't touched before saying a word.

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Carries the marks · Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General LawsJurisprudence, Schools of Legal Thought and the Constitution…Marks ~16 Open the chapter

The paper · CS Executive400 marksWrong answers cost marks

Suresh“Before we plan anything: when do you sit CS Executive, and how many hours a day do you really have?”

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Ends in a plan

Stages

First paper

400 marks

Marking

Wrong answers cost marks

Your guide

Suresh, free

How it's decided

CS Executive, stage by stage

Twice a year — June and December sessions. Pen-and-paper at ICSI examination centres. Every paper runs three hours (plus 15 minutes' reading time) for 100 marks.

CSEET, or an exemption routeEntrance gateway into CS Executive

Cleared CSEET, or exempted as an ICSI Foundation-pass, a qualifying graduate/postgraduate, or a CA Final/CMA Final-qualified candidate.

Group 1 — Jurisprudence & General Laws, Company Law & Practice, Setting up of Business & Labour Laws, Corporate Accounting & Financial ManagementFour papers, 400 marks

The group most candidates attempt first. Every paper is 20% case-study MCQ plus 80% descriptive except Paper 4, which is wholly descriptive.

Group 2 — Capital Market & Securities Laws, Economic Commercial & IP Laws, Tax Laws & PracticeThree papers, 300 marks

The group that completes the level. Both groups may be attempted together or one at a time, in either order.

Practical training — EDP, then 21 monthsCan begin once Executive is cleared

A 30-day Executive Development Programme (part online, part classroom) followed by 21 months under a practising Company Secretary or an eligible company. Professional-level exams can be attempted while this training is ongoing.

CS Professional — seven papers, including two electivesThe qualifying examination

Five compulsory papers (modelled on this hub) plus two open-book electives, one chosen from each of two elective lists. Passing, plus completed training and a shorter Professional Development Programme, admits a candidate to ICSI membership.

The papers

2 papers, and how each is marked

Group 1 — Jurisprudence & General Laws, Company Law & Practice, Setting up of Business & Labour Laws, Corporate Accounting & Financial Management

400 marks3 hours per paperNegative marking

The group most candidates attempt first

Marking: A small negative mark on the MCQ portion where it applies — confirm the exact current figure against ICSI's own notification.

20% case-study MCQ + 80% descriptive, except Paper 4 (wholly descriptive)

Paper 1 — Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws100 marks · 180 minPaper 2 — Company Law and Practice100 marks · 180 minPaper 3 — Setting up of Business, Industrial and Labour Laws100 marks · 180 minPaper 4 — Corporate Accounting and Financial Management100 marks · 180 min

Paper 4 (Corporate Accounting and Financial Management) is taught on this hub as two subjects — Corporate Accounting and Financial Management — since the single 100-mark paper genuinely combines two separable disciplines that alias cleanly into two different CA Intermediate source subjects.

Group 2 — Capital Market & Securities Laws, Economic, Commercial & IP Laws, Tax Laws & Practice

300 marks3 hours per paperNegative marking

The group that completes the level

Marking: A small negative mark on the MCQ portion where it applies — confirm the exact current figure against ICSI's own notification.

20% case-study MCQ + 80% descriptive

Paper 5 — Capital Market and Securities Laws100 marks · 180 minPaper 6 — Economic, Commercial and Intellectual Property Laws100 marks · 180 minPaper 7 — Tax Laws and Practice100 marks · 180 min

Both groups, together with completed practical training, are required before a candidate can register for CS Professional.

Where the marks come from

Where CS Executive's 700 marks come from

Seven papers of 100 marks, arranged in two groups — Group 1 has four papers, Group 2 has three. Every paper is 20% case-study-based multiple choice plus 80% descriptive, except Paper 4 (Corporate Accounting and Financial Management), which is wholly descriptive.

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General Laws100 marks · 14.3%

Group 1. Jurisprudence, the Constitution and interpretation of statutes share the paper with general laws — contract, torts, civil and criminal procedure, evidence, limitation and information — the paper with the widest spread of distinct legal subjects on this hub.

Company Law and Practice100 marks · 14.3%

Group 1. Incorporation, capital and charges share the paper with directors, meetings, accounts, audit and the secretarial function — the paper closest to a Company Secretary's day-to-day statutory work.

Setting up of Business, Industrial and Labour Laws100 marks · 14.3%

Group 1. Choice of business entity and registrations share the paper with the four Labour Codes — the newest major legislative change examined at this level.

Corporate Accounting50 marks · 7.1%

Group 1, half of Paper 4. Schedule III financial statements, amalgamation, internal reconstruction and consolidated financial statements — this hub's wholly descriptive half of the paper.

Financial Management50 marks · 7.1%

Group 1, half of Paper 4. Cost of capital, capital structure, capital budgeting, working capital and dividend decisions — the numerical half of the paper.

Capital Market and Securities Laws100 marks · 14.3%

Group 2. Market structure, SEBI and intermediaries share the paper with the regulations governing an actual securities issue and continuing listed-entity obligations — genuinely new content on this hub, with no CA/CMA equivalent.

Economic, Commercial and Intellectual Property Laws100 marks · 14.3%

Group 2. FEMA, Competition Act, PMLA, Benami law and foreign trade policy share the paper with the four core IP statutes — also new content, with the IP half examined nowhere else on this hub.

Tax Laws and Practice100 marks · 14.3%

Group 2. Direct tax computation shares the paper with GST and a customs outline, aliased almost wholesale from CA Intermediate's own Taxation paper.

What changed this cycle

Things last year's advice gets wrong

ICSI restructured CSEET for the June 2026 session onward — four papers, 400 marks, across four exam days, replacing the older 200-mark single-day pattern (last held January 2026). Confirm the exact current pattern with ICSI before an attempt, since this changed very recently.
The Three Days Orientation Programme (TDOP) became a mandatory prerequisite for Executive-level exam-form enrolment for students registering on or after 1 February 2025.
The paid-up share capital threshold that makes appointing a whole-time Company Secretary mandatory for a private company (Rule 8A) was raised from Rs. 5 crore to Rs. 10 crore with effect from 1 April 2020 — a Supreme Court challenge to the increase was dismissed. The listed-company and public-company thresholds under Rule 8 use the same Rs. 10 crore figure.
ICSI's New Training Structure — a 30-day Executive Development Programme followed by 21 months of practical training, with a shorter Professional Development Programme after Professional-level qualification — became mandatory for all students switching over from 1 April 2024, replacing the older training format.

The chapters that carry the marks

Where a plan for CS Executive usually starts

The highest-weight chapters in each subject, linked to their notes. Weights are estimates from previous papers where the conducting body publishes none. Your guide weighs these against your own scores.

Jurisprudence, Interpretation and General LawsAll chapters