CMA Foundation Exam Pattern 2025 - Marking Scheme & Exam Duration

CMA Foundation Exam Pattern 2025 - Marking Scheme & Exam Duration

Upcoming Event

CMA Foundation Application Date:14 Oct' 25 - 14 Oct' 25

Sansar Singh ChhikaraUpdated on 23 May 2025, 02:13 PM IST

The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI) prescribes the exam pattern of the CMA Foundation examination by releasing a notification on its official website. Students who have registered for the CMA Foundation before January 31, 2025 and are preparing to take the foundation exam in June 2025 should thoroughly follow the CMA Foundation exam pattern 2025. Understanding the pattern helps in building the strategy for the preparation. In this article, we will discuss the exam pattern, marking scheme, and weightage of the topics in the syllabus.

This Story also Contains

  1. CMA Foundation Exam pattern 2025
  2. CMA Foundation exam syllabus 2025
  3. CMA Foundation exam date and pattern for June 2025
CMA Foundation Exam Pattern 2025 - Marking Scheme & Exam Duration
CMA Foundation Exam Pattern 2025

CMA Foundation Exam pattern 2025

Candidates who are preparing to appear in the CMA Foundation examination 2025 should understand the examination pattern. The exam pattern for CMA Foundation includes the mode of examination, number of questions asked, marking scheme, types of questions, etc. This information helps the students to prepare for the examination accordingly. Check the table below for all the necessary details regarding the CMA foundation paper pattern.

CMA Foundation Exam Pattern June 2025

Particulars

Details

Mode of examination

Offline (pen-paper based)

Duration of exam

Two hours for each session

Number of sessions

Two sessions in one day

Number of papers in each session

Two papers in each session:

  • Session 1: Paper 1 + Paper 2

  • Session 2: Paper 3 + Paper 4

Types of question

Objective (MCQ based)

Number of papers

Four

Total number of questions in each session

100 questions (each paper in the session will have 50 questions)

Total marks of each session

200

Marking scheme

Two marks for every correct answer

Negative marking

No negative marking

Silver Oak University B.com Admissions 2025

Management Conclaves | Industrial visits to eminent companies | Celebrated guest speakers

IIC Lakshya CMA Course

Be a part of the largest Cost & Management Accounting Body


Also check - CMA Foundation Question paper

CMA Foundation exam syllabus 2025

The syllabus is the most important aspect of the preparation. Along with the exam pattern, the candidate must understand the syllabus of the Foundation exam. As per the ICMAI notification, the CMA Foundation exam syllabus consists of four papers and the CMA Foundation total marks are 400. The questions in the CMA examination are objective type. Here is the list of four papers:

  • Paper - 1: Fundamentals of Business Laws and Business Communication

  • Paper - 2: Fundamentals of Financial and Cost Accounting

  • Paper - 3: Fundamentals of Business Mathematics and Statistics

  • Paper - 4: Fundamentals of Business Economics and Management

CMA Foundation Previous Year Sample Papers
Free download CMA Foundation Previous Year Sample Papers
Click Here

CMA Foundation exam date and pattern for June 2025

The institute announced the CMA Foundation June 2025 exam dates and timetable through a notification on its official website. The Foundation exam will be held on June 14, 2025 in offline mode only. Questions asked in the examination will be of objective type. Check the table below for the tentative timetable of the CMA Foundation exam June 2025.

Date

Session time

Paper name

No. of Questions

Marks

Total Marks






June 14, 2025



Session 1:
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Paper 1: Fundamentals of Business Laws and Business Communication


50


100




200

Paper 2: Fundamentals of Financial and Cost Accounting


50


100



Session 2:

2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

Paper 3: Fundamentals of Business Mathematics and Statistics


50


100




200

Paper 4: Fundamentals of Business Economics and Management


50


100

Also check - CMA Foundation Study Material

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q: Does CMA Foundation exam paper have negative marking?
A:

Each correct answer in the CMA foundation examination carries 2 marks. However, there is no negative marking for wrongly marked answers.

Q: How many exams are there in the CMA Foundation?
A:

CMA Foundation has two exams that are held on the same day. The duration of each exam is 2 hours.

Q: Is CMA Foundation MCQ based?
A:

Yes, according to the examination notification of ICMAI, the CMA foundation exam will be of objective type.

Q: What is the question pattern of the CMA exam?
A:

The CMA Foundation will be a MCQ-based examination. Whereas, the CMA Intermediate and Final examinations pattern is a mix of objective and subjective type question papers.

Q: What is the exam pattern of the CMA Foundation?
A:

The CMA Foundation exam is conducted in the offline mode, and the questions asked are MCQ-based. The exam is divided into two sessions. Each session consists of two papers. Session 1 consists of papers 1 and 2, and session 2 consists of papers 3 and 4.

Articles
|
Upcoming Finance Exams
Upcoming Dates
Application Date

10 Oct'25 - 10 Oct'25 (Online)

Upcoming Dates
Application Date

14 Oct'25 - 14 Oct'25 (Online)

Certifications By Top Providers
Management of Commercial Banking
Via Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur
Introduction to Accounting-Part 1 Basics of Financial Statements
Via Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Direct Tax Laws and Practice
Via Tezpur University, Tezpur
Accounting and Finance
Via Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
Adaptive Markets Financial Market Dynamics and Human Behavior
Via Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Financial Reporting and Corporate Governance
Via Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad
Udemy
 192 courses
Edx
 174 courses
Vskills
 52 courses
Swayam
 49 courses
Coursera
 47 courses
Futurelearn
 40 courses
Explore Top Universities Across Globe

Questions related to CMA Foundation

On Question asked by student community

Have a question related to CMA Foundation ?

Hello aspirant,

The CMA foundation exam question papers are made available on the official website of the Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICMAI). There are CMA Foundation Question papers available by year. The first level of the Chartered Management Accountancy course is called CMA Foundation. The CMA Foundation Exam is offered in June and December of each year.

To download the previous year cma papers, you can visit our website by clicking on the link given below.

https://finance.careers360.com/articles/cma-foundation-question-paper

Thank you

Hope this information helps you.


Hello,


It usually takes 5-7 days for getting confirmation and the registration number through email. However, if you have still not received any confirmation, I highly recommend you to connect with the support team or the concerned authority regarding this because there might have been some technical issue with the website and it's best to connect with the support team to get the best solution.


Hope this helps,

Thank you

Hello Aspirant,

Hope you are doing well. If you fail the CMA Foundation Exam and are attempting it again you must register for the exam and pay the exam fee again. As long as you retake the exam within the 3 year period, you don't have to pay the program entrance fee again. You only need to retake the exam part that was not cleared.

All the best!

Hi,

I hope you are concerned to CMA (Cost and Management Accountant) Foundation Exam . It is organised by The Institute Of Cost Accountants Of India. The duration of the exam is 3 hours.

To be eligible for the exam, candidate needs to pass class 12/diploma from recognized board . It is going to be conducted on 8th July,2022 , the last date for registration was on 25 Feb 2022 .

Positions that are offered are Consultancy, jobs in PSU and private companies or even you can open your own practice.

I hope it clarifies your doubt.

Thank you!


Hi Candidate,

In order to know about your exam center, you can do the following;

  • Observe at your admit card. There should be mentioned about your exam centre location.
  • If it is not mentioned, then there might be some portal in organization website. Login to your portal and observe if there is an option to locate your exam centre.
  • If not, I strongly suggest you to contact the organization helpline as it might be a bug for your admit card. You can also ask your friends if they are facing the same issue.

Once the exam centre is located, I suggest you to visit your exam centre at most a day before the examination. It will help you to save time during the exam.

Thank you!