CSEET refers to the Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test conducted by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. This is one window that the Institute provides for candidates who aspire to become Company Secretaries to enter into this course.
The CSEET exam consists of one paper further divided into 4 main subjects which are further subdivided into several chapters. A candidate has to achieve a minimum 100 marks in aggregate and at least 40% marks in each subject to pass the CSEET exams.
Every subject has maximum marks of 50 and as per rules, 20 marks are all the candidate needs to pass. The subjects broadly include legal aptitude, logical reasoning, current affairs, business environment, economy, business communication as well. There is no negative marking in the exams.
Is CSEET compulsory for graduates?
The Institute of Company Secretaries of India had issued an official notification in June,2021 stating that certain eligible students would be exempted from giving the CSEET exams.
There are two eligibility criteria. A candidate falling in any one of them will not be required to sit in CSEET exams. This implies that these candidates can directly get their admission in the Company Secretary Course- executive programme.
Following are the criteria for CSEET:
- Graduates (having minimum 50% marks) in any discipline of any recognized university or any other Institution in India or abroad, recognized as equivalent by the Council, or;
- Post graduates in any discipline ) in any discipline of any recognized university or any other Institution in India or abroad, recognized as equivalent by the Council
Effective date – the above criteria for exemption came into effect from 20 June, 2021 for CSEET and CS Executive Programme.
Requirements to get eligible – To avail this exemption, the student needs to fulfil at least one of the criteria mentioned above. In addition to that, the student needs to pay the requisite mandatory exemption fees, as applicable.
So to answer the question – Is CSEET compulsory for graduates, then no. CSEET is not mandatory for graduate students, provided you have done your graduation from a recognized university and paid the mandatory fees.
The next question arises: what is the CSEET exemption fee for graduate students? The fees as prescribed by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India is Rs. 5000 at the time registration to CS Executive Programme.
Before reading further check out these posts:
CSEET Exemption New rules 2022 – Apart from graduates and post graduates, the Institute has the power to add more or remove the existing exemptions from appearing for the CSEET exams. Before February 2020, the exemption was available to graduates and post graduates.
Post that the ICSI came up with a notification waiving off this exemption and every student was required to attempt the CSEET exams to be eligible to sit in the CS executive exams. However, in June 2021 the ICSI came up with another notification exempting the graduates and post graduates from appearing for the CSEET exams. The students who avail this exemption can now directly sit in the CS executive exams conducted by the ICSI.
Now let us answer some of the most frequently asked questions –
A-1: In general, the answer to this question No. You cannot give the CS Executive exam without giving the CSEET examinations (CSEET- Company Secretary Executive Entrance Test). However, the ICSI has issued notifications exempting certain categories of students from giving this common entrance test.
The 2 categories includes graduates from recognized universities in any field and post graduates. So these students can get a direct level entry into the CS Executive examinations without appearing for the CSEET. This is a very huge exemption given by the ICSI only recently to enable the CS aspirants from all strata and to encourage these students to join this prestigious course.
A-2: No, The CS mock test is not compulsory. It is in addition to the study material already issued by the ICSI. A student while preparing for his CSEET exams can download these mock test which are available on the official website of the Institute and attempt the questions given there under to basically enhance his level of preparedness for the exams.
However, it is neither a sufficient nor a necessary material to pass the CSEET exams. Students have passed CSEET without preparing from the mock test, and students have scored better after attempting the mock tests as well. So it really depends on every child’s capacity and how much is he willing to take on during his preparations.
A-3: Every student who wishes to become a Company Secretary one day and get the prefix of CS in front of his name has to first register himself as a student with the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
Upon filling the registration form, the student is allowed to sit in the CSEET exams which are kind of an entrance test to ensure that the candidates registering themselves have the right aptitude to take forward this profession and become the flag bearers of tomorrow.
So every CS aspirant, except for graduates and post graduates have to give the CSEET. Graduates and post graduates have been recently exempted from giving this exam.
A-4: CSEET exam is necessary to get entry into the CS course and appear for the CS executive level examinations which is one of the steps to get the CS certificate from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.
A-5: Students who have filled the registration form and subsequently got themselves registered with the ICSI, can only appear to sit in the CSEET exam once.
This implies that one registration is for one appearance in the CSEET exams. If the students is not able to clear the exams in his first attempt and wants to sit again, he again has to get himself registered with the Institute. This implies repayment of the registration fees, and refilling of the registration form rolled out by the ICSI.
All the best to all students.
