CA CTA Joint Programme

The Joint Programme assumes that you will be in a tax role, gaining practical experience of the taxation of the chosen specialism. You will need to be registered as a student with ICAS first.  

If you are an CA student, you can join the Joint Programme if you have not yet completed the Skills (elective) paper. 

If you are a CIOT student, you can join the Joint Programme provided you have not yet passed two CTA Advanced Technical Papers

The programme offers two specialisms – Taxation of Larger Companies & Groups or Owner-Managed Businesses.  

The two options are outlined below: 

• Taxation of Larger Companies & Groups: Students sit 12 of the 13 CA modules (excluding the Skills (elective) paper), the CTA Advanced Technical examination: Taxation of Larger Companies & Groups, plus the CTA Professional Responsibilities & Ethics Computer Based Examination. Students then choose from a CTA Advanced Technical examination, CTA Application and Professional Skills Case Study or one of two selected CIOT ADIT examinations. The full list of available papers can be found in the exam structure diagram – see link above.   
• Taxation of Owner-Managed Businesses: Students sit 12 of the 13 CA modules (excluding the Skills (elective) paper), the CTA Advanced Technical examination: Taxation of Owner-Managed Businesses, plus the CTA Professional Responsibilities & Ethics Computer Based Examination. Students then choose from a CTA Advanced Technical examination, CTA Application and Professional Skills Case Study or selected CIOT ADIT examinations. The full list of available papers can be found in the exam structure diagram – see link above. 

You are required to complete 12 of the 13 CA modules (excluding the Skills (elective) exam), your CTA specialism paper, plus the CTA Professional Responsibilities & Ethics Computer Based Examination. You then choose from a CTA Advanced Technical examination, CTA Application and Professional Skills Case Study or CIOT ADIT examination. This means there are 15 exams in total.  

You must have passed all of your CA Knowledge assessments and all of the CA Skills (Core) assessments (except for Data, Risk and Technology) before sitting the first CIOT advanced technical paper. Data, Risk and Technology can be sat afterwards, but all five ICAS skills papers must be passed before moving on to CA Integration.  

You must also sit your CTA specialism paper before you can attempt the CA Integration assessments.  

You must sit your Professional Responsibilities & Ethics CBE before you register for your final CIOT tax paper. 

More information is available on our website on the Advanced Technical and Application and Professional Skills papers.  

Once passed a tax paper is valid for seven examination sessions. 

Exams are held in test centres. 

If you are following the Larger Companies and Groups route, you may choose to sit one of two available ADIT papers – United Kingdom or United States. These papers are of 3 hours and 15 minutes duration.  

Please see our ADIT website section for past papers, fees and how to book. 

The deadline to book the June examination is the end of February. For the December session exam entry closes at the end of September.  

Once passed, an ADIT paper is valid for ten examination sessions. 

Of the CTA Computer Based Examinations, CA/CTA candidates only need to sit Professional Responsibilities and Ethics. Full details and FAQs can be found on our CBE page.    

Professional Responsibilities & Ethics CBE passes are valid for nine examination sessions.  

For those students who sit and pass from December to May inclusive, the first session for which it will be valid will be the following November. For example if a pass was gained on 20 February 2021 it will be valid up to and including November 2025.  

For those students who sit and pass from June to November inclusive, the first session for which it will be valid will be the following May. For example if a pass was gained on 8 June 2020 it will be valid up to and including May 2025. 

You need to first register as a CA student with ICAS. To find out more about how to register for this route contact: [email protected]  

When you have received your CA student number you can complete your registration with the CIOT through our portal. You need to provide your CA student number in order to register. 

You need to be a registered student with CIOT for at least four months before you are allowed to enter for an examination.  

For the May exam session: you must register as a CIOT student by the last day of December. For the November exam session: you must register as a CIOT student by the last day of June. 

Please note that registrations for this Joint Programme will close after 31 December 2025. Registrants will then have to sit their Advanced Technical specialist paper in the May 2026 CTA exam session (for which registrations close at the end of February 2026). If you have not sat your first CTA paper under this existing Joint Programme by May 2026, you will be transferred to the CA CTA Joint Programme 2026+. 

Once accepted as a CIOT student you will need to enter for your exams.  

The CIOT’s closing date for the May exam is the last day of February and the November exam is the last day of August. 

Please refer to our policy regarding examination cancellations, which also gives information on changing exam entries. 

Current fees for student registration and exam entries can be found on our fees page.  

Please note that student registration on the Joint Programme is valid for four years. Once this has expired, you will need to re-register and pay a further fee. 

No, there is no limit on the number of attempts for the CTA examinations, although once you have passed a CTA examination, it only remains valid for a certain period – validity is explained above under the information on CTA tax exams, ADIT exams and CBEs.  

For the Professional Responsibilities and Ethics CBE, you can purchase the study manual from our online shop.

For the Advanced Technical and Application and Professional Skills papers, you can purchase study materials for the CTA tax papers from a course provider. The Institute sets the examination syllabus but does not offer tuition itself. Tuition for the CA CTA is offered by Tolley Exam Training. 

If you are following the Larger Companies and Groups specialist route and choose one of the two available ADIT papers as your second paper, you can purchase study materials and tuition from an ADIT course provider.

If you require reasonable adjustments or access arrangements to complete you examinations, you can apply for this via the the extra time application form.   

We recognise that some candidates may sit their (May/November) exams in difficult circumstances. You can apply for special consideration if you feel that your performance was affected by serious personal circumstances or technical issues during your exam.