Beyond 6 attempts, 4-hour exams, and articleship exploitation—reclaiming your wellbeing on the toughest professional journey
You’re sitting in the exam hall for the fourth hour. Your hand is cramping. Your brain is foggy. You’re on your third attempt at CA Final, and somewhere between Question 3 and Question 4, a thought creeps in: “Is this worth it?”
You push it away. You’ve invested too much—too many years, too many sleepless nights, too much family expectation—to ask that question now. So you keep writing, keep pushing, keep grinding. Later, during your articleship, you’ll work unpaid overtime, accept exploitation as “experience,” and ignore the exhaustion that’s becoming your new normal.
Welcome to the Chartered Accountancy journey—one of the most demanding professional qualifications in the world, where the pass rates hover around 10-15%, where six attempts are common, and where the finish line keeps moving further away just when you think you’re close.
But here’s what nobody tells you: the real cost isn’t measured in attempts or years invested. It’s measured in mental health, self-worth, and the slow erosion of the person you were before CA became your entire identity.
According to ICAI’s 2025 statistics, there are over 10 lakh students currently pursuing CA across three levels, with CA Intermediate having the maximum enrollment. These numbers represent dreams, ambitions, and immense pressure. Research on Indian students shows that 45.8% experience psychological problems related to academic stress, with professional courses like CA amplifying this burden significantly.
It’s time we talked about the mental health crisis in CA education—and more importantly, how to survive it with your wellbeing intact.
Issue #1: The Infinite Syllabus Loop (When Your Books Multiply Faster Than Your Understanding)
That Moment You Realize the Syllabus Has Updated… Again
You finally master Indirect Tax Laws. You’re feeling confident. Then ICAI announces syllabus updates. Or there’s a budget change. Or new accounting standards are introduced. The goalpost has moved—again. You’re not just studying; you’re chasing a constantly evolving target while everyone expects you to hit a bullseye.
This perpetual syllabus expansion creates what psychologists call “learned helplessness”—the feeling that no matter how much effort you put in, the outcome remains uncertain. Your brain starts associating studying with futility rather than progress, draining your motivation at its source.
A study on academic stress among Indian students found that learning burnout leads to disrupted sleeping patterns and hindered academic performance. For CA students juggling articleship and exam preparation, this creates a vicious cycle: overwhelming syllabus leads to inadequate sleep, which reduces learning capacity, which increases anxiety about the overwhelming syllabus.
Research Reference
Gong, Z., Wang, H., Zhong, M., et al. (2023). “College students’ learning stress, psychological resilience, and learning burnout: Status quo and coping strategies.” BMC Psychiatry, 23, Article 389. https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-04994-1
Mindful Solutions:
- Chunking strategy: Break the enormous syllabus into 20-minute study blocks. Your brain processes manageable chunks better than marathon sessions. Study one concept completely before moving to the next. Depth over breadth.
- Priority mapping: Not all topics carry equal weight. Identify high-weightage areas first. Use previous exam patterns to guide your focus. Strategic studying beats comprehensive panic.
- Update anxiety ritual: When syllabus changes are announced, give yourself 24 hours to feel frustrated. Write down your worries. Then create an action plan for incorporating the changes. Acknowledge the emotion, then move to action.
- Weekly reset practice: Every Sunday, close all your books. For 10 minutes, sit without studying. Breathe. Remind yourself: the syllabus is vast, but your capacity to learn grows with each attempt. Progress, not perfection.
Issue #2: The Attempt Shame Spiral (When Everyone Asks “Which Attempt?” Before “How Are You?”)
Living in a World Where Your Worth Equals Your Attempt Number
“Beta, which attempt?” This question haunts CA students more than any exam question ever will. You’re at a family function, and before anyone asks about your wellbeing, they want to know your attempt count. First attempt? You’re a genius. Third attempt? You’re “still trying.” Sixth attempt? The whispers begin.
The shame of multiple attempts doesn’t just wound your ego—it fundamentally alters how you see yourself. You begin to internalize the failure, believing that your inability to clear exams defines your intelligence, worth, and future. But here’s the truth nobody emphasizes: CA exams have a 10-15% pass rate. That means 85-90% of capable, intelligent, hardworking students don’t pass on any given attempt.
Research on student mental health in India reveals that the stigma attached to academic failure amplifies stress, with many students fearing judgment from their families and communities. For CA students, this stigma is particularly acute because the course itself is seen as prestigious—failure feels like falling from a pedestal.
Research Reference
Deb, S., et al. (2015). “Academic stress, parental pressure, anxiety and mental health among Indian high school students.” International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 5(1), 26-34. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275353293
Mindful Solutions:
- Reframe attempts as data: Each attempt isn’t a failure; it’s information. You now know what the exam demands, how you respond under pressure, and where your preparation gaps exist. Champions use this data. Treat yourself like one.
- Boundary script for nosy relatives: Prepare a response: “I’m focusing on my preparation and wellbeing. I appreciate your concern.” Then change the subject. You don’t owe anyone a detailed account of your journey.
- Celebrate micro-progress: Cleared one group? That’s success. Improved your marks? That’s growth. Understood a previously confusing concept? That’s achievement. Document these wins in a journal. Your worth isn’t defined by final results alone.
- Find your support circle: Connect with fellow CA students who understand the journey. Join online communities where vulnerability is welcomed, not judged. You need people who measure you by your character, not your attempt count.
Issue #3: The Articleship Exploitation Trap (Unpaid Labor Disguised as “Learning”)
When Your Boss Says “Experience Is Your Salary” for the 47th Time
You’re working 50-60 hour weeks during articleship. You’re handling client portfolios, preparing tax returns, managing audits—essentially doing the work of an assistant. Your stipend? Barely enough to cover your commute. When you mention exhaustion, you’re told: “This is the CA way. We all suffered through it.”
This normalized exploitation creates a toxic environment where burnout is expected, even celebrated. You’re too tired to study after work, but exams still loom. You’re too anxious about your future to set boundaries with your principal. You’re trapped between the need for practical experience and the reality of being overworked and underpaid.
Research on workplace stress shows that chronic overwork without adequate compensation or recognition leads to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization—key markers of burnout. For CA students, articleship often represents their first professional experience, setting a dangerous precedent that exploitation is normal.
Research Reference
Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). “Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry.” World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103-111.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911781/
Mindful Solutions:
- Non-negotiable study time: Block out 2-3 hours daily for exam preparation and communicate this boundary to your principal. Frame it professionally: “To serve your firm better after qualification, I need time to prepare for exams.” Most reasonable principals will understand.
- Document overwork: Keep a log of your actual working hours versus stipulated hours. If exploitation is severe, you have documentation to escalate to ICAI if needed. Boundaries need evidence.
- Energy preservation protocol: During articleship, simplify everything else. Meal prep on weekends. Minimize social obligations. Your energy is limited—allocate it strategically between work, study, and basic self-care.
- Reframe learning vs. exploitation: Ask yourself: “Am I learning new skills, or am I doing repetitive tasks because I’m free labor?” Learning deserves your time. Exploitation doesn’t. Know the difference and act accordingly.
Issue #4: The Comparison Catastrophe (When Everyone Else’s Timeline Looks Better Than Yours)
Instagram vs. Reality: The CA Edition
Your batch mate clears both groups in the first attempt. Another friend finishes CA at 22 and lands a Big Four job. Meanwhile, you’re 25, on your fourth attempt, still living with your parents, watching everyone else’s life progress while yours feels stuck in an endless loop of “attempt again next time.”
Social comparison is psychologically damaging in any context, but for CA students, it’s particularly brutal. The course already has built-in comparison through ranks, merit lists, and toppers’ photographs. Add social media to the mix, and you’re constantly bombarded with others’ highlight reels while drowning in your own behind-the-scenes struggles.
Studies on college student mental health in India demonstrate that academic stressors, including pressure to succeed and competitiveness, significantly contribute to depression and anxiety among students. The constant comparison erodes self-esteem and amplifies feelings of inadequacy.
Research Reference
Verma, G., et al. (2022). “Improving mental health on college campuses: Perspectives of Indian college students.” Journal of American College Health, 70(3), 731-738.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35227409/
Mindful Solutions:
- Timeline recalibration: Your journey is uniquely yours. Someone clearing in 3 years doesn’t invalidate your 5-year path. Different speeds don’t mean different worth. Some people sprint marathons; others walk them. Both finish.
- Social media detox during prep: Unfollow or mute accounts that trigger comparison anxiety, especially during exam months. Protect your mental space like you’d protect your study time. Both are sacred.
- Personal best focus: Compete only with your previous attempt. Did you improve your scores? Did you manage your anxiety better? Did you understand concepts more deeply? That’s what matters. Your graph, not theirs.
- Future-self conversation: When comparison hits hard, visualize yourself five years post-qualification. Will it matter that you took longer? Or will it matter that you preserved your mental health and became a more resilient professional? Choose the second.
Issue #5: The Identity Crisis Collapse (When CA Becomes Your Entire Personality)
That Terrifying Moment Someone Asks “What Do You Like To Do?” and You Have No Answer
You can’t remember the last time you read a book that wasn’t prescribed by ICAI. Your hobbies have vanished. Your friendships are maintained through WhatsApp forwards. When someone asks what you enjoy, you genuinely can’t remember. CA preparation has consumed everything—your time, your interests, your identity.
This complete identity absorption is psychologically dangerous. When your entire self-worth is tied to one pursuit, failure in that pursuit doesn’t just feel like academic setback—it feels like personal annihilation. You lose the buffer of other identity markers that could sustain you through difficult periods.
Research highlights that students facing prolonged academic stress often experience significant mental health concerns affecting people irrespective of age, education, gender, and socioeconomic status. The loss of personal identity beyond academics compounds this stress, leaving students vulnerable to severe depression when facing repeated academic challenges.
Research Reference
Mathias, K., et al. (2020). “Mental health outcomes of college students in India during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study.” Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 42(5), 428-434. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0253717620935927
Mindful Solutions:
- Non-negotiable joy activity: Schedule 30 minutes weekly for something you loved before CA—music, art, sports, cooking, anything. This isn’t wasted time; it’s identity preservation. Without it, you forget who you are beyond the qualification.
- Three-dimensional self mapping: Write down three things about yourself that have nothing to do with CA. Maybe you’re kind, funny, a good listener, creative with food, excellent at comforting friends. These traits exist independently of your exam results.
- Post-CA life visioning: Regularly visualize your life after CA. What kind of professional do you want to be? What values will guide you? What balance will you maintain? This helps you see CA as a chapter, not the entire story.
- Failure scenario planning: Ask yourself: “If I don’t complete CA, what else could I do?” Having a Plan B doesn’t mean you’ll need it—it means you’re resilient enough to imagine alternatives. This reduces catastrophic thinking when exams don’t go as planned.
Quick Mindfulness Practices: Your CA Survival Toolkit
These practices aren’t optional extras—they’re essential maintenance:
Practice 1: The 3-Minute “Exam Eve Breath”
The night before exams, anxiety peaks. Your mind races through everything you might have forgotten. Your body tenses with anticipation. Instead of cramming until midnight (which reduces retention anyway), try this:
Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. Place one hand on your chest, one on your belly. Breathe in slowly for 4 counts, feeling your belly expand. Hold for 2 counts. Exhale slowly for 6 counts, feeling your belly contract. Repeat for 3 minutes.
As you breathe, mentally repeat: “I have prepared. I am capable. Whatever happens tomorrow, I am more than one exam.”
Why it works: The extended exhale activates your parasympathetic nervous system, countering fight-or-flight anxiety. You’re physiologically calming your system while psychologically anchoring yourself in self-compassion.
Practice 2: The 2-Minute “Articleship Boundary”
During particularly exploitative work situations, you need an internal boundary when external ones aren’t respected. Before starting work each day during articleship, take 2 minutes:
Stand or sit with your spine straight. Take three deep breaths. Mentally establish your boundary: “I will work diligently during work hours. I will learn what benefits my growth. I will not internalize others’ stress as my responsibility. I am here to learn, not to be diminished.”
Visualize this boundary as a protective shield around you. Work happens outside the shield; your worth and wellbeing stay protected inside.
Why it works: Psychological boundaries need conscious reinforcement, especially in environments that disrespect them. This practice reminds you daily that you control how others’ behavior affects your internal state.
The Bigger Picture: CA Is a Qualification, Not Your Entire Life
The CA course has an approximately 15% pass rate across levels. Let that sink in. This means the vast majority of intelligent, capable, hardworking people sitting in exam halls don’t pass on any given attempt. The failure isn’t personal—it’s statistical.
But the emotional toll is deeply personal. The shame, the anxiety, the exhaustion, the identity loss—these are real consequences of a system that prioritizes rigor over wellbeing. While you can’t change ICAI’s examination structure, you can change how you navigate it.
Your mental health isn’t a luxury you’ll address “after CA.” It’s the foundation that determines whether you reach “after CA” at all. Countless students abandon the course not because they lack intelligence, but because they reach a breaking point where survival feels more important than qualification. That’s not weakness—that’s wisdom.
According to ICAI’s own data, over 2.41 lakh students are currently enrolled in CA Final, many on multiple attempts. Behind each registration number is a person managing immense pressure, family expectations, financial constraints, and the weight of delayed life milestones. You’re not alone in this struggle, even when it feels isolating.
Implementation: Building Your Sustainable CA Journey
Small, consistent practices compound over time:
Daily: One-minute check-in with yourself. “How am I actually feeling today? What do I need?” Honor the answer.
Weekly: Three hours of complete disconnection from CA. No books, no guilt. Do something that reminds you you’re human, not just a registration number.
Monthly: Review your mental health alongside your syllabus completion. Are you sleeping? Are you eating properly? Are you experiencing joy anywhere? These metrics matter as much as revision percentages.
Per attempt: After results (pass or fail), give yourself one week of processing time before diving back into preparation. Celebrate successes. Grieve setbacks. Then strategize forward.
Conclusion: The Rank You Need Most Is Self-Compassion
Here’s what they don’t tell you when you register for CA: the toughest part isn’t the syllabus, the exam duration, or even the pass rates. It’s maintaining your sense of self-worth when everything around you—the system, the statistics, sometimes even your own family—suggests your value is conditional on clearing these exams.
You’re attempting one of the most challenging professional qualifications in the world. The very fact that you’re still here, still attempting, still pushing forward despite the odds—that takes remarkable courage. Don’t let the system’s rigor make you forget your own resilience.
CA will end. Whether you clear in 3 years or 6, whether you finish at 22 or 28, eventually, this phase will conclude. But the relationship you build with yourself during this journey—the self-compassion or self-criticism you practice, the boundaries you learn to set or the exploitation you learn to accept—that stays with you long after the qualification.
Your mental health isn’t negotiable. It’s not something you sacrifice for success, because without it, any success you achieve will feel hollow. You can be a brilliant CA while also being a person who takes breaks, who asks for help, who sometimes struggles, who prioritizes wellbeing over others’ timelines.
Start small today. Practice one boundary. Acknowledge one feeling. Take one breath that’s just for you, not for exam preparation. These aren’t distractions from your goal—they’re what make reaching your goal sustainable.
The CA you become matters less than the person you remain while becoming one. Don’t lose yourself in pursuit of letters after your name.
Your rank in life doesn’t come from ICAI. It comes from how you treat yourself when the going gets tough. And right now, the going is tough. So be kind. Be patient. Be the support for yourself that you wish the system would provide.
You’re not just studying to become a Chartered Accountant. You’re learning to become a person who can handle immense pressure with grace, who can fail and rise again, who can maintain integrity in difficult environments, and who remembers that qualifications open doors—but character determines what you do once you’re inside.
That’s the real education happening here. Don’t miss it while obsessing over attempt numbers.
Research Papers Referenced
ICAI (2025). “Students and Members Report 2025: Total CA Students, Members, and Firms Data.” [https://finance.careers360.com/articles/icai-student-and-member-report-2025]
- Deb, S., et al. (2025). “Mental health status of school students in India: The role of school-based family counselling.” Journal of Child & Adolescent Behavior. [https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/20556365251321202]
- Gong, Z., Wang, H., Zhong, M., et al. (2023). “College students’ learning stress, psychological resilience, and learning burnout: Status quo and coping strategies.” BMC Psychiatry, 23, Article 389. [https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-023-04994-1]
- Verma, G., et al. (2022). “Improving mental health on college campuses: Perspectives of Indian college students.” Journal of American College Health, 70(3), 731-738. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35227409/]
- Mathias, K., et al. (2020). “Status of mental health among college and university students during COVID-19 in India.” Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 54, Article 102407. [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9894831/]
- Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). “Understanding the burnout experience: Recent research and its implications for psychiatry.” World Psychiatry, 15(2), 103-111. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4911781/]
- Singh, K., et al. (2015). “Academic stress and mental health among adolescents in India.” Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 37(4), 405-410. [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/275353293]
Arun, P., & Chavan, B. (2009). “Stress and suicidal ideas in adolescent students in Chandigarh.” Indian Journal of Medical Sciences, 63(7), 281-287. [https://www.ijmsonline.org]
