The Company Secretary Course is offered by Institute of Company Secretaries of India. It is basically a distance learning course, although very popular among the commerce students. It is a Professional course which is not only a reputed one rather is very lucrative in terms of salary.

Students who are interested to pursue this course has to undergo different stages of examinations along with some practical training sessions.

The different stages of examination includes the following-

• Foundation Programme
• Executive Programme
• Professional Programme
• Management Training

As all of us understand that now a days, there’s a great emphasis on adherence to norms of efficient Corporate governance, hence the demand of Company Secretaries have also risen especially after enactment of Company Act 2013. The role of Company Secretary revolves around the following domains-

• Structure of the company
• Management of the company
• Administration of the company
• Provisions related to conduct of affairs of company

Revised Syllabus

ICSI undertook the process of revising its Syllabus and brought out an unique syllabus which encompasses the innovative concepts of Core, Ancillary and Hybrid Subjects. Following have been given huge emphasis- 

• Company Law, 
• Securities Laws, 
• Insolvency Law, 
• FEMA and 
• GST. 

The following areas are covered under the Ancillary- 

• Accounts, 
• Finance, 
• Taxation, 
• Economic, 
• Business and 
• Commercial Laws and Business and 
• Financial Management. 

Lastly, Hybrid Subjects ensure integration of Core and Ancillary areas. In view of this, the following have been kept under this category- 

• Setting up of Business, 
• Governance, 
• Risk and Compliance Management, 
• Drafting, 
• Pleadings and Appearances, 
• Secretarial Audit and Due Diligence, 
• Restructuring and Insolvency Resolution, 
• Corporate Funding, 
• Corporate Disputes etc.

The New Syllabus comprises of Eight papers at Executive Programme and Nine papers at Professional Programme including one Paper to be opted by the students out of eight elective papers namely, 

1. Banking­ Law & Practice; 
2. Insurance- Law & Practice; 
3. Intellectual Property Rights- Laws and Practices; 
4. Forensic Audit; 
5. Direct Tax Law & Practice; 
6. Labour Laws & Practice; 
7. Valuations & Business Modelling and 
8. Insolvency- Law and Practice.

Company Secretary Courses and Specialisation

The course of Company Secretary is a professional course. The three stages of the course , Foundation, Executive and Professional have different subjects. In this article , we will discuss about the Professional Stage of CS Course.

Professional Stage is the final stage of the CS Course. There are 9 papers divided into 3  Modules in CS   Professional   Programme

In the final module of the programme, candidates can choose one specialisation – Banking Law and Practice, Capital, Commodity and Money Market, Insurance Law and Practice, Intellectual Property Rights – Law and Practice, International Business-Laws and Practices. Papers 8 and 9 out of all 9 papers will be open book papers.

Duration of CS Professional Exam

CS Professional Exams are usually held two times in a year i.e. in the months of June & December.

SCHEME OF PAPERWISE EXEMPTION FOR SWITCHOVER FROM OLD SYLLABUS TO NEW SYLLABUS

The New Syllabus have paved the way for exemption in case of switch over from old syllabus to new syllabus. The scheme of paper-wise exemption is as under:

Applicability of New Syllabus for the Professional Programme Students

1. The first examination of the Professional Programme under the new syllabus shall be held in June, 2019.
2. Candidates registered effective from 1st September, 2018 shall be examined under new syllabus.
3. Candidates registered prior to 1st September, 2018 will be permitted to appear in the Professional Programme Examination under the old syllabus upto and including June 2020.
4. Candidates registered prior to 1st September, 2018 will be permitted to appear in the Professional Programme Examination under the new syllabus if they so opt.
5. The last examination of the Professional Programme under the old syllabus shall be held in June, 2020.
6. From and including December 2020, Professional Programme Examination shall be held under the new syllabus only.

CS Professional Syllabus and Exam Pattern

Before panning to start the preparation, the students must know about the exam details, patterns and syllabus of CS Professional.

Study Plan for CS Professional Exam 2023

1. Ensure complete understanding of the CS Study Material

The Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI) provides study material for the candidates preparing for CS Professional exam. Go through those study materials along with some reference books as recommended by experts. Conceptual understanding and correlations among various topics are the best strategies you can adopt while preparing for theoretical topics because everything is correlated.  Don’t focus on memorizing, but understanding and analyzing the topic.

2. Practice of making notes

While studying the chapters make short and handy notes of the topics. This will not only help in noting down the important points but also help in remembering the topics for the future. Keep a small notebook handy while studying a new chapter. Focus on writing for theoretical subjects. It will not only improve the writing speed but also help remember the topics easily. Practice as much as you can before the exams, do the writing instead of just learning formulas.

3. Start with a proper Time Table

Prepare a timetable or study routine so that all the CS Syllabus is covered within a given time period. It is necessary to dedicate most of the time to CS Professional exam preparation. The aim should be to complete one chapter at a time. After doing that, refer to the practice manual, scanner, and gauge if the coverage is maximum.

Time tables can be made on a weekly or monthly basis with breakups in between.

4. Setting targets

Set targets for a day that is achievable. Do not set such targets which are impossible to achieve. It will only lead to exam burden and not help in any way. Aspirants must try to finish the entire syllabus at least three months before the main exam. One and a half months should be dedicated for revision. During the revision phase-only go through the previous chapters which are completed, and focus on improving the weaknesses

5. Analysing the actual performance very week

Analyze every week’s target and check if there are any backlogs. Monitor the effort put in and revise the schedule accordingly.

6. Never Do following-

• Never go with selective topics, go through each and every concepts and chapter thoroughly.
• Never refer old study material. Before every attempt, you can find all the supplements, practice paper, ICSI Study Material, amendment of all sorts in every subject 
• Try to finish your revision beforehand, do not leave anything undone or partly done. Time management is the key.

CS Professional Examination Syllabus