CA Foundation · September 2026 · Paper 3
CA Foundation Quantitative Aptitude September 2026: paper analysis
Our own analysis of the official paper, as of 12 October 2026. The questions and answers belong to ICAI; read them on ICAI's website.
Chapter-wise marks
Where the marks were in this paper (out of 100; internal-choice alternatives not double counted).
What stood out
- The paper kept the syllabus split exactly: 40 marks of Business Mathematics, 20 of Logical Reasoning and 40 of Statistics, across 100 one-mark MCQs with a quarter-mark penalty for each wrong answer.
- Mathematics of Finance was the single heaviest chapter at 14 marks, mixing compound interest, annuities, sinking funds, perpetuities, CAGR and NPV-based project and lease decisions.
- Logical Reasoning was perfectly balanced at 5 questions each for coding and series, directions, seating and blood relations, so no reasoning chapter can be safely skipped.
- Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion (11) led Statistics, while sampling concepts such as standard error and systematic selection added several questions, which we have grouped under Statistical Description of Data.
- Linear Inequalities appeared only once, and several Statistics items were direct theory checks, rewarding students who revise definitions alongside calculation practice.
Practise the chapters that carried the marks
Mathematics of Finance, Measures of Central Tendency and Dispersion, Statistical Description of Data: study guides and practice questions in the CA Foundation format.