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ICAI Study Material vs Coaching Notes: Which Should You Use?

25 April 2026·5 min·By CA Saarthi Team

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In short

ICAI is the only source ICAI sets questions from. Coaching notes are useful — but only if you treat them as supplements, not substitutes. Here's the honest split.

# ICAI Study Material vs Coaching Notes

The single most googled CA Foundation question: "Should I study from ICAI material or coaching notes?"

Short answer: 70% ICAI, 30% supplementary. Long answer below.

Why ICAI material wins on relevance

ICAI is the only body that sets the exam. Its material reflects exactly the syllabus weightage and difficulty calibration the paper-setter uses.

Past attempts repeatedly pull questions verbatim from ICAI's RTPs, MTPs, and even the Practice Manual.

It's free. Available as PDFs on icai.org and shipped in physical form to registered students.

Why coaching notes have a role

Better visual structure — bullet points, mind maps, summary tables.

Worked examples often more pedagogical than ICAI's terse style.

Some chapters in ICAI material are dense; coaching notes act as a translator.

Topics like LR (Logical Reasoning) and BCK (Business Commercial Knowledge) often have weaker ICAI coverage; coaching fills the gap.

The 70/30 rule

70% time on ICAI Study Material — **read it once cover to cover, solve every illustrative example.**

20% on RTP + MTP from the last 2 attempts. These are your highest-signal practice resources.

10% on coaching notes — only as a quick-reference for chapters where you struggle with ICAI's style.

What NOT to do

**Buy 5 different coaching modules.** You'll never finish any. Pick one author you find readable and stick to it.

**Skip ICAI to use only coaching notes.** Coaching notes = ICAI rephrased + the author's bias. The exam isn't going to test the bias.

**Spend hours debating which is better.** Spend that hour solving problems instead.

A practical checklist

Have you finished ICAI's chapter examples for every chapter? (If no → that's your bottleneck.)

Have you solved at least 2 RTPs in full? (Most students do 0.)

Are you using coaching notes only for clarification, or as a primary source? (If primary → flip the ratio back to ICAI.)

The ICAI material gives you the exam. Coaching gives you a perspective. Don't confuse the two.

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Still confused? See it explained visually.

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