The Supreme Court will hold an Advocates-on-Record (AOR) examination on 19, 20, 22 and 23 December 2026 in New Delhi, but only for candidates who are entitled to re-appear. No examination for first-time candidates will be held this year. The notification, dated 25 September 2026, follows the Court's decision in April not to hold the regular examination in 2026.

No regular exam this year

On 30 April 2026 the Supreme Court notified that the AOR examination would not be held in 2026, in view of the existing strength of Advocates-on-Record. The next regular examination is expected in 2027.

Candidates who had cleared some papers in 2025, and newly eligible advocates, challenged that decision. In Dania Nayyar & Ors. v. Registrar General, Supreme Court of India, a Bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and P.B. Varale declined to interfere on the judicial side. It asked the candidates to make a single consolidated representation to the Chief Justice of India.

Who can sit the December papers

The December examination is open only to candidates eligible to re-appear under Regulation 11(i) or 11(ii) of the AOR examination regulations, based on the results of the June 2025 examination and earlier ones. Eligible candidates had to choose between re-appearing only in the papers they failed and taking the whole examination afresh. That choice is final.

Applications closed at 5 pm on 15 October 2026. The fee was ₹750, and hard copies had to reach the AOR Examination Cell at the Supreme Court. The examination is in pen-and-paper mode only.

The four papers are the usual ones:

  • Practice and Procedure of the Supreme Court
  • Drafting
  • Advocacy and Professional Ethics
  • Leading Cases

Rules to keep in mind

  • Absence has consequences. A candidate who is given a roll number but stays away may be treated as not sufficiently prepared and debarred from later examinations, unless the Board of Examiners permits otherwise.
  • Skipping a paper is costly. A candidate who misses any paper and fails one they attempted is treated as having failed all papers. A candidate who fails all papers cannot sit the next examination.
  • Five attempts. Candidates are generally limited to five attempts. The December 2021 examination is not counted, under a one-time relaxation.
  • No re-evaluation. Requests for re-evaluation or representations about results are not entertained.
  • Scribes. Candidates with disabilities may use a scribe, who must not be a law graduate or law student, and get 20 minutes of extra time for every hour.

What to watch

In past years the Court has published the sitting plan, admit-card instructions, a lecture series and the Leading Cases volumes on its AOR examination page in the weeks before the papers. December candidates should check that page regularly. Advocates hoping to take the examination for the first time will have to wait for the 2027 notification.

Further reading: SCC Online on the December 2026 notification · Bar & Bench on the decision not to hold the 2026 exam · LawChakra on the challenge