FAICO Exam Guide: Eligibility, Subspecialties, Pattern and Timeline

FAICO is the Fellow of the All India Collegium of Ophthalmology assessment administered through the All India Ophthalmological Society (AIOS). It is a subspecialty assessment, not an entry-level postgraduate examination and not the same qualification as FICO. For the 2026 cycle, AIOS lists an online MCQ test followed by OSCE and viva stages, with eligibility built around AIOS membership, a recognised postgraduate ophthalmology qualification and defined post-PG/subspecialty experience.

Current-rule check, 18 August 2026: This article reflects the AIOS FAICO page checked on 18 August 2026. AIOS rules, centres, dates, forms and fee instructions are cycle-specific. Your current AIOS application page, form and written communication take priority over this guide.

FAICO at a glance

The most useful first action is not to open a question bank. It is to decide whether you are eligible for one named subspecialty and whether your documents prove it. AIOS says that, at one time, a member can apply for only one specialty, and one candidate can complete a maximum of two specialties. Your current application must match the relevant cycle’s wording.

Eligibility: treat it as a document exercise

AIOS’s current FAICO page lists seven eligibility points. In plain language, you need all of the following categories, subject to AIOS’s final review:

1. AIOS membership. Confirm that your membership is active and the name/profile match your documents.
2. A recognised postgraduate ophthalmology qualification. AIOS lists DO, DNB, MD, MS or a recognised international qualification.
3. At least two years’ experience after postgraduate completion. AIOS expressly states that time spent in fellowship or senior residency can be included.
4. A subspecialty training or experience route. AIOS lists completion of, or at least 18 months in, a subspecialty fellowship; completion of, or at least 18 months in, senior residency; or at least three years of practical work in the subspecialty.
5. The relevant cut-off date. For the 2026 written examination, AIOS states that requirements 3–6 are assessed as of 30 September 2026.

Do not collapse these into “two years after PG means I am eligible.” The page contains both a general post-PG-experience requirement and a route-specific training/work requirement. If your certificates overlap, a fellowship is incomplete, your senior-residency dates are close to the cut-off, or a qualification is international, request written clarification from AIOS before paying.

Build an eligibility folder before applying

Create one clean PDF folder and a one-page timeline. It is much easier to spot a two-month gap or an ambiguous speciality label before the portal closes than after your form is queried.

Do not confuse examined FAICO with Hony FAICO

AIOS also publishes a separate Hony FAICO route. Its current page describes nomination or selection criteria centred on long AIOS membership and post-PG experience, rather than the written-examination pathway described here. A CV, award, former fellowship or professional title does not automatically convert one route into the other. If you are looking for the examination, stay on the About FAICO application information and confirm the current cycle requirements there.

The 11 FAICO subspecialties currently listed by AIOS

AIOS currently lists the following award areas:

• Glaucoma
• Retina & Vitreous
• Cornea
• Comprehensive Ophthalmology
• Refractive Surgery
• Uvea
• Cataract/Phaco
• Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus
• Oculoplastic Surgery
• Neuro-Ophthalmology

Choose the field that matches your formal experience and daily decision-making, not simply the subject you enjoyed during residency. A strong candidate can explain the evidence behind their eligibility route and can work through a subspecialty stem from presentation to differential, investigation, principle and complication. A broad reading list without that depth is less useful.

The FAICO preparation guide can help you place the assessment within a study plan. It is not an AIOS rulebook and does not decide which specialty you should select.

Pick one specialty deliberately

AIOS’s one-specialty-at-a-time rule makes a “hedge by applying twice” approach unsuitable. Write a brief decision note before you apply: the specialty, your qualifying route, the certificates that establish it, the clinical material you can discuss confidently and the areas that need structured revision. If the route is less clear in one field than another, resolve the eligibility question first. Preparation should follow a confirmed administrative route, not be used as evidence that the route ought to be accepted.

Pattern: plan for an online MCQ and a separate practical communication test

The AIOS page identifies an online MCQ test and then OSCE & viva. That has a direct preparation consequence: an MCQ-only routine is incomplete. You need two connected but different systems.

AIOS’s page does not publish a universal station blueprint in the content checked for this draft. Do not invent a station count, marks split or pass percentage from past candidates’ recollections. Watch the current AIOS instructions for your specialty and organise rehearsal around the competencies they actually name.

A reliable answer structure for OSCE and viva practice

When faced with a clinical image, instrument, data printout or scenario, answer in a predictable sequence:

1. State what you are looking at and its quality/limitations.
2. Name the positive finding and its location.
3. Give the leading diagnosis or interpretation.
4. Name the closest differential and the feature separating it.
5. State the next investigative or management principle only if the examiner asks for it.
6. Add the key complication, contraindication or follow-up issue relevant to the question.

This is educational rehearsal for qualified eye-care trainees, not patient-specific medical advice. A viva rewards a clear chain of reasoning more than a rushed list of every fact you remember.

2026 dates, centres and fees

AIOS lists these 2026 milestones on its FAICO page:

As of this article’s check date, the stated application deadline has passed and the online test is approaching. Do not treat a later update, an old coaching post or a social-media announcement as a way around the official deadline. For the next cycle, use this sequence as a planning model and wait for AIOS to publish the new dates.

The page lists online written-test centres in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, while its detailed 2026 centre table also includes Madurai. That is exactly why candidates should verify the city presented in their own current instructions rather than reproducing a static list. AIOS says OSCE/viva centres differ by speciality.

AIOS lists the 2026 FAICO examination fee as ₹10,000 per candidate per subject, payable as described on its official page. Confirm the current form’s payment instructions before acting; do not assume a DD/payee instruction from one cycle will remain unchanged.

For administrative queries, save the exact version of the form and the date you checked it. A deadline, centre allocation or payment method can be updated without changing the educational preparation you have already completed.

A preparation timeline that fits the assessment

The timeline below starts once you have confirmed eligibility and an intended cycle. It does not predict a pass or replace a programme-specific syllabus.

Phase 1: define your examination boundary (weeks 1–3)

List the clinical presentations, procedures, investigations, complications and current concepts that form the practical core of your specialty. Use authoritative subspecialty references and current society guidance where relevant. Build a one-page map before you start a high volume of questions. This prevents you from studying every ophthalmology topic with equal intensity.

Take a small baseline set, then tag errors as knowledge gap, differential error, investigation-choice error, indication/contraindication error, complication error or communication error. Your score is not a forecast. It is a map for the next session.

Phase 2: build decision depth (weeks 4–8)

Use timed MCQ blocks two or three times weekly. Review wrong answers, correct guesses and two-option decisions. For every important error, write the nearest distractor and the feature that defeats it. For example, a retina candidate should be able to say why a scan pattern supports one process over another; a glaucoma candidate should be able to connect disc, field, angle and pressure findings without reciting an unrelated list.

Use free FAICO MCQs for short retrieval practice. They are preparation material, not official AIOS questions.

Phase 3: make your knowledge speakable (weeks 9–12)

Start daily short viva work. Record a two-minute answer to a common presentation, listen for vague phrases and revise it into a sequence of findings and decisions. Ask a colleague to interrupt with “why?”, “what else?” and “what would change your mind?” Rehearse images, instruments and investigations under a five-minute timer.

This phase exposes a common problem: a candidate may recognise a diagnosis silently but struggle to demonstrate the reasoning. The solution is not more passive reading. It is shorter, repeated spoken retrieval with feedback.

Final phase: integrate without hoarding resources

In the last weeks before the written stage, focus on your error map, comparison tables and timed blocks. Avoid opening a new large textbook solely to feel comprehensive. For OSCE/viva, organise mock circuits by presentation type: image, instrument, report, counselling/communication, complication and operative principle. Update the exact schedule only from AIOS.

The FAICO MCQs page is an optional product preview if you want to evaluate a commercial question-bank resource. It is not affiliated with AIOS, does not replace official instructions and makes no outcome promise.

Common application and preparation errors

• Confusing FAICO and FICO. FAICO is the AIOS/Collegium assessment; FICO is linked to the ICO Advanced pathway.
• Choosing a specialty before documenting the route. Eligibility must be provable, not merely plausible.
• Ignoring the cut-off date. A certificate finishing after the stated date may not meet that cycle’s rule.
• Preparing only MCQs. AIOS lists OSCE/viva after the online test.
• Inventing a station format from a recall. Use current specialty instructions.
• Using a stale centre list. Verify the current application/candidate communication.
• Equating a commercial resource with an official paper. Keep authority and preparation separate.

Sources

• AIOS: About FAICO, 2026 eligibility, specialties, dates, centres and fee — checked 18 August 2026.
• AIOS: Honourary FAICO information — checked 18 August 2026; included to distinguish honourary FAICO from the examined FAICO route.