TWO more Catholic grammar schools have suspended 11-plus style entrance exams "for one year only".
Mount Lourdes Grammar School and St Michael's College in Enniskillen join a growing list who have opted out.
More are expected to follow.
Unregulated entrance tests are due to take place in November and December, although organisers are coming under pressure to call them off.
Education Minister Peter Weir has also been asked to intervene even though the exams are run by private companies.
If the assessments cannot take place, individual grammar schools would be forced to use different criteria to select pupils.
The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, and the Catholic Principals' Association had asked schools to suspend academic selection this year.
The tests are run by two private organisations, the Association for Quality Education (AQE) and Post Primary Transfer Consortium (PPTC).
The first AQE paper was to be held on November 7. It has been rescheduled to November 21, with the second and third dates changed to November 28 and December 12. PPTC schools will now run their multiple-choice style exams on December 5. Registrations for both are open.
Five grammar schools in Newry and Kilkeel became the first to cancel their exams. Abbey Christian Brothers', Our Lady's, Sacred Heart and St Colman's in Newry and St Louis in Kilkeel are all members of the PPTC.
Lagan College in Belfast, which uses exam grades to award 35 per cent of its places, has also agreed not to use academic selection this year.
The PPTC has guided that the "are still many unknowns regarding what will be possible across society in the late autumn" and its plans may be affected by the unfolding situation.
Children will return to school in phases at the end of the summer holiday period.
In a joint statement, Mount Lourdes and St Michael's, also PPTC members, said they reached their joint decision after considering the impact of school closures on the community.
"There has been significant disruption to the education of pupils since March 2020, including that of P6 pupils and there may be further disruption during the 2020/21 academic year," they said.
"The boards of governors and principals of Mount Lourdes Grammar School and St. Michael's College have agreed, in light of the current circumstances, and for one year only, that neither school will use outcomes from the GL Entrance Assessment as part of their admissions criteria for the academic year 2021/22.
"Pupils applying to these schools will not be required to provide a GL Entrance Assessment result. Mount Lourdes and St Michael's will temporarily amend their admissions criteria for the 2021/22 academic year accordingly. Each school's admissions criteria will be published by the Education Authority according to its normal timetable.
"Both schools remain committed to Catholic Ethos with a focus on pastoral care and high quality learning and teaching. Those who would normally apply to be admitted to each individual school are encouraged to continue to do so."
