IT should probably be accepted that if a school says nothing new about the transfer test, then nothing has changed.
Barring any unforeseen circumstance or a second lockdown, children will be sitting exams in November and December.
And yet, many parents appear unwilling to accept this. Silence is unnerving them.
There are demands - and I've been shown one too many WhatsApp chat screenshots - for individual schools to make clear again their already-stated position.
Parents crave reassurance one way or another.
A couple of schools in Tyrone reaffirmed their commitment to academic selection, but most have said nothing.
But as things stand, it should be assumed that they are planning to go ahead with the 11-plus series - unless they state otherwise.
In the absence of any public comment, people can find out the latest position online.
It is the top news item on several websites including Lumen Christi, Rathmore and Our Lady and St Patrick's.
Forget rumours, what was overheard in a shop or what a child might have said to the contrary.
There is also much talk about what schools will do if they don't have exams, and this is still to be worked out. There is little point second-guessing. Admissions criteria will be made public later in the year and in enough time for parents to digest the information.
It is often asked that if you remove the transfer test, what would it be replaced with?
There are grammar schools and hundreds of primary and secondary schools that already use non-selective criteria. These can include siblings, parents, where the school is listed on the transfer form and even computerised random selection.
Supporters of transfer tests fear that scrapping them would create a postcode lottery type scenario similar to England, where people move house to be closer to a particular school.
However, geography features little in the sub-criteria of grammar schools at present.
Much of the hysteria around the silence is focussed on Belfast, but the city was always going to be a tough nut to crack.
It has several oversubscribed grammar schools. Thousands of children are bussed into the city every day to attend school.
Conversely, the decision in Omagh would have been more straightforward - the two Catholic grammars had announced years ago that they would move away from selection.
Admission to the schools to Year 8 this year was to be via two routes and children could apply to both.
Academic selection was to apply to 75 per cent of places with non-academic criteria used to allocate the other 25 per cent.
There were slight differences between the two schools, with the girls using test scores first and the boys prioritising the non-selective route.
Preference was to be given to children who listed the relevant school as their first choice on the application form.
Other rural areas may yet serve up local solutions.
Rainey Endowed in Magherafelt is the only non-Catholic grammar schools that is not involved with the AQE.
With a significant proportion of children transferring from Catholic maintained schools, it long ago agreed to use the same test as St Mary's in the town, sparing children from sitting multiple exams.
Those two could come out and announce a suspension but there is no requirement on them to say anything either way.
Their silence, and that of others, should be enough for parents and children to brace themselves for tests.
