The Central Board of Secondary Education has decided to hold exams in 29 of the 50-odd remaining subjects in which tests are yet to be conducted and skip the remaining papers because of the Covid-19 lockdown across the country.

The board on Wednesday also decided not to conduct any tests for the students of around 200 affiliated schools in 25 foreign countries.

These students — mainly those taking their Class XII boards — had sat for tests in 165 subjects along with their counterparts in India and were waiting to appear in the remaining 50-odd papers when the CBSE deferred the tests following the virus outbreak.

Class X board tests in certain subjects are also to be retaken by some students who couldn’t appear previously because of the Delhi riots.

A CBSE media release said the board would work out a method for awarding marks in subjects in which examinations will not be held.

“The board will conduct examinations for only the main subjects that will be required for promotion and may be crucial for admission to higher educational institutions. For the rest of the subjects, the board will not hold examinations. The instructions for marking/assessment in all such cases will be separately issued by the board,” it said.

The CBSE said it was difficult to decide the new schedule for the tests but it would issue a notice about 10 days before the exams resume.

The board said the students of Classes I to VIII might be promoted to their next class or grade.

Several schools have completed their exams and the process of evaluation and promotion of the students of Classes IX and XI. But many, such as the Kendriya Vidyalayas and Navodaya Vidyalayas, have not finished the assessment.

The children will be promoted to the next grade on the basis of school-based assessments, which will take into account their projects and the tests and term exams conducted so far.