Grade 12 students who were forced to leave Fort McMurray because of the wildfire will be exempt from having to write their diploma exams, the Alberta government says.

Education Minister David Eggen said their classroom mark will be used as the final grade. If they want, students can write their exams in the school districts they are now attending.

About 900 Fort McMurray students are registered to write their exams.

The government will use test writing sites at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Calgary.

The province will also send someone to administer the exam if a student can't travel to Edmonton or Calgary

"In Alberta, for post-secondary institutions, I have informed them of this decision, and they were cooperative in 2013," Eggen said, alluding to the same exemption offered to Calgary students affected by the 2013 flood.