Scotland's education chief is being urged to "do the right thing" and ditch Higher exams next year.
Scottish Labour said absence figures suggest holding the exams as planned will penalise pupils from less advantaged backgrounds.
An analysis of attendance shows pupils in poorer areas are more likely to have taken time off in the health crisis.
Figures at the end of November showed attendance ranged from 85.3% in the most deprived areas to 93.5% in the least deprived.
Labour education spokesman Iain Gray said: "This isn't an easy call, but in the interests of the pupils of Scotland it is time for John Swinney to swallow his pride and cancel the higher and advanced higher exams."
Gray continued: "The data is clear: pupils in the most deprived areas are more likely to be missing vital class time, and the provisions that the Scottish government have put in place for remote learning cannot fully replace face to face learning.
"In these circumstances the possibility of exams on a level playing field has gone."
Swinney set himself a mid-February deadline to make a decision but last week said he is keen to make a quicker call.
It comes after the massive backlash he faced for presiding over the Scottish Qualifications Authority fiasco.
The emergency exam-marking system the SQA put in place meant pupils from poorer areas were more likely to be downgraded.
It caused a furious reaction ending with apologies from Swinney and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Results were scrapped in favour of the earlier teachers' estimates, which pushed grades back up.
Gray said: "Pupils and teachers need a decision now, and Mr Swinney needs to focus completely on ensuring awards are made consistently and fairly. We cannot have another chaotic last-minute decision on schools.
"Therefore we are calling on John Swinney to cancel the exams now and replace them with a fairer, alternative method of assessment, that will not penalise students based on their socioeconomic background as the Scottish government initially did this summer in the SQA fiasco."
Swinney promised he was listening to concerns when questions were raised at the last Scottish Government coronavirus briefing, which he hosted in place of Sturgeon.
The Education Secretary said he is "particularly anxious" that disruption due to self-isolation may be greater in more deprived parts of Scotland.
He said pupils should have an "equal chance" to perform well in the exam diet, and that a decision on whether the assessments will go ahead will be made as soon as possible before February.
National 5 exams due to take place next year have already been cancelled.
Swinney, who is also Deputy First Minister, said: "I have to be satisfied that every young person who's supposed to be sitting a Higher or Advanced Higher exam in the spring is able to have an equal chance to shine and to prosper in that exam."
