Chennai: The Tamil Nadu school education department has cancelled direct retotalling of answer scripts for Classes XI and XII board examsfrom this academic year. According to the govt order issued by the school education department, students can apply for retotalling only after obtaining their copy of the answer scripts.Previously, students had two options for applying for retotalling of answer scripts.They could either apply directly for retotalling or apply after receiving a copy of the answer scripts. Teachers mentioned that the new process will ensure that only students with a deficiency in totalling marks will apply for retotalling.”Total marks will not change if the candidate applies for retotalling. So, more students used to apply for retotalling. Scores will change after revaluation as a team of teachers will evaluate the answer scripts,” a teacher said. The process of direct retotalling was less costly as students did not need to apply for a copy of their answer sheets, another teacher said.When medical admissions were based on Class XII marks, around one lakh candidates used to apply for retotalling and revaluation of answer scripts. However, after NEET-based medical admissions, the number of applications for both retotalling and revaluation dropped to below 5,000 in the past few years.