'GET GAV GONE!'
Hundreds of furious teens gather in Westminster protest A-Levels fiasco demanding Gavin Williamson is fired
HUNDREDS of furious teens have gathered in Westminster today to protest the A-Levels scandal and demand the sacking of Education secretary Gavin Williamson.
Sixth Formers were left fuming after a chaotic Results Day last Thursday saw 39 per cent of students receive lower grades than expected - with many missing out on university places as a result.
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Today's protests follow two days of demonstrations in the capital after an algorithm used to moderate grades delivered dramatically lower results than expected for thousands of students.
Students marched through the streets of Westminster again today, with chants of "Get Gav Gone" heard in reference to embattled Education secretary Gavin Williamson, who is facing calls to resign over the fiasco.
Other crude chants were directed at the Prime Minister, with a clip showing teens shouting: "Boris Johnson's a w*****".
Many protesters were carrying placards highlighting the contrast between their predicted grades and those given to them by the algorithm.
Other signs read "trust our teachers", "f*** Eton" and "Sack Tory exam cheats".
Ted Mellow, 18, from Wood Green, north London, one of the organisers of the demonstration, said: "Everywhere you look, people are either angry or confused and, quite frankly, that's the Government's fault.
"We're not fighting so that everyone gets A*s and As because we know that's unrealistic, we're fighting so that people get the grades they deserve."
STUDENTS' FURY
Protester Olivia Styles, 18, also addressed a large crowd and held up her results before burning them to the cheers of the protesters.
She said she was lucky that her university plans had not been impacted by her grades being reduced from a predicted BBC to BCD as she had an unconditional offer.
Olivia, from Basingstoke, said: "I just think it is b******t, I just don't want those grades to define me.
"By burning them it's sort of saying I don't accept these results, these are not what I wanted, these are not what I deserved."
Passing cars bleeped their horn in support of the peaceful protesters as they marched south of Westminster - followed by a police van and officers.
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Yesterday, The Sun reported how the Education Secretary is fighting to cling on to his Cabinet job in the wake of the A Levels meltdown.
There are fresh fears that the coming week's GCSE results could end up in as a similar disaster - with thousands more students possibly receiving downgraded results because of a computer algorithm.
It comes as a chorus of Tory MPs have now publicly slammed the results fiasco.
Julian Sturdy, the Tory MP for York, called for the grades to be ripped up and the higher teacher marks dished out in a Scotland-style U-turn.
He fumed: “These are unprecedented times.
“We should be looking after these students’ futures rather than worrying about grade inflation.”
Tory MP for Telford Lucy Allan lashed: “An algorithm that awards a ‘U’ to a student that did not have the chance to turn up for an exam is fundamentally flawed.”
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It comes as some students were resorting to legal action in an attempt to get their downgrades reversed through the courts.
The exams regulator Ofqual issued guidance on Saturday setting out the criteria for students to make appeals on the basis of their mock exam results, only for it to be take down hours later.
In a brief statement, Ofqual said the policy was "being reviewed" by its board and that further information would be released "in due course".
Conservative MP Robert Halfon, who chairs the Commons Education Committee, said the regulator's actions were "unacceptable".
"That is a huge mess. Goodness knows what is going on at Ofqual.
"It is the last thing we need at this time. This is just unacceptable in my view," he told BBC News.
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Shadow education secretary Kate Green said it was now up to the Prime Minister to take charge and resolve the situation.
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She said: "The Tories' results fiasco is turning from tragedy to farce, and the chaos and incompetence is completely unacceptable when so many students and families have been devastated by it.
"Parents and young people needed action in a matter of days, but the Government are now rapidly running out of time. The Prime Minister must get a grip and sort this out."
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