Students who had their A-Levels results downgraded yesterday have described the process as "dehumanising," and have taken to the streets of Westminster today to protest.

Around 100 demonstrators, including pupils who received their results on Thursday, expressed anger and disappointment outside Downing Street as they called for the Education Secretary to be sacked.

One student, from Streatham in south-west London, was predicted to achieve one A* and three As in sciences and maths and hoped to study medicine at Imperial College London.

But the 19-year-old, who preferred not to give his name, was "shocked" to have received an A, two Bs and a C.

"I didn't see it coming. Being based on your school, rather than the individual's performance, is quite dehumanising, isn't it?" he told the PA news agency.

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"Medicine in itself is really difficult to get into, you have to do entrance exams and interviews, so I had to struggle through all of that just to be told an algorithm would decide my grades.

"It feels like all of my work this year has been made redundant."

Attending the protest on Friday was Caitlin Farrell, from West Croydon, who received two A*s and an A and is due to go on to study English at Cambridge University.

The 18-year-old told PA: "I was really lucky that I didn't get downgraded.

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"I have a friend that was predicted the same as me, but got downgraded - it's just so illogical that some of us did and some of us didn't."

Calling the situation "inconsistent and unfair", she said it was especially difficult for students from a deprived area.

"I went to a state school and we were told work hard, focus, you'll be fine, and we're not," she said.

"We've just been shown that it's a postcode lottery and if you're rich then you deserve opportunities that we don't get."

Marching down Whitehall towards the Department for Education on Friday afternoon, protesters chanted "sack Gavin Williamson" and "teachers not Tories" whilst holding placards.

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Pressure is mounting following the protests on the Government over its handling of the exams system after thousands of pupils in England had their results downgraded.

School leaders have said they've been left feeling "angry" and "disappointed" with this year's system for awarding grades, with some expressing concerns that the situation could be even worse on GCSE results day.

Nearly two in five (39.1%) of teachers' estimates for A-level pupils in England were adjusted down by one grade or more on Thursday by exam boards after this summer's exams were cancelled amid Covid-19.

On Friday, Robert Halfon, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Education Committee, expressed concern that the model used by Ofqual to moderate A-level results penalised disadvantaged students.

He called on the regulator to publish details of the algorithm it used to make its calculations.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted that he has confidence in Mr Williamson and described the system as "robust".