ENGLAND’S exam result fiasco looks set to end in the courts with ministers in London refusing to take the same approach as Scotland.

There are now a number of students preparing legal action after they saw their A-level grades dropped from As and Bs to Ds or even Us.

As in Scotland, with exams cancelled, pupils’ grades were based on teachers’ assessments, which were then moderated by regulator Ofqual.

Also as in Scotland, the computer algorithm used by the body looked at the history of achievement of the pupil’s school, leading to thousands of A-level students having their marks downgraded because of where they studied, rather than because of their work. This had a disproportionate impact on students living in areas of deprivation.

However, unlike in Scotland, there is little appetite in government to revert back to teachers’ marks.

Last week, Gavin Williamson criticised the Scottish approach, saying the system had no controls. He said: “You’ve got rampant grade inflation. There’s been no checks and balances; it degrades every single grade.”

Yesterday hundreds of A-level students headed to Westminster in protest against Williamson’s decision.

Around 300 students peacefully demonstrated in Parliament Square, outside the Department for Education in Great Smith Street and opposite Downing Street.

The demonstrators called for Education Secretary Williamson to resign, as well as for universities to honour the offers they had previously made to students.

There was also much criticism of Ofqual yesterday, after they withdrew guidance on appealing just hours after publishing it. On Saturday afternoon, the exams regulator said grades from mock exams and coursework could be used to challenge results that have been downgraded.

It also said teacher’s predicted grades would be used if they are lower than the mock exam grade.

However, Williamson last week gave a “triple-lock” commitment that students could use the highest result out of their teacher’s predicted grade, their mock exam or sitting an actual exam in the autumn.

Then just seven hours later Ofqual withdrew the guidance.

Robert Halfon, the Tory chairman of the education committee, called it a “huge mess”. “Goodness knows what is going on at Ofqual,” he said.

“It sows confusion amongst pupils, headteachers, school teachers. It’s the last thing we need at this time.”

He accused Ofqual of using “Kafkaesque exam grades that no one understands,” adding: “This is just unacceptable.”

Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Tory leader, called for Williamson “to get out on the television” and tell “people what’s going on”.

“He needs to be telling Ofqual what is going to happen, he needs to grip this,” she added.

However, Davidson didn’t make any calls for Williamson to resign over the affair.

One other stark difference between England and Scotland is that the UK Labour party have seemingly been muted in their criticism of the Government.

Yesterday, Tony Blair’s former spin-doctor Alastair Campbell tweeted: “I am beyond rage at government incompetence/venality re exams etc. But I’m getting not far behind on rage front at @UKLabour inability to take them apart and force change on it.

“They are the Opposition. Not commentators saying how shit things are. Plenty of us can do that outside.”