Students are planning to protest outside the Scottish Qualifications Authority’s Glasgow headquarters tomorrow, following the controversy over Tuesday’s SQA results.

Young people are also voicing their frustration and anger through a petition which, by 8am today, had gathered more than 29,000 signatures and describes the SQA’s approach to grading students as “completely unacceptable and wrong”.

The petition is titled: “Make the SQA re-evaluate results which isn’t based on a classist marking scheme.”

SQA results: ‘Sense of injustice on whole other level’

Background: Poorest far more likely to have Higher pass downgraded

Also today: SQA exam system has largely maintained the status quo’

The petition states that the SQAs has “created a class divide” by basing results on largely on schools’ previous exam performance.

It adds: “This means thousands of teenagers who may have excelled in their prelims or gotten steady grades all year have had their results deflated - purely because they live in a more deprived area or their school isn’t as privileged as others. This is incredibly classist and insulting.

“Current 5th years and 6th years with conditional university offers were reliant on these results, which means they will have more stress and anxiety throughout the year due to their grades being deflated based on a system which doesn’t value them whatsoever.”

The petition also states: “Teachers have known their students all year, so are the most qualified to predict results...Every child is different, so assuming just because they are from a deprived area they won’t do as well and children from privileged areas will excel is biased and unfair.”

Meanwhile, a Facebook page has been set up to organise a protest in Glasgow tomorrow.

One post advises that Police Scotland have been informed of the intended protest and that it will take place from 8.30am to 5pm.

It states: “This will go ahead as a PEACEFUL protest and people attending should socially distance and wear face coverings. We are expecting between 200-600 people and have asked for Robertson Street to be shut off.”

Erin Bleakley, 17, has organised the event on Friday, and said: “We deserve the same life chances as young people in affluent areas. How can anyone expect to close the attainment gap when your hard work can be wiped out based on your postcode?

“There needs to be recognition that living somewhere that is termed an area of deprivation should not be something that prevents young people from progressing to further or higher education.”

Ms Bleakley said she was already feeling nervous before her grades came out, and more so when she heard about the moderation system brought in when exams were cancelled due to coronavirus.

She added: “I did not think it was fair that we were being marked down on how past pupils had performed as we are all individuals.

“The difference for myself and some others is that we were on a two-year higher pathway meaning we would obtain six Highers by the end of S5 instead of the usual five.

“But with many marks being downgraded it means this is not the case for a lot of young people, all the work we have put in for the last two years has been undermined.

“Requesting teachers to use their professional judgment based on a combination of previous work, prelims and other test results along with their knowledge of each particular student should have been robust enough assessment.

“To sweepingly override them undermines both the work put in by the pupils and the trust in teachers as professionals.”

Ms Bleakley said she has little faith in the appeals system, believing it will not involve individual work being considered.She also believes universities should wait until the appeals process is complete before rejecting students, forcing them to go through the clearing process.

She said: “Yes, this is an unprecedented situation but colleges and universities have a responsibility to ensure fair access to further and higher education.

“It is widely recognised that young people in areas of deprivation already have to work harder than most and in a situation such as a pandemic it is hugely unfair to penalise them especially before the appeals.”

The protest, originally set to take place outside the SQA offices, is now planned for George Square between 6.30am and 12.30pm.

An SQA spokesperson said: “This year’s results will be cause for celebration for many people but disappointment for others. While this is a strong set of results overall - up on 2019 - this year is no different.

“We would advise young people who feel they haven’t got the grades they hoped for to speak to their school or college first.

“Our appeals process this year will be based solely on the evidence presented by the school or college, for that individual candidate, on a case-by-case basis.

“The most disadvantaged young people have achieved better results in 2020 compared to both 2019 and the average results for the last four years.

“At grades A to C, the attainment gap between the most and least disadvantaged young people is also narrower this year for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher than for last year or the average gap for the last four years.”