HUNDREDS of teenagers are to protest in Glasgow tomorrow against exam results. 

Schoolkids will head to George Square after the Scottish Qualification Authority’s (SQA) rejected 124,000 grade recommendations from teachers.

Plans were initially in place to meet outside the SQA's offices on Robertson Street, but the demonstration has been moved by organisers. 

Protest leader Erin Bleakley, 17, 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?

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“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.”

Nicola Sturgeon has been forced to defend the body after the 'moderation' process reduced the pass rate of the poorest Higher pupils by more than twice that of the richest.

The First Minister admitted she would have likely joined the protest if she was still at school – but will not reverse the decision now.

Ms Sturgeon said she understood many pupils will be feeling “aggrieved” after the SQA downgraded 124,564 results – almost a quarter of all entries – but refused to reverse the decision “because I don’t think that would be the right thing to do either”.

Defending what she described as “effectively statistical moderation”, Ms Sturgeon has argued results would not have been “credible” if the pass rate of the most-deprived pupils had risen by the 19.8% estimated by teachers before moderation.

“If I had been in that position, I would feel aggrieved about that,” she said.

Glasgow Times: Nicola Sturgeon Nicola Sturgeon

"I totally understand, and sympathise and empathise, with any young person who is in the position of having a grade awarded by the SQA that is lower than the teacher estimate for that grade.”

But speaking at the Scottish Government’s coronavirus briefing, Ms Sturgeon told pupils the moderation was necessary to “command the confidence of colleges and universities and employers”, although she urged pupils to challenge their results if there has been “genuine individual injustices”.

READ MORE: SNP Glasgow deputy leader says 'sorry' over school results and calls for assessment overhaul

“Every young person or their families who might be watching, who is feeling that understandable grievance right now that their award is lower than the teacher estimates submitted for them can go through the appeal process where their individual circumstances are looked at,” she said.