A Kent student is organising a mass protest in London calling for the government to follow Scotland's lead by scrapping the moderation of A-level results.

Ophelia Gregory, from Ashford, says students have been "completely scammed" by this year's grading system.

The 18-year-old, who studied at Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys in Canterbury, has one of the highest IQs in the country - with Mensa awarding her a score above Einstein's when she was just 12.

The talented student was set for top A-level grades of A*s and D1s, having worked exceptionally hard during her sixth form years.

But with summer exams scrapped as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, students were this year graded using marks predicted by their teachers - with these predictions sent to exam boards to be standardised in an attempt to ensure this year's grades are in sync with last year's results.

It has now been revealed that exam boards downgraded almost 40% of these submitted marks during the moderation process.

Ophelia's results dropped by a few grades during moderation, but she says she is "one of the lucky ones", having still scraped the requirements to read classics at the University of Cambridge.

"They can't keep just ruining people's lives..."

"I still made it, but so many people didn't," she said.

She described the "looks of disappointment and all the crying" she witnessed on A-level results day yesterday.

"It made me really upset," she said. "These are real people's lives. This has really done over the individual.

"There are some schools where people who weren't expected to are getting A*s and As because of an algorithm. Whereas at Langton Boys and across the country, clever individuals have been utterly scammed.

"Everyone's been so done over, and someone's got to do something about it."

Ophelia has now taken it upon herself to plan a protest, which will take place at Speakers' Corner in Hyde Park, London, from 1pm tomorrow (Saturday).

She says all those taking part will be encouraged to wear face masks and to follow social distancing guidelines.

"We're planning to have people speak about how they've been affected, some nice placards," she said. "I've had a lot of interest, and a lot of people telling me what's happened to them and how it's made them feel.

"For anyone who can't make it I'm compiling a list of really awful stories, of A* students being given Bs and Cs who now can't go to uni; or who would have gotten Bs, who are getting Ds and Es."

They are calling for the government to follow Scotland’s lead in scrapping moderated exam grades.

In a U-turn announced last week, Scotland’s Education Secretary revealed lowered marks would be reverted back to teachers’ estimates, reversing the downgrading of more than 124,000 results.

"They have set a precedent with that, and now we've got to compete with those grades as well," said Ophelia.

"This year's been awful on everyone, and it would only 'inflate' the grades a little bit.

"In the galactic scheme of things, it doesn't make that much difference statistically, but it would have such an impact on people's lives."

Ophelia maintains A-levels could have gone ahead this year - either sat online, or with social distancing in place - or that results should have been revealed earlier, to give students disappointed with their outcomes time to make plans or revise for resits.

"They can't keep just ruining people's lives," she said.

Another protest, organised by fellow Langton Boys student India Brenchman-Brown, is being held at Whitefriars in Canterbury on Sunday.

They will meet outside Next for speeches, before marching through the city.

Ophelia's concerns echo comments made by her former head teacher Ken Moffat yesterday.

Mr Moffat, head at the Langton Boys, slammed this year's A-level grading system as "cruel and brutal" as many students' grades plummeted from their initial predictions, leaving them without university places.

For more information on tomorrow's protest, follow @aleveluturn on Instagram.

News from our universities, local primary and secondary schools including Ofsted inspections and league tables can be found here.

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford

Read more: All the latest news from Canterbury