Students from Brighton are among a rising number who are appealing their exam grades.

All three of the biggest exam boards in the country, AQA, Edexcel and OCR, have reported a rise in the number of students requesting that their tests are re-marked.

There has been extra pressure on students this year with a surge in candidates applying for a limited number of spaces.

Mark Beard, head of sixth form at Brighton College, said that historically, universities had been lenient with students whose marks were just under the predicted grade.

But he added that the squeeze on places had put an end to that and consequently many papers had been sent back for re-marking.

One student from the college had her re-marked economics module score increase by 20 marks, pushing her grade from a B to an A.

Among those struggling to make plans for their futures is 18-year-old Natasha Bidjanzad.

She planned to study law at King’s College, London, but did not make her predicted AAA grades after missing out on an A in history by four marks because she got a D in one piece of coursework.

The coursework was sent back to be re-assessed but came back with the same grade.

Natasha has now appealed against that grade but fears that the further delay of up to 20 days will mean she will not be able to go to uni this year and may have to take an unplanned gap year or even re-apply.