The plan to raise the cap on tuition fees to 9,000 pounds ($14,000) was approved, 323-302 in the House of Commons, a close vote given the government’s 84-seat majority.

The tuition vote posed a crucial test for governing Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, and for the government’s austerity plans to reduce Britain’s budget deficit.

Outside Parliament, police with riot shields and batons tussled with angry student protesters, keeping them away from the building.

Many in the thousands-strong crowd booed and chanted “shame” when they heard the result of the vote, and pressed against metal barriers and lines of riot police penning them in.

There was a standoff as the Metropolitan Police force said the “extreme violence currently being directed toward officers” was making it hard to let demonstrators disperse.

Earlier small groups of protesters threw flares, billiard balls and paint bombs, and officers, some on horses, rushed to reinforce the security cordon. Police said 13 protesters and eight officers were injured, while seven people were arrested.

The scuffles broke out after students marched through central London and converged on Parliament Square, waving placards and chanting “education is not for sale” to cap weeks of nationwide protests aimed at pressuring lawmakers to reverse course.

The vote put Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and his Liberal Democrat party in an awkward spot. Liberal Democrats signed a pre-election pledge to oppose any such tuition hike, and reserved the right to abstain in the vote even though they are part of the governing coalition proposing the change.

Those protesting in central London were particularly incensed by the broken pledge from Clegg’s party.

“I’m here because the Liberal Democrats broke their promise,” said 19-year-old Kings College student Shivan David. “I don’t think education should be free but I do think that tripling fees doesn’t make any sense. We are paying more for less.”