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Police minister Nick Herbert has told MPs that the police struck the "wrong balance" between permitting a peaceful protest and protecting the public.
In a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon, Herbert said the policing of yesterday's protest by students in Westminster "did not go to plan" and that the Metropolitan Police would be conducting an investigation to find out what went wrong.
"The police will learn the lessons, but the blame and responsibility for yesterday's appalling scenes of violence lies squarely and solely with those who carried it out," he said.
"The police have to strike a balance between dealing promptly and robustly with violence and unlawful activity on the one hand, and allowing the right to protest on the other.
"Clearly, in this case, the balance was wrong. But these are difficult decisions and they are not taken lightly."
He also told the Commons that the National Union of Students (NUS) had initially expected 5,000 protestors to turn up, but later revised that upwards to 15,000.
On the day the union estimated 50,000 protestors had made their way to Parliament Square.
Herbert told MPs that around 2,000 people had gathered outside the Conservative Party's Millbank headquarters.
According to the minister 41 police officers were injured in the violence and 50 people were arrested.
Shadow home secretary Ed Balls said the "vandalism and violence" of the protest was unacceptable.
"It was perpetrated by a small minority of thugs who hijacked what was planned to be a legitimate and peaceful demonstration, and in so doing denied tens of thousands of students and lecturers the right to have their voices properly heard," he told MPs.
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