Anger at the Con-Dem cuts and fee rises spilled over just hours after the march with 300 protesters occupying Tory HQ at Millbank.
Windows were smashed and small fires started inside with nine protesters and two police officers reportedly injured.
Protesters from inside Tory HQ released a statement saying: "We oppose the cuts and stand in solidarity with public-sector workers.
"We call for direct action to oppose the cuts. This is just the beginning of the resistance."
The demonstration was twice as big as expected by organisers. The vast majority of protesters rallied under the banners of "Fund Our Future" and "Unity is Strength."
They were flanked by stewards from lecturers' union UCU and the National Union of Students as they marched through central London and past the Houses of Parliament.
MPs inside the Commons could hear their anger loud and clear as students, lecturers and their families joined the chorus of chants against the government's education plans.
The increase in fees to £9,000 on top of inflation and the VAT rise will see the cost of a university education soar by an astonishing 311 per cent.
UCU leader Sally Hunt told protesters: "I am here today to send a message to the politicians at Westminster.
"It isn't fair to make our public universities the most expensive in the world. It isn't progressive to discourage young people from going to college.
"And it isn't just to ask the next generation to pay for others' mistakes. Over the next four years while college grants are cut and tuition fees triple, big business will get £8 billion in tax giveaways from the government," Ms Hunt said.
Labour MP John McDonnell, one of only a handful of politicians on the march, praised the unity shown on the demo.
"This is the biggest workers' and students' demonstration in decades. It just shows what can be done when people get angry. We must build on this," he said.
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