More students starting degrees in January to give them edge in jobs market, university says

The best of Voices delivered to your inbox every week - from controversial columns to expert analysis Sign up for our free weekly Voices newsletter for expert opinion and columns Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A number of universities across the UK have seen a rise in students applying for courses starting in the new year, rather than September – with some applications increasing by a fifth in a year. “Students tell us that graduate employers engage during the winter period ready to recruit.” Max Cawthorne, a former Buckingham student who is starting his course in January, said: “You hear all the time that there are more jobs available at the start of the year. “I didn’t want to feel as if I would be waiting around for a few months looking for a job if I did a course graduating in the summer.” London Metropolitan University has seen a 20.8 per cent rise in applications for undergraduate courses for January this year – and a 16.3 per cent rise in applications for all courses for 2019. He added: “Those that start in January normally have smaller class sizes and more lecturer contact time so they definitely benefit from that.” Statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency show that the proportion of full-time undergraduates starting in January has risen in universities over the past few years – from 0.5 per cent in 2010 to 1.2 per cent in 2017.