The economic downturn is leading to an increase in demand for a number of postgraduate university courses. As compared to last year’s figures, the University of Edinburgh has experienced a 17 per cent rise in postgraduate numbers, with many of these understood to be finance employees heading back to university to gain new qualifications.

At a time when competition for jobs is becoming increasingly tight, and good career opportunities are decreasing in number, many workers are looking to gain qualifications that will give them an edge when job hunting.

Past periods of economic turbulence have often seen rises in the number of applications to higher education. MBA degrees in particular have seen this effect, boosted by their reputation as practical and internationally respected business qualifications.

The Association of Business Schools has found a notable rise in demand for degrees at universities across the country.

While some question the true cause of this trend, it appears to be reasonably widespread, with universities abroad experiencing a similar increases.

The increase has been mirrored in the US, with the New York Times reporting increases in attendance at NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Also stateside, The Graduate Management Admission Council found the number of people taking the management admissions test, which is often a key factor in applications to MBA degrees, to be up 11.6 per cent compared to last year.

Alongside business qualifications, there has also been a reported rise in interest in other types of degrees by people previously involved in finance and business but who now wish for a career change.

Speaking to the Scotsman, University of Edinburgh principle Timothy O’Shea said: "When economic times worsen and unemployment goes up, the demand for postgraduate courses goes up too. After the dotcom bubble burst there were some people who were maybe trained as computer scientists who changed direction, and you’ll find the same with financial workers now."