Students who want to avoid the rush that clearing involves should consider delaying entry until February. Many institutions, particularly the newer universities, run an early-year intake that is advertised outside the UCAS system. Students apply to university departments individually.

Phill Lloyd, head of marketing and recruitment at the University of Bolton, says February starts are becoming more popular with students who have just left school. “We find we get quite a number of students who started to look at another university further afield and now decide they want to study closer to home.”

Apart from the chance to reverse a wrong decision, there is evidence that some people benefit from taking longer to make up their mind, Lloyd says. “Clearing is a very pressured time but students need not be rushed into taking the first opportunity offered. Choosing a university is about more than studying a subject. You are committing three years of your life.”

It is no surprise, therefore, that students who choose to start a degree at Bolton in February - representing about a fifth of the university's intake - are not typical school-leavers. Many will have a vocational qualification, while others are young adults wanting to improve their employment prospects. Lloyd adds: “We find that a lot of our February starters had never considered university as an option. They may have done quite well at a vocational qualification and want to use it as a springboard to an honours degree. Others are taking the time between September and February to improve their grades.”

January or February starts make up 11 per cent of the total number of undergraduates. Some 87,680 students entered university in January and February last year, the majority of them part-time.

A growing number of mainly new universities are reporting big increases in February starts. The University of East London (UEL), for example, offers more than a hundred degree courses with a second semester intake. Mary Hunt, head of registry, says: “Popular February start choices include accounting and finance, biomedical science, law, computing, and criminology. Around 3,000 of UEL's on-campus students started their courses last February, compared with roughly 12,500 the previous September.”Gaurav Malik, admissions tutor for the school of computing technology at UEL, adds that some universities are reluctant to recruit early because of exams and assessments. Malik says, however, that the upheaval is worth it.

Some degree courses are more geared to February starts than others. Nursing degrees typically have two intakes to make student placements more manageable by staggering numbers. The University of Bedfordshire has a September nursing intake of 170 students and a February intake of 120. Anthony McGrath, principal lecturer in adult nursing, says: “The February cohort attracts mature career changers and school-leavers who have taken a short gap year.”

There is another good reason why students are looking to start a degree later. Michael O'Connor a third-year nursing degree student at Manchester Metropolitan, explains. “I will graduate early in the new year when there are more jobs around. Last year 85 per cent of the February cohort found employment within a week of graduating. That's a big advantage.”

Case Study

Justin Pierce, above, a former property consultant who graduated with a first-class honours degree in law from the University of East London, opted for a February start for his course.

Avoiding the main intake in September gave him more time to prepare for a career change. “The February intake is smaller and is made up of more mature students like myself. It is easier to adapt to academic life if you are not part of a big group. Around 60 students started their law or criminology degrees at the same time as me. The average age was 25 to 26 and quite a few chose to do the degree part-time. I chose to study full-time. I wanted to get on with my new career rather than prolong studying.”

Pierce, 35, now works for a property company in London, advising on employment law. He is also studying for an MPhil in law at UEL, which he started in February.

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