Jay Barratt was working as a trader in credit markets at J.P. Morgan when his team was made redundant. “In the past six months it has been difficult to get back into banking so, on the recommendation of friends and HR managers at investment banks, I chose to take an MBA,” he says.

“I can extend my financial knowledge in areas such as accountancy and corporate finance and take an assessed internship, while broadening my knowledge of other industries – a kind of insurance policy.”

Barratt, who was accepted at Manchester Business School, is one of many young professionals from the banking sector and related industries who are looking to an MBA to help them to escape the credit crunch. This has caused a record demand for MBA places in cities such as New York and London. The QS World MBA Tour reported a 10 per cent year-on-year increase in attendance at its London fair last March and expects a similar increase when the tour returns to London this month.

“An uplift in MBA applications is normal at the onset of a recession,” says Rose Martinelli, associate dean of student recruitment and admissions at Chicago Graduate School of Business, which also offers an executive MBA in London. She reports excellent growth in applications.

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A TopMBA.com applicant survey of more than 3,000 would-be MBAs indicated that the six main reasons for seeking the qualification were: improving career prospects (70 per cent), learning new skills (58 per cent), building a professional network (45 per cent – up from 34 per cent last year), facilitating career change (43 per cent – up from 34 per cent), earning a larger salary (32 per cent) and enabling students to start their own business (25 per cent).

For many candidates an MBA is seen as a route to change course and diversify risk in times of recession, partly through the alumni network of the school. Graham Hastie, strategy director at London Business School, observes: “With an MBA it becomes easier for someone to make up to two out of the three big career changes, either in geography, function or industry, but it is more difficult for someone to change all three.”

During recessions, however, big career changes become harder and the MBA is more likely to be simply a route to career progression. Barratt says: “Students with no prior banking experience seeking internships in banking will have to really stand out and I just don’t see many succeeding next year.”

Some young professionals try to time their MBA so that they will graduate to coincide with the next boom. However, Martinelli advises: “Experience suggests that such forecasting is difficult and the best time to take an MBA is when an applicant feels ready personally, irrespective of economic conditions. An MBA should be viewed with a long-term career perspective.”

Nunzio Quacquarelli is editor of TopMBA.com. The QS World MBA Tour is in London on October 25