This month’s gyrating share prices on stock exchanges across the globe could end panic through the world of business schools. While students who are graduating in the middle of this year and planning to move into the financial sector will be particularly concerned, business schools themselves will be haunted by the spectre of 2001-2, when recruiters withdrew job offers and applications plummeted.

That said, while turmoil in the stock markets of developed countries is bad news for those who are looking for jobs at the end of their MBA courses, statistics show it can boost applications by those wishing to start courses.