Universities will come under increasing competition from their counterparts elsewhere in Europe as 40 countries adopt a harmonised degree system, which should see a leap in masters level courses.

The Graduate Management Admissions Council, author of a report on management education published yesterday, believes the biggest growth will be in masters degrees in management, including the masters in business administration. It expects to see up to 12,000 graduate management cou-rses flood the market over the next five years.