The UK and Australia provde direct entry to a major unlike say the USA, Canada and Scotland (although you can certainly start building your major immediately). One often wonders which method is better. I have always argue it depends on the student. But a new study actually suggest that committing too soon is not a good idea:

The traditional argument against such an approach is that exposure to a broad array of subjects and educational approaches helps students develop as engaged, thoughtful citizens and in other important ways. But a new study suggests that giving students time to figure out their academic paths may actually result in their making better career choices, too.

The researcher looked at Scottish and UK students specifically and found UK students “were specializing so early that they’re making more mistakes” which resulted in dramatic pitfalls on the career path:

In fact, the data showed that students who emerged from the English institutions were about 20 percent more likely than their peers in Scotland to end up in careers that were not aligned with their university majors. The patterns hold up not just immediately after graduation, but six years after students left college, too.

Well wroth the read over at Inside Higher Ed.