Despite a year of record breaking A-Level results and hordes of smiling faces, not everybody will have received the news that they were hoping for.

With the demand for university places outstripping the supply, it has been reported this year that even straight A students may miss out.

But university isn’t the be-all and end-all – many people have been successful without entering higher education.

Sir Alan Sugar left school at 16 and became one of the most powerful businessmen in the country.

Here we tell the success stories of three Shropshire workers, none of which went to university after leaving school.

James Hickinbottom

Upon leaving school, I did consider going to university.

When it came to deciding on which degree to take and what career path to follow, I didn’t have a clue.

I decided for that reason that I would be going to university for the wrong reasons so I decided to look for work instead.

I ended up falling into nightclub management which lasted about 4 years before a redundancy made me consider a career change.

I had always been good with computers so after being a bit economical with the truth and an interview later, I found myself as a one man IT department for a small financial services company.

I stayed there for 2 years before another redundancy, but I had gained the skills to move on to bigger things.

For the last 2 years I have been part of the IT department for a large manufacturing company and have developed my skills no end, including gaining industry qualifications.

I now consider myself firmly a part of the IT industry and look forward to a long – and hopefully successful – career in this sector.

All without going to university and, thankfully, the massive student loan that goes with it.

Paul Brennan

I left grammar school in 1968 with 9 ‘O’ levels having failed my ‘A’ levels.

By 1973, I’d had a couple of jobs, gained a wife and house and ‘settled’ down.

I saw a newspaper ad saying that I could fly in the RAF with just 3 ‘O’ levels and I decided to apply, despite having failed in 1966 and 1967.

Third time lucky and I joined the RAF on 11th Sep 1973 – my second wedding anniversary.

After two operational tours totalling 2,500 flying hours, I began a two year ground tour at RAF St Mawgan, where I started my eight year stint as an Open University student to help fill my spare time.

I was then posted to RAF Finningley near Doncaster for a tour as a flying instructor, completing 1,500 flying hours in that role.

In 1990 I decided on a career change to stay involved in training and was commissioned in the RAF Education Branch using my BA (Open) as the entry qualification.

After officer training I had a year off to attend what was then Wolverhampton Polytechnic to complete a full time Post Graduate Certificate in Education.

After five years at RAF Cosford, I was posted to RAF Halton where I was sponsored for a masters’ degree in education at Brunel University.

I returned to RAF Cosford in August 1997 for what should have been my last year of service, but in April 1998, with just 25 working days left, I was promoted to squadron leader to lead a project introducing distance learning into aircraft engineering training.

I was sponsored to study once more with the OU, completing a post graduate certificate in Open and Distance Education.

In 2001, my next posting choices didn’t include any involving training – seemed that as a squadron leader I was no longer a trainer, but a squadron commander and the RAF would tell me which squadron I was to command – so I quit!

I often think back to my grammar school days and wonder what my old headmaster would say if he could see me with my four university qualifications and fellowships of three professional institutes – after all he was on record as saying “Brennan has probably peaked academically at ‘O’ level!”

I wasn’t really interested in going to university at 18 and would probably have screwed it up if I had – just a late developer I guess.

Chris Pallett

I first started using computers before the age of 10.  It was a Sinclair ZX81 that my father brought home, you plugged it into the television and typed in the programmes that you wanted to run.

In 1995 at the age of 16 I finished school with a mediocre set of exam results including a D in English. I had no idea what I wanted to do and hadn’t enrolled for college.  University just wasn’t a consideration.

At the far side of town was the local ITEC and they were running a 6 week City and Guilds to teach basic computer skills, they were paying £30 a week for you to turn up.  That led onto a Youth Training scheme with a local company and they put me through college on day release.

By the time my peers from school were graduating from university I had real work experience and qualifications in a profession I love.  I was earning money, worked all over the country, and had no student loan to repay.

I was 24 when I started Bespoke Computing Ltd, bringing technology services to small and medium sized companies.

Every business has some kind of relationship with technology, and my company is about helping businesses of all shapes and sizes manage that relationship to get more of it.

Our clients span from one man bands through to blue-chip multinationals and we have recently been looking to hire a fourth member of staff to the growing business.

Not going to university gave me a competitive edge and the experience over the last 7 years has been awe inspiring.

If I had my time again, I would do it the same.