Courtesy of: Daily Feed

University life isn’t for everyone. More and more young people are being put off by rising tuition fees and the prospect of repaying student loans for the rest of their working days. However, it can often seem as though it’s impossible to make your way up the career ladder without a formal university degree – so much so that many people go to university without thinking about what their options are.

In fact, there are several roles you can choose from that don’t require a few years spent in higher education to do well in. If you don’t think that university life is for you, then never fear – we’ve put together this handy list of the top 21 highest-paying jobs that don’t require a degree as part of their job description.

The careers adviser at school might not be plugging them, but there are plenty of reliable and well-paying jobs out there that are within your reach, even if you don’t think that university is for you.

Whether you’re interested in writing or finance, there’s a good chance that you can earn some serious money in the career path of your choice without having to waste a ton of money on rent, food and booze.

In fact, you could even become a real-life Wolf of Wall Street and skip the years of crippling loan repayments in the process (just don’t get done for insider trading).

However, bear in mind that you will be required to undergo full training before starting work with your chosen airline. This usually involves participating in a rigorous four-week training centre which includes online assessments as well as classroom learning.

Once you’re all set, you can expect to earn a starting salary of between £20,000-£25,000 a year. Don’t forget that you also get to travel the world and get paid doing it.

For long-haul flights, bigger companies such as Virgin and Emirates are known to provide their employees with accommodation and higher salaries.

20. Personal Assistant – Average pay: £25,003

Becoming a personal assistant is an option for any school-leavers who don’t want to go into higher education.

Whilst we’ve listed the average pay as £25,003, your salary can vary wildly depending on who you are working for (i.e. an individual or a company) and what your contracted hours are.

You’ll need some very specific personal attributes – personal assistants are generally required to be positive and organised individuals who are able to deal with multiple deadlines at once.

If that describes you though, then you could forge a rewarding career for yourself as a corporate PA. Companies value their administrative staff and you’d be surprised just how much personal assistants can be paid for managing the day-to-day schedules of CEO’s and other executives.

You’ll have to be over the age of 18 to be able to work on the wards, and you’ll also have to pass a series of background checks. Ex-convicts are not able to apply. Rather than bringing a degree to the role, you will be required to take a Prison Officer Selection Test which will assess various skills including reading, writing, maths and even physical abilities.

Nowadays, most highly-skilled hackers out there don’t have a university education and are largely self-taught, so this niche role definitely doesn’t require a degree.

Companies will pay ethical hackers an impressive £35,000 a year to start with, which could rise to as much as £90,000 over the course of your career. Definitely something to think about if you’re into coding!

17. Journalist – Average pay: £30,998

Surprisingly, you don’t actually need a degree to be a journalist.

Whilst there are many successful wordsmiths out there with a Cambridge or an Oxford education to their name, it’s certainly not a prerequisite to a career in journalism – all you need is the ability to find a good story and excellent written communication skills.

Caitlin Moran (pictured above) is a Times columnist and author, but she has no formal education to her name, let alone a university degree. Instead, she began her career writing for the music publication, Melody Maker, at the age of 16 after managing to win several writing competitions.

16. Fashion Industry – Average pay: £32,500

Any fans of The Devil Wears Prada will probably want to avoid a career in the fashion industry, but if you can’t get enough of the latest trends then you should definitely consider a creative role in fashion.

The clothing industry is one sector which really prefers experience over qualifications, so if you’re not into the university scene then you’re in luck.

However, do be aware that you’ll probably have to start off your career working for free or as a low-paid intern in the early days, before you can climb the fashion ladder to the top. Once you do, the salary is extremely competitive.

You will need a high level of physical fitness and for each role you’ll have to pass some written tests as well. Your potential employers will be looking for some specific characteristics, such as the ability to quickly understand facts and procedures, as well as a calm and decisive demeanour in the face of stressful situations.

Most entry level roles begin with a starting salary of £18,000, which is perfect for anyone just leaving high school who thinks that the industry might be for them. There’s plenty of opportunity to progress your career if you decide to follow this particular path, but you’ll probably start out doing work experience or an internship before becoming a digital assistant or researcher.

Employers such as G4S and Securitas value your level of threat intelligence gained in the armed forces, rather than any paper qualifications you might hold. They’re also interested in what kinds of organisational and logistical experience you have.

It’s true that cleaners and gardeners probably won’t make that much money, but if you work your way up the ranks and become a butler or house manager then you could be looking at upwards of £150,000 a year, depending on your employer.

Major companies such as Veolia and Suez Environment dispose of the hazardous byproducts that are generated in hospitals, pesticide factories, petrol refineries and similar places. The average pay is so high because you have to use a high level of skill and care in order to handle these types of products properly – there’s also much more of a risk factor involved when you’re in close contact with them every single day.

If you do decide to go into Human Resources, then there’s a good chance that you will need to earn yourself a qualification at some point down the road if you want to get further ahead in the industry. It might be worth having a look at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development for more information.

Your job will involve checking up to 1,000 chicks per hour over the course of a 12 hour shift. The work is extremely monotonous and might send you a bit crazy, which is why most people simply aren’t interested in spite of the generous pay packet.

Depending on which type of area you want to specialise in, the course takes from 5 to 11 months to complete, and you’ll get paid a starting salary of just under £12,000 whilst you study. However, once you earn your qualifications the pay quickly rises to the industry standard of around £40,000 – well worth thinking about if you’re not interested in university life.

In this industry, most roles which don’t require degrees are still very specialised and you need to have developed specific skills in order to carry them out properly.

This means that instead of university, you should look into the courses offered by the National Skills Academy for Nuclear, which offers courses to help people qualify for certain roles.

All you’ll need to thrive is some creativity and a willingness to learn new things in order to progress from having to put up with unpaid internships to landing your very first high-paying role. If you find yourself working in a finance role then you could be earning up to £50,000 a year down the line.

6. Digital marketing – Average pay: £47,500

We’ve already taken a look at marketing, but did you know that digital marketing industry pays even more?

And once again, you won’t need an academic degree to get started because the sector is so fast-paced. If you’re familiar with terms such as SEO and Adwords then a career in digital marketing might just be for you.

All you’ll need to thrive is some creativity and a willingness to learn new things in order to progress from having to put up with unpaid internships to landing your very first high-paying role. If you find yourself working in a finance role then you could be earning up to £50,000 a year down the line.

It’s also a job which can involve dangerous and tough work, often for long hours at a time. For example, did you know that offshore rig workers at Maersk have to operate on a 12-hour shift system? Whilst you don’t need a degree to work offshore – and you will earn a lot of money in the process – you’ll have to be 100% certain that this kind of lifestyle is for you.

Like most jobs in finance, being a commodities trader is well-paid and could be worth doing for a few years until you decide what you really want to do in life. In terms of qualifications, you’ll want to make sure you’re good at maths and personality-wise it’s probably an advantage to have the gift of the gab.

However, most employers will require you to study for an AAT qualification before you can progress, so you will have to do some studying beforehand. Once that’s over with, though, you’ll be looking at a salary of around £35,000 at the start of your career, moving up to £100,000 if you make it to Finance Director status!

In terms of qualifications, you don’t need a degree to get a job in mining construction, but some experience in manual labour or building work would be useful. It’s also possible that some entry-level jobs will require you to obtain specialised licences that you let operate things like bulldozers and other heavy machinery.

However, you will need to get approval from the FCA and CISI in order to start work. Plus you’ll need to obtain a CISI Capital Markets certification – again this can be done without a degree, but you will need to study in order to pass an ethics test.