Philw, thank you for your update, reading the thread from the start, I did not expect you to end up in ATC, anyway, if you have found your true vocation, then good for you! Of course, no one can really compare career paths and advise good and bad, with so many variables in life going on. I did a degree much, much later in life, there was no opportunity for me when I was young, leaving an appalling bad school... etc, the expectation just wasn't there. So, bear mind, a career span is a long time nowadays (at least 40 years and getting longer), a good education is such a great asset and sets you up for the changes ahead, your first career decision is not the end of it, good luck!