Simply put the FTSE 100 is pretty much the hundred most profitable companies in this country. They without exception have graduate programs for their managers. They also without exception DO NOT care what subject you read at university, they are not hiring you for your knowledge of a particular subject! That is what the professional training is for i.e. Chartered Accountant, chartered manager, CIPD, DipLaw, etc
To be fair, PWC and KPMG have schemes for those out of A levels who did particularly well (AAA, AAB sort of thing) in tough subjects.
I have to say I do find it frustrating to read on pprune (take a look at all the posts by youngsters saying they should get Cs at gcse, which is not by and large university material) people often saying school isn't that important and that grades don't matter much. A lot of youngsters come on here looking for advice/information and for people to be saying you can still succeed if you don't do well is no way to set an example. Sure there are plenty of people who have made it with only a handful of low level qualifications and some with none, but I agree with Vortex Thing that the only way to sustain a high level of pay, conditions and respect for pilots is to keep the level of competition high, and that means degrees and good grades aswell as good piloting ability. You don't want it to become degraded into something anyone can do.