dear Separation
advice is a wonderful thing. There a a lot of opinionated voices in this forum, but at the end of the day it's your life, your decisions.
I don't have any GCSEs. In fact, I didn't even go to school in the UK.
I also started with nats when I was 28. Don't shoot yourself for not pursuing this road any sooner. There is more to life than ATC and other life experiences are just as valuable. Having worked other "normal" jobs makes me appreciate what I have now a lot more. I have several colleagues who spent life in ATC, taking home well in excess of 3k a month, and all they do is moan, then you look at your operational times and you've actually worked less than 80 hours in 45 days.
I used to work that in a week in previous jobs. For half the money.
I disagree with the law or medicine analogy. Trainees going through college memorise the whole of Mats part 1 in 6 months or so. I suspect the bookwork required to become a doctor is slightly more demanding!!
regards