Around 800,000 school leavers will be eagerly collecting their A-level results on Thursday, and more than half that number will be looking forward to spending the next three years at university.
A significant number, however, will be taking vocational routes allied to specific career paths they want to take. Last year, 3.25m vocational qualifications were achieved, more than double the number passed four years previously. In the last 10 years, apprenticeship places have risen from 75,000 to nearly 240,000.
These figures show that parents and young people no longer regard the straightforward, traditional academic route as the only pathway to success. A variety of vocational courses are becoming a more attractive option for school leavers, getting them ready for the world of work.
There is a growing awareness that vocational courses and apprenticeships are not just for plumbers, builders and hairdressers, but also for accountants, graphic designers, IT specialists, scientists, and a plethora of other professions.
Alex Khan, managing director of the training provider VT Training, part of the VT Group, which includes warship builder Vosper Thornycroft, says: "Historically, there has been a stigma attached to apprenticeships, that they are for learners less able. Yet we are finding more than ever that young people with good GCSEs are taking the vocational route. Major employers are now offering apprenticeships and value them."
Prime minister Gordon Brown said earlier this year that currently one-in-15 youngsters is on an apprenticeship, and he wants to see that increased to one-in-five by 2018. Conservative party leader David Cameron is also backing an increase in apprenticeships. Last month, his party launched a "training and apprenticeship revolution" at which he vowed to create 100,000 more apprenticeships.
Heather Green is director of apprentices at Manchester Solutions, which is training 2,500 apprentices in fields including construction, childcare, information technology and banking. She believes that much is still to be done to make more young people and their parents aware of the options open to them. "Too many are being steered towards A-levels and university because parents assume it is the best route," she says.
"There are many young people who don't like the classroom environment. Why shouldn't they do an apprenticeship and a foundation degree alongside it, in something like banking and financial services? Four years on, they will have a degree, work experience and no debt."
Of those who start university in September, as many as 100,000 students are likely to drop out before completing their degree. A report by the Commons Public Accounts Committee shows between 2001 and 2005, 22% of students did not complete their courses.
Andy Powell, chief executive of the education foundation Edge, which promotes practical and vocational learning, has a view on why the dropout rate is so high. "This country is riddled with academic snobbery, more than any other in the world," he says.
"For some people, it is appropriate that they do something that is theoretical before they go off and learn their trade. It is equally legitimate to say you will leave school at 16 or 18 because you know what you want to do in life, that you will start your professional training and learn about the job as well as getting a qualification through that route."
Heather Elrick-Tobin surprised her family and teachers when she abandoned the academic path to study beauty therapy at West Cheshire college. She had been excelling in biology, chemistry, physics and Latin at A-level, but realised it was not taking her where she wanted to go.
She wants a career in the film industry as a prosthetic make-up artist and plans to study for a foundation degree in artistic make-up and special effects at Leicester college next term. When completed, she will be able to convert it into an honours degree in art and design with a further year of study.
"I had always been pushed to follow the academic route, but it wasn't what I wanted to do," she says. "I enjoy this course at college. It is so much more hands-on."
