Getting a degree or other further education is no guarantee of a high salary these days, in fact, you may be able to earn a lot more without one.
Right now, there are jobs available paying as much as £68,793 a year with no formal education required.
That's according to jobs site Adzuna, which looked at a million positions advertised, and weeded out the ones you could apply for without formal qualificaitons.
Overall, they found nine ‘unskilled’ roles paying more than the average advertised salary for professional ones at £35,773.
More than 20 roles paid £30,000 or more on average.
Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter said: “Jobs that don’t require a formal qualification can still be extremely lucrative."
The best-paying job that didn't need a degree or diploma was "ethical hacker", where you test websites and companies' security by trying to hack into them.
That means computer skills, ingenuity and experience matter more than formal qualifications.
The next best paid role for those without qualifications is "private chauffeur", with an average salary of £46,500, while bouncers can also make more than £40,000.
Several public service roles also have good salaries, with military security jobs and Army officers paying more than £39,00 on average.
Hunter added: “Jobseekers without the rubber stamp of a degree or diploma should be ready to work hard for these positions, showing off soft skills like communication and emotional intelligence at interview and preparing for the fitness and agility tests required by more physical positions in the Army and Police.”
The 20 best paid jobs that don't need formal education
- Ethical Hacker - £68,793
- Private Chauffeur - £46,500
- Bouncer - £42,881
- Mining Construction - £42,757
- Operations Manager - £40,014
- Real Estate Agent - £39,864
- Military Security - £39,464
- Army Officer - £39,001
- Power Plant Operator - £38,551
- HR Manager - £38,469
- Courier - £36,936
- Criminal Investigator - £35,554
- Firefighter - £35,332
- Food Taster - £35,275
- Executive Assistant - £33,578
- Recruiter - £33,035
- Waste Management - £32,100
- Plumber - £31,707
- Sales Executive - £30,656
- Police Officer - £30,451
