The Government wants 50 per cent of young people to go to university. But, with fewer applying this year, many are realising there are other ways to be successful

SHERYL Miller is an unusual success story. At the age of 18 she ignored the advice - and then the criticism - of her sixth form teachers and decided not to go to university. Fourteen years later, she has no regrets and is now finance manager of operations at the Worcester HQ of energy company npower.

Her route to success would be even rarer today. The Government is determined to get more teenagers into university.

However, that aim received a setback with the revelation last week that the number of applications for September had fallen, with the blame being laid fairly and squarely at the introduction of top-up tuition fees, although the University of Worcester proudly bucked that trend.

So more and more students are looking to follow in Sheryl's footsteps and investigate other ways to progress.

After a spell of work experience at the age of 14 at a small accountancy firm, she realised she had a passion for the job. Three A-levels in maths, law and economics later, she joined the accountancy firm Ernst & Young and started the AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) qualification at 18.

"A few college lecturers thought it was odd," says Sheryl. "It was just the norm that everybody went to university. But why should that necessarily be the case when you can get the best accounting jobs without a degree?"

The work with AAT, which is one of the leading qualifications and membership bodies for accounting staff, was tough for an 18-year-old fresh out of school but Sheryl says it was the best thing that could have happened.

"We did the same level of work as the graduate intake," she says. "I guess by the time the three years (of training) was over I seemed more grown up than those of the same age coming out of university. It gave me much more of a professional grounding."

Sheryl is 33 now and has a word of advice for teenagers of today. "If you are unsure what you want to do, then university is still the best choice," she says. "You don't want to be limited if you make the choice to start a profession and risk dropping out. But if you are sure, like I was, then doing an AAT can only be a large help."

And she says that starting work instead of going to university does not mean you miss out on the fun.

"I was in a group of about 30 trainees," she says. "We would all mix socially, go for a drink after work, so we were training but the difference was we were being paid for it."

Nevertheless, the Government remains eager to get more youngsters to university.

Responding to the drop in university applications, the Higher Education Minister Bill Rammell said cost should not come into it: "All young people with the academic potential should have the opportunity to benefit from higher education, regardless of their social background, and we are committed to removing any barriers.

"The demand for higher education continues to grow and so, too, does the need to expand the sector."

The executive director of Hereford and Worcester's Learning and Skills Council says whether young people go to university or do courses like Sheryl's, what is most important is they stay in some kind of education.

"There really is plenty of choice available to young people and we would urge them and their parents to find out more about staying in some form of learning until they have at least the minimum set of qualifications," he says.

And that seems to be the message. As Sheryl says, university may not be for everyone, but you can get qualified in other ways if you are prepared to work hard. Sheryl now has an MBA and is in charge of a team of accountants at npower.

"I've got no regrets whatsoever," she says. "It really pushed me."