Mixed routes here. DD1 (A level grades Astar, A, B) was determined she didn't want to go to uni. She went into a Level 3 (or 4?) marketing apprenticeship with a recruitment agency at 18 and transferred onto their grad scheme at 19. Worked in recruitment for a few years, dabbled in marketing, and is now happily settled as an internal comms manager for a large organisation on a decent salary. Has no regrets about her decision and has never felt the lack of a degree has held her back in any way.
DD2 was equally determined she did want to go to uni. She took a MFL / linguistics degree at a RG uni, then went into accountancy with a Big 4 firm on their grad scheme. She did exceptionally well in her exams (determined to prove that a humanities graduate could outperform the business / maths / accountancy people!) and is now a qualified chartered accountant heading for a 6 figure salary. Highly unlikely she would have got into accountancy post-A level as she was very much on a humanities track at that time.
DD3 is a would-be scientist and will be starting uni this year (also RG). She hopes to go into clinical research and expects to need a masters or PhD. There are no viable alternatives to uni for the career she is looking at. Having seen her sister switch directions she knows that general graduate-entry jobs are an option if her chosen route doesn't work out.
I have seen other young people take a variety of routes - uni, degree apprenticeships, post A-level apprenticeships, college at 16 - and the most important factor seems to me to be how hard they work and how focused they are, not which route they take. One of DD1's friends wanted to be a hairdresser from when she was a tiny tot. She was sweeping floors as a Saturday girl at 14, qualified at 17, bought a house with her partner (then a supermarket supervisor) at 20, and now teaches in an FE college.