Ten well-paid jobs that are open to everyone

These days, it can sometimes seem as if every job paying more than a pittance needs a university degree - at the very least.

Being a doctor or a pilot can take years of training, often at a cost of tens of thousands of pounds. Further down the scale, jobs that would once have required a handful of GCSEs now stipulate graduates only.

The good news is that there are still jobs out there that can be done by almost anyone with a bit of aptitude and hard work - and some of them pay surprisingly well.

We look at a few careers that can sometimes be very lucrative, as well as being open to all.

Chicken sexer
The easiest way to earn a good salary with no qualifications or experience is probably to become a chicken sexer - the UK is crying out for them. Earlier this year, it was revealed that not a single poultry sexer was recruited in 2013, and there's now an official shortage.

Checking the gender of a chick requires good eyesight, patience and dexterity, with workers expected to sort as many as 1,000 chicks an hour for a 12-hour shift and hit a 98% accuracy rate. But with training provided on the job and a £40,000-a-year salary, it probably provides the best pay for the least education and experience.

Mining construction
Mining construction is a tough job, and often means spending long periods away from home in remote and uncomfortable places: work tends to be concentrated in South America, Australia and Africa.

As a result, starting salaries tend to be around £25,000 a year, rising to more than £50,000 after ten years or so. But while many entrants have a degree in a related subject such as civil engineering, geology or minerals surveying, it's still possible to enter the profession through having worked in a related field.

Prison officer
There are no qualifications required to become a prison officer, although you'll need to be 18 or over and pass background checks, including any convictions. You'll have to take a Prison Officer Selection Test (POST), which checks your number, reading and writing skills, followed by aptitude and physical tests.

The starting salary in England and Wales is £18,720, but this can rise to over £33,000 at a more senior level.

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Domestic staff
You might not imagine being a servant to be all that well-paid, but times have really changed. There are plenty of wealthy people in the UK with large properties that need to be managed.

At the bottom of the tree, where qualifications are rarely required, cleaners, gardeners and the like don't make a great deal of money. It is, though, possible to work your way up - and those that make it all the way to butler or house manager can earn over £150,000 a year.

Sales executive
Here, it's the gift of the gab that counts: no amount of qualifications can beat the ability to make people want to buy what you're selling. It goes without saying that the job interview will be crucial.

Once you're in, it's commission that makes the difference between good and bad pay: while the basic starting salary can be as low as £12,000 a year, many marketing and sales managers make over £100,000 a year.

Customer services
Once again, this is a job that requires organisation and people skills, but little in the way of formal qualifications. For entry-level positions, pay isn't great: generally less than £18,000 a year. But progression is often fairly easy, and customer service managers earn up to £40,000 a year.

Offshore oil worker
It's tough, dangerous work that can take people away from their families for months at a time - which is why the average pay is as much as £50,000. Jobs include equipment maintenance, rig operations, drilling operations, and rig administration.

Most people get started through an apprenticeship scheme, needing just four GCSEs to qualify, although there are transition courses for those with relevant experience.

Ethical hacker
So-called ethical hackers are employed by companies to test the security of their IT systems. And while a computer science degree is a help, many successful hackers are self-taught - sometimes coming from the wrong side of the fence.

Pay tends to start at around £35,000 a year, rising to as much as £90,000.

Journalist
While most journalists have a degree these days, there's still plenty that don't. What really matters is the ability to write. Many journalists get started by submitting articles on spec and building up a portfolio before getting a job on a publication, where training may be on offer.

The money can be spectacular, with big-name columnists raking in six-figure sums - though for most, pay is rather more modest. According to the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ) the average salary for a newspaper journalist is £22,250 - and starting salaries can be as low as £12,000.

Firefighter
Physical and mental fitness is far more important to the Fire Service than qualifications - although a good basic education will help. Successful applicants will need to be 18 or over and will be put through a series of tests - including physical carried out in full uniform.

The starting salary is £21,583, with crew managers earning over £30,000 a year and area managers over £50,000.