For Hannah Blair, choosing which A-levels to take came with an extra challenge.
Hannah attended an all-girls' school that didn't offer the computing and programming course she wanted, even though the nearby all-boys' school did.
"At the girls' school, there was IT, while the boys' school had an actual computing course, even though they were part of the same group. So, I moved to the boys' school to take it," Hannah explains.
Her determination paid off, and she graduated with a degree in computer science from the University of Surrey in 2018.
Hannah then secured a spot in the Deutsche Bank graduate scheme and has since worked with start-ups as a freelance developer. She is currently a senior developer at the virtual event platform Hopin. It was a smart career choice, as software development is an industry with many opportunities.
For example, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 22% job growth rate for developers between 2019 and 2029, compared to 4% for other occupations.
And the roles are well-paid. According to the salary comparison website PayScale, the average developer salary is around $74,000 (£53,000; €62,000). Carl Mungazi studied journalism at university and worked as a local journalist in Luton for four years before switching to a developer role in 2016.