i wunt worry about it mate, come to the mainland n i'll sort u out wi a job lol,
i was out of work for like 5 months when i finished school last year. to be honest most jobs arent even lookin for academic qualifications, its more about ur people skills n how trainable u r for the job n what not. i was dead good in school untill like year 10 n 11, then i fucked about loads lol cos noone cares in the last years.
after a while i got sorted out with an apprenticeship n now am sorted. u just av to keep lookin for the right kind of work, dont settle for summet u wont be happy with, it as to be summet u like definitely.
if its for u then further education is easily the right thing to do. but theres loads of mature students nowadays int there so wunt worry about it, it might take time but do whats right for u personally, not cos someone sez u av to get a job right now or owt.

cheers