I refused to go to university after A-levels even though I was a top student and teachers told me I was 'ruining my life' - I made £1million while I was still a teenager

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I set up my first business at the age of 13 - selling nail foils imported from China for three years. I would sell them online or on a stall at a market in Glasgow. 

Over that time, I made £5,000 in profit - enough to invest into my first MacBook. And enough to give me a snapshot into the real world that made me realise I didn't want to continue with my education - I wanted to run my own business.

My teachers were shocked when I told them my plans - and tried their best to persuade me to go to university. 

I was getting straight As at school - including maths, Spanish, art and music - perhaps they felt as though I would be a good advocate for the school.

My guidance teacher told me: 'I see that you're not applying for university, and you're applying for a job.' 

Interiors expert Liv Conlon, 25, from Glasgow, runs two seven-figure businesses after refusing to go to university 

Liv when she was at school with her brother Jack. She was a straight A student, and teachers said she was ruining her life by not studying science 

There was no option for me to tick a box that said: 'Starting my own business.'

The education system just wasn't for me. One of the main reasons I wanted to leave was the bullying. It made me dread walking into the classroom every day. It was horrendous. 

A group of girls would talk about me behind my back, or to my face. They set up a group chat to talk about me too. Even now I suffer with anxiety due to what I went through every day at school.

It became so bad that I changed school in the final year of my Scottish Highers - the equivalent of A-levels - and I still passed with four As and a B at my school in South Lanarkshire

Liv, 25, juggles being a single mother to her son with running two seven-figure businesses 

Secondly, I didn't enjoy being told what to do. I had a strong head on my shoulders and had already found my direction in life.

It was just before I left school in 2015, aged 16, that I saw a gap in the market to launch a property staging business. 

ThePropertyStagers idea was born - essentially enhancing the look and atmosphere of a house or flat to make it easier to sell and more profitable for the vendor. I told my mum Ali, who supported me every step of the way.

When I told my teachers my plan to leave school and not go to university, they were shocked. One said I was ruining my life. Another said it was a big mistake not moving forward with science. 

I remember my guidance teacher sneering: 'Will this little interior design business really do very well?' They really didn't see it as the path to success.

For a split second I considered that I was missing out on the life experience of going to uni. Was starting my own business pushing me to grow up too fast? Should I be drinking every night at the student union? Enjoying not having any commitments and learning new things?

When I weighed up all the pros and cons, it led me to the same conclusion; there are different paths in life for everyone. I'd found mine and I was going to jump headfirst into making my business, ThePropertyStagers, a success - and I have.

Liv winning a Young Apprentice award at the age of 16, the same year she left school to start her own business 

Liv was crowned The UK Young Entrepreneur of the Year in 2019 after founding ThePropertyStagers at just 16

Within the second year, it was turning over £1million.

Ten years on, it now stages (furnishing homes to sell them) more than 400 properties across the UK. 

I've also launched a second business - StagerBoss - which teaches other women how to launch their own staging business. This is on track to turn over seven figures in its first year too.

Not many people can say they've started two successful businesses from scratch, built a £1m brand in their teens, travelled the world delivering keynote speeches, won 12 national and international business and entrepreneur awards, delivered a TEDx talk, had dinner with the Prime Minister, and became a two-times best-selling author with an endorsement from Netflix.

And even fewer people can say they've done all that – and so much more – before they were 25. And I'm writing this from my house in Spain.

These experiences - at school and out in the business world - have helped shape my opinion of our education system. Personally, I don't believe it prepares grown-up adolescents for their lives to come.

Liv Conlon, 25, is the owner of ThePropertyStagers, which helps make properties seem more appealing to buyers

Schools should be teaching real life skills: how to tackle finance and taxes, how to get a mortgage, how to deal with the problems life throws at you.

Over the last decade, I've hardly called on many of the things I learnt in the classroom. Of course, communication skills are important, and subjects like English, Maths, drama and Spanish have helped, but even in those cases, schools should concentrate more on how these subjects can help in real-life situations.

I don't feel I missed out by not going to university. I never liked studying. I like to show up and just get on with whatever challenge I'm presented with. 

By my twenties I was earning seven figures in my business and meeting people I knew from my school days who were working at restaurants, still at uni and racking up debt. I was able to fast track that journey so I'm ten or 15 years ahead where most people are at this age.

Could I have achieved all of this if I had gone to university? I doubt it. For those getting their A-level results today; if you don't get the grades you need to go on to uni, or even if you do but you're unsure whether higher education is the right path for you, there are other options.

Maybe think about starting your own business. Or if you're already thinking about it; look at how you can make it happen. I'm so glad I followed my instinct and didn't let others' views push me into a direction I wouldn't have been happy with. And that could be the case for you.