The top three most prosperous courses are engineering, fashion and industrial design.

We’ve profiled a Rich Lister in each industry to give you some idea of how their vocational background helped them on their way.

There are many courses that helped our rich listers on their way, find out more here about other prosperous career directions you can take.

Engineering

Engineering is our most rewarding sector, financially.

The 2007 engineering graduates have made more money than those from any other industry, accounting for a staggering 40% (£4 billion) of the total £10.2 billion wealth on the 2007 Vocational Rich List.

The majority of these people have used the skills they learnt as tradesmen and transferred them into the business world by creating or improving profitable companies and projects – starting with the basics and building their way up.

Engineering his way to fortune – Terry Matthews

Since taking an apprenticeship at the Post Office research department in engineering at 15, Sir Terry Matthews has been turning a profit from technology. With a personal fortune of £1 billion, the Welsh tycoon originally went to Canada and made his fortune with a telecom company called Mitel and then, more significantly, with Newbridge Networks. It floated in 1989, and Matthews sold it to the French telecom giant, Alcatel, in 2000 for £4.4 billion.

Aside from that, Matthews has invested around £140m into creating Celtic Manor resort. He also has a huge raft of investments in Britain and Canada through his Wesley Clover investment operation, which has backed 52 companies since 1972.

The good news is that there’s always a high demand for well-qualified engineers! Click here to find out more about a career in engineering.

Read about our people who have made their millions from the world of fashion here.