Seeking Advice on My Future Path: Gap Year or University?

Hello,

I'm currently in the first year of my sixth form studies, going through my thresholds, and honestly, the thought of going through this for four more years after sixth form is daunting. My parents strongly advocate for higher education, this is primarily because they grew up in a different country and neither of them hold higher degrees, they consider me very educationally smart, but I know I'm not, I have a very short attention span for stuff I find uninteresting and most topics taught are usually exactly that, uninteresting, I feel that traditional educational structures may not suit my learning style best. I'm the type who learns things efficiently as and when my interest is piqued, and self-imposed deadlines seem to work better for me.

I've had average grades mostly 6s, with my standout being a 9 in Computer Science at GCSEs. My predicted sixth form grades are BCC, however these options are unrelated to STEM for the most part and my only STEM subject is Computer Science, which is the B.

Some backstory, I've been involved in the tech sector since I was 12, gaining hands-on experience with various small companies, similar to unofficial internships. This journey has helped me gain valuable connections and really good friends, aside from people I also gained a wide range of skills, from networking, virtualization, and containerization to elements of cybersecurity and software engineering in multiple languages, primarily web development, but also some lower level system programming, and I find it all very interesting and love learning new ways to do stuff, focusing on performance, optimisations and best practices. I can adapt quickly and learn new programming languages, techniques and frameworks as required with no issues. Additionally, all of this work is very well documented and I believe I've got an alright portfolio especially for my age.

Given this scenario, I am considering taking a gap year after sixth form to explore my options. If this leads to tangible growth, a well-paying job, or a successful venture, I might continue in this vein. If not, I'll consider going to university.

I would love to get your insights on this plan. Has anyone taken a similar path? Any thoughts, advice, or criticisms are welcome as I value differing viewpoints and constructive criticism. Looking forward to your responses!