Welcome to Flyertalk jamestg, welcome to the BA forum, it's good to see you here. Please continue to post, this forum is filled with many with a very similar mind-set to you. Some of us actually fly more than BA staff! Welcome on board.

I can't specifically answer your question - there will be others on here who can help - other than to make 2 points. Firstly when I look into Highlife magazine to see the feature BA captain / first officer, almost to a (wo)man they always seem to say that they had a passion for flying while young, and though it wasn't easy, it hasn't gone away.

Secondly, much more generally, never be too straightjacketed by qualifications, results, getting a juicy CV for the sake of it: I guess I really ought to encourage you to do well in exams, but I won't. Instead: focus on what you really want to do, aim for hat, take the knockbacks as merely ways of gaining experience along the road.