Information Security Career Path UK

After getting intressted into computer somewhile back in my youth i gradully found intresst in the Information Security side of things. I studied articles, books and technical papers to build up a personal knowledge. I attended such event as Infosecurity to get a insight into the industry. However i find it extremly hard to grab any information on a career path and possible qualifactions. I have wrote letters to members of the BCS (British Computer Society) who deal with aspects of security aquiring such qualification such as CISSP from ISC2 but non have replied back. I cant talk to any career adviser as most of them would look blankly. I have been told it depends which road i wish to take down. Pratical based such as pen testing or more theory based or writting user policies and such. But i was wondering if anyone could lay out different career options within the industry or point me in directions to aqiure such information, and tell me is following the UK education system via degrees such as Computer science worth it or should i look to more external qualifactions and then try to get a job. Any information or assistance would be much appriciated. Thanks