University advice about grades?

Im just curious about Uni at the minute I'm 26 and thinking about Uni but if i went i wouldnt want an easy option i want a course that would be something I'm interested in but something i can also get a good job at the end of, the problem is my GCSE grades arn''t that good (i never excelled myself at school and i dont really want to say my grades but i have 10 gcse's) and with college i picked a course i wasnt passionate about and i was very shy and timid and had very bad agoraphobia at the time and college suffered for it and i barely passed. Ive come on leaps and bounds though now confidence has grown and i'm learning how to manage the anxiety and panic attacks but because of my poor grades people think I'm not that bright, anyway i can do something that would help me get onto a good course at uni, would doing open university short courses for points help me? also since college ive done a few other things including a NVQ but I have no idea where my qualifications have been put.