Surely the fact that the government wants 50% of school leavers to attend university means that, unless the Services offer a worthy In-Service Degree or are prepared to reduce the academic entry standards for officers, the Services will either have to recruit at universities or act in opposition to government policy by attempting to recruit school-leavers that are suitably qualified to enter further education.
If the answer is to recruit at universities, then the completion of Elementary Flying Training at university rather than post IOT must be worthy of consideration.