Firstly, I hope that I can be of more use to you in this than I have in the past in my failed attempt to help you get some airfield work.
Secondly, universities I'd personally rate (in no particular order)
- Southampton
- Glasgow
- Hertfordshire
- Kingston
- Brunel (the Aviation Engineering degree, not the Aerospace Engineering or MechEng with Aero)
- Loughborough
So far as degree choice is concerned, the aerospace industry is full of people with a whole variety of degrees - not to mention many with out, but most of the good (non maintenance, engineering) jobs go to people with Engineering Council accredited degrees. This of-course includes most Aero-Eng courses, but also mechanical, systems, electronic, etc.
Similarly, there are an enormous number of people out there doing all sorts of professional jobs, outside of aerospace, with aeronautical engineering degrees. I did an aero-eng degree and amongst my closest friends from that, there's a Navy Engineering officer who became a schoolteacher, a chap who did a PhD in engineering education then became a highly overpaid consultant in IT, his wife who started overseeing large parts of an aircraft factory but is now a regional manager for parcelforce(!), plus surprisingly enough a handful of pilots and aeronautical engineers - you get the message.
It's also possible without great difficulty to become a chartered aeronautical engineer with any EngC accredited degree and the right experience, or a chartered mechanical engineer with an aero degree and the right experience (I did anyhow).
So, I'd not worry too much about the exact title of the degree - pick something that is...
(a) accredited by the Engineering Council (or about to be),
(b) full of things you'd like to do for three or four years, and
(c) somewhere you don't mind living for that time.
What dictates your career path after graduation is likely to be most a combination of luck, and your final year project - although clearly a good grade from a well respected university help a lot.
A lot of universities offer "UCAS days" for sixth formers which are worth looking into, since they'll often give you a good chance to see what it's about. If nothing on their websites, phone or (better) Email the admissions tutor(s) and ask about this - nothing ventured and all that.
G