Ivor,
What happens to the significant percentage of students who fail flying training?
The Govt aims to have 50% of youngsters go on to tertiary education. Therefore in order to compete for the top jobs, ambitious high flyers (and I include military types) will wish to have a quality degree from a Premier League University. A student pilot or observer failing late in his flying training will feel rather exposed as he re-enters civvy street to start again, but without a quality degree, just 2/3rds or so of a RN Foundation Degree and competing with his old school chums who are just reaching the end of a quality degree course at a Premier Uni.