E Fizz
Your being given good advice on not going for a degree before training to fly.
At 34 you need to concentrate on getting the flying in and passing the requisite exams and getting a job. Tony Underwood has done it in his thirties, so can you.
Your HNC can be converted to a degreee sometime in the future - if a degree is what you want. As it stands a good HNC will have some standing but in any case will give you a good start to the understanding of the technical stuff.
Go for it and good luck