I have a ten year old aero-eng degree from Southampton, and still have contacts there. The degree was tough, but I have used huge amounts of it in my life since both as an Engineer and as a pilot. It can't be insignificant that about 1/3 of the military or ex-military test pilots of my acquaintance (which is quite a few) have Southampton aero degrees.
Look also at Bath, Glasgow, Loughborough, Kingston, Hatfield. Imperial's reputation is of being somewhat aimed at researchers rather than practical engineers, and I suspect that a relatively practical engineering degree is probably most use to you as a potential pilot.
G