WWW said, "A Modern Apprenticeship will provide for you a FAR better fall back career than a degree coupled with no experience to go with it."
That may well be true in the short run scheme of things. Indeed your friend who is a builder on £58,000 is proof of this - how much more do you think he could ever make - I bet you he is at the top of his lifetime earnings, in fact I can prove the economics to you if you give me a little time. You earn more in the long run by going for a degree. Can you not see that you need a backup career for later in a business such as ours - a short-term cash cow is useless if you are laid off 15 years down the line.
The simple fact of the matter is that an MA is not going to be much use either after a few years of not being in the industry, whereas a degree will. A degree holds value for far longer after university, and the fact that you hold one as opposed to an MA will offer you a greater range of opportunities and a greater earnings profile, which in turn can better support you flying training.
I don't know many people who would expect to walk into a flying sponsorship straight out of university, and you are bound have to work for a while while you apply to places or earn money for training coupled with loan repayment (bearing in mind that you won't need to repay it during flying training as you will earn below the threshold. Hence experience will come.
University does not prove what A-Levels indicated, and I can give you exmples of bright, straight A students who have totally cocked-up university. At university you have to do independent work during your degree that was well above and beyond what you did for A-Levels. The fact is that student debt is a misleading reason for not going to invest in university and is a typical of the short-termist view that will lead you to trouble.
University is a life investment, and though MAs certainly hold value, with the academic ability you undoubtably hold if considering a flying career, you can do better for yourself going for the degree. Why aim low and bore yourself to death if you can't fly, when you could be doing far better?
Suggs, Jet Blast is further down the page mate.