I think we have a lot of similarities my friend. Was your air league scholarship at Tayside in Dundee by any chance? I had a couple scholarships there through air cadets that got me 35 hours of my ppl.
That ppl I finished at Phoenix Aviation at Netherthorpe, near Worksop just north of Nottingham. (very cheap with no landing/membership/joining fees, and makes you excellent at landings - shortest licenced runway in the uk!) I mention that because I'm at Nottingham Uni too, in my third and final year of a physics degree.
I too have the eventual aim of being an airline pilot, although I have my heart set on doing some bush flying and similar first. I'll be starting my hour building and ATPL theory this summer after I graduate.
Drop me a pm if you'd like to meet up and chat in Nottingham once term starts. It's surprising how few pilots I meet in real life when there are supposedly thousands of qualified unemployed ones all over the place!