Swiss pilot:
do you know why i want to go to uni? first i like engineering and second because if i do not get any job as a pilot i have the degree! that is important! if you invest in 30.000/50.000£ for pilot training and then you do not get a job..who will repay that? working in a call center won't be enough!!
I don't understand this logic.
If you really want a back up plan, like you write it, then it should be a back up plan!
First get your pilot licence (note I am not encouraging you to be a pilot, we will face an oil shortage in 2015-2020), then look for a job while you do a university degree, that way this is a back up plan. The sooner on the market, the better it is as you cannot predict the economical cycles and hiring periods.
What I would do: keep the money you plan to spend for university, go to north america to get a cheap CPL, then spend a few years in Africa (or other place) to build some turbine time, then see what the world has to offer to you from there No money spent (your salary would have already reimbursed your north ameraican CPL). If you don't like it, go to university this is your back up plan, a real back up plan.
Aviation has to be started young if possible, it is funnier to go around the world at 20 years old.