handleturning, certainly if your lad is reading something like Aero Eng at Impossible College, London, he'd find it difficult to fit in long treks to London (Wittering) aerodrome for his handful of flying hours - or even to attend training nights (if the RAF can still afford them) at the relocated THQ which is now at Northolt, ever since the MoD bean counters flogged off the Brompton Road property to some rich Russian....
Perhaps he should consider the OTC or, if the university has one, an URNU, both of which are rather more experienced at 'a greatly increased emphasis on things like leadership development and adventurous training' and probably offer far more varied opportunities than the kraft durch freude scope of the University Air Cadets?
Anyway, whichever plank advised your son not to bother deserves a kick in the slats. If your son has the commitment and drive to mix serious degree work with what now passes for UAS time, then good luck to him!