Why don't you want to do a foundation year? It's free if you're under 19 (plus living, but you can always do it locally and leech of your parents for another year ha).
I was completely confident that I wanted to do graphics before I started my foundation, but there were specific courses I wanted to get onto that required a foundation year, which was my main reason for doing it. Despite that being my reasoning, I've learnt a lot this year that I definitely wouldn't have learnt had I just gone straight into degree. I think the unis feel that it's necessary to have something to bridge the gap between A Levels and degree, especially with creative subjects where the way in which it's taught is so far removed.
A good foundation doesn't just teach you something that you would learn on degree - it builds (excuse the pun) a solid foundation of thought process and approach that you wouldn't otherwise get. I've found it to be more about thought process than specific skills (photoshop etc), and in this respect it's been invaluable. Basically, highly recommended.