Advice for current situation - MEng mechanical engineering

Hi, I am kind of in a sticky situation.
For some context: I am currently studying Alevels second year, going to be doing my exams soon. I applied for MEng mechanical engineering for Cambridge, Imperial, Bristol, Bath and Leicester. My predicted grades are A* A* A B. I was rejected from Cambridge and Imperial. I have received alternative offers from Bath and Bristol for integrated mechanical and electrical engineering and I have an offer from Leicester.
My Problem: I feel as if I should be going to a better uni than Leicester to do mech engineering, especially in a situation where I feel like I will be achieving higher than my predicted grades. Is it possible to do bachelors at leicester then masters at a different uni? I am not very interested in the alternative offers made by Bath and Bristol. I am also considering clearing however I feel like its rare that competitive courses (like mechanical engineering) are going to be available especially at a good unis. Also taking a gap year is within my radar however I have found limited information about taking gap years for engineering related courses (most common in medicine). I would like to get some advice on what I could do or any pros/cons of any of these options.
Options:
- study at Leicester
- bachelors at Leicester then masters at a different uni (if possible)
- take a gap year
- accept alternative offer

Thanks

1. Where you do your bachelor's is not really that relevant for your master's application. So long the institution is a recognised academic institution, you should be fine e.g. people from Leicester have managed to get onto master's level courses at top end universities. Usually the grade requirement is the main factor so long you have done an appropriate undergrad e.g. 1st class, 65%, or 2:1
I don't know which universities you plan on studying at nor which courses you intend to do (presumably in mechanical engineering), so I can't really comment more on the matter

2. I would recommend taking a gap year and reapplying after you have secured your grades. You might get rejected for some of the ridiculously competitive courses, but you should be fine for some of the top end universities (most of these just ask for the right grades and a good personal statement).

3. It's not likely that you would find many good courses left over in clearing, but you can try to look around. I would still recommend reapplying via UCAS during a gap year just to do yourself justice. However, if you are in a rush to get to uni next year, then so be it.

4. Leicester is a respectable uni, so I wouldn't knock them. I haven't studied there, nor have I studied engineering (yet), so I can't give a fair comment.

5. I don't know what the alternatives are offered to you, so it's a little difficult to say. If you don't like them still, then don't do them. You should be happy with your course, since I presume you intend to do only one bachelor's in engineering.

6. What are your intentions with your degrees? If you intend to go into research, then by all means try to get into the best university that you can, since it's something academics would be looking at. If it's for a job in engineering, then I would be too stringent on which university you go to. If it's for a top end job in a field outside of engineering, then you should be looking for targeted universities, but you can always try to network your way into the jobs (although this is always difficult).

How averse to a year out are you? In reality that’s the big question here. Secondly - are you a U.K. or an overseas student?

I would like to take a gap year, allowing me time to focus on things im interested in. However I dont think I will want to take a gap year if top engineering unis dislike gap years without work placement and disregard my Alevel results. I am a UK student.

Thanks for the reply
- About the gap year, I want to ask whether or not unis expect you to be in work placement during the gap year. Lets say if I were to do my own engineering projects, participate in STEM related activities and keep on top of my Alevel work during the gap year, would that affect my application to top unis (like Imperial, UCL, Bath. etc)?
- Another question I want to ask is would the value of 1st class be different from different unis when doing bachelors? For example, is a 1st class from Leicester equivalent to a 1st class from UCL? Do employers place equal value on it despite what uni it is from?
- Is it possible to accept these alternative offers (Integrated Mechanical and Electrical, Mechanical and Electrical) from Bath or Bristol, then transfer courses within the same uni to MEng mechanical engineering(what i want to do) at the start of my first year or possibly before? Im assuming they will look at my actual Alevel results rather than my predicted grades.
Thanks again