ucas sent off my application late and now my unis have rejected me?

so basically i applied for uni in 2021 for september 2022. however, i got ill for my first exam and didn’t get the grade i needed for my top choice unis (kcl and ucl). i was taking a gap year anyway and decided to retake my alevel. so i reapplied to unis in 2023. i sent off my application in january, before the deadline. but bc i still had an offer from my insurance from my 2021 application, UCAS automatically cancelled my 2023 application and never told me. i found out in march, over a month after the deadline. UCAS reinstated my application and said that it’ll all be fine and unis will still review my application. i recently ended up getting rejected from UCL and KCL – they said it’s because their programmes have closed and they aren’t reviewing more applications. i have offers from my other two unis – QMUL and Goldsmiths but i just cannot imagine myself going there. i feel like i’ll be miserable there and it also disrupts my entire plan for my future. i’m doing english and i feel like many english fields are elitist, especially in london, so you have to be the best of the best, going to one of the best unis. QMUL’s and Goldsmiths’ employment rate is not as good, neither is their career support. they’re decent unis, but just not for me.

what can i do? can i get UCAS to talk to UCL and KCL on my behalf and ask them to review my application? there are loads of ppl who withdraw offers, right? and also i applied only a month after the deadline so they still had time to review my application? i don’t get it. this is clearly a mitigating circumstance – it was entirely UCAS’ fault. they’re supposed to inform me about this but they didn’t.

is it worth taking another gap year and reapplying? or maybe i can go to QMUL or goldsmiths for a year and then reapply to UCL and KCL and start as a first year again (i’ve looked at second year transfers. they don’t do them for english, only comparative lit). i just don’t know. this process has been so confusing and frustrating.