Degree apprenticeship vs UCL

Congratulations
What a fantastic position to be in! Personally, I agree with your thinking, it can be extremely hard to get a job after getting a degree and the market is flooded with degree holders.
I’m a parent of 3 with kids who have been in the same situation. I would advise, hands down, go for the degree apprenticeship every time, that way you will be earning, gaining industry knowledge and attaining a degree “free” - you will have industry experience over other graduates which is priceless to offer going forward plus a degree and no debt! It’s a win, win situation. As my son said, all his friends who took degree apprenticeships jobs compared to the ones who went to uni, the apprenticeship ones are thriving and working their way up the industry ladder but almost all of his uni route friends are still looking for jobs 18 months later and a lot worse off. Not one of the degree apprenticeship friends regret their decision.
If you’re worried regarding missing out on the social side by not going to uni don’t be, my daughter has a really fantastic social life and is friends with all of the “degree apprenticeship” crowd at her work which is added to every year a new cohort starts! So has more friends than if she’d gone to uni!
If you want a back-up plan, I would even ask UCL/KCL to defer your placement for a year and that way, if say for some reason, you decide after a year working that you’d like to go to UCL/KCL after all then you have a back up plan and have money to put towards the degree (plus you’ll have industry experience to put on your CV) but honestly go for the degree apprenticeship as after uni you’ll be in the same situation desperately looking for a job and being in debt. It really doesn’t matter it’s a less prestigious uni, firms don’t really care, a degree’s a degree at the end of the day. Often in firms, once you have a “foot in the door” you can move around to other departments etc so won’t necessarily be stuck in that particular job/field if it doesn’t suit, on the other hand you might be surprised and love it. Plus it’s a fantastic degree apprenticeship with a really good firm - it’s your choice but I’d say go for it. Reading between the lines, I think you know what to do anyway by the sounds of it (you sound very informed) - really well done!
Good luck to you!

Thank you so so much!
Especially as a parent of 3, your insight has genuinely been very valuable to me and I'm sure you have many years of wisdom to support that too It has been a tricky journey to navigate since I don't know anyone that has gone down the degree apprenticeship route so I had many questions naturally (and yes I've tried thinking very far forward in terms of the financials, future career prospects, networking etc so I'm glad that has come through in my initial question!)
Your response has been really comforting and helped put my situation into perspective for me. I hadn't actually considered deferring my uni offers so thank you for that idea too! I'm very grateful to have the opportunities I do know, and aware of how lucky I am to have these options.
Thank you again for your time and detailed response! I completely agree with everything you've said, and I wish you and your children the absolute best.