Well from what i understand about the gaming industry in the UK your best bet is not to rely on the degree program from what i was hearing devs have lost faith in the university courses due to an over generalisation of the courses if you do go to university i would suggest specialising in your own time and really focusing on one specific area of design. i'm coming into my final year as an art/animation student and starting to really build a portfolio up and looking at job openings and the feedback i'm getting is specialise!
(and as you can probably tell learn to spell :P)
good luck to you and i would suggest an AVCE (not sure what that is in btec relevant terms these days) in ICT it will teach you nothing you need to know but it's a good platform to get yourself into uni. and look at after college courses in 3DS max yea it takes time away from doing social things but it's worth it in the long run and should teach you a good logical workflow, the software knowlege will be vital later on.
If you want any advice from someone who's doing all thing them PM me i'd be happy to help







