comments:
I don't know what things cost in pound land but anyway here is what I started with: https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Project-Tutorial-Controller-Projects/dp/B01D8KOZF4 $35 USD. Pretty cheap to me.
If you're interested in embedded engineering - playing around with a microcontroller will not only help in some of your courses - it'll also add value to your resume. https://a.co/d/0fWTViBJ - Elegoo has a complete kit; breadboard, wires, leds, screens, etc. If that's out of your budget or not available get a esp32, lcd screen, wires, and a breadboard and start playing with that. It's overwhelming at first but use the arduino IDE and start playing around with the integrated libraries. It'll get less overwhelming overtime (trust me). Also, if you're more interested in embedded and IoT - stop investing as much time into JavaScript and move onto to C. JavaScript is more front end/full-stack.
Get yourself an Elegoo kit. It has dozens of simple projects that can teach you the basics of sensing and acting through the Arduino. https://www.amazon.com/ELEGOO-Project-Tutorial-Controller-Projects/dp/B01D8KOZF4
If you don’t know anything yet, I’d start with a basic Arduino kit like the one I have linked below. I think it may help you visualize some concepts and help you to have fun with it rather than adopting the “grind” mentality lots of people will propose. https://a.co/d/0bVuppO4