Ways of improving my life... (please read, it's quite long)?

Well first of all, well done for getting out of this abusive relationship and making a fresh start. It can't have been easy to make the decision and break the habit. Now it's time to start living again and focusing on you - no-one else. I appreciate this can be scary as as you have said, there is a lot to sort out. Rather than worrying about everything you want to do, break it down into a list of things. Organise the list by each items priority then start at the top and work your way down. This way you are tackling one thing at a time rather than worrying about everything at once. I would suggest the first thing you need to do is get back to uni and finish your course. Contact your university and find out how to enrol on your course again. Education is so important and learning and interacting with people again will make you feel brilliant. You may not be able to start the course until next year but at least you will have it booked and organised and you can prepare for it. Focus then on finding a job - go to your local Job Centre for support with this. As for your friends, it seems daunting now but you will soon catch up on all the gossip and changes. It's great that they have forgiven you and missed you - a real testament to you as a friend! Spend time with them and get to know them again. You'll soon start to feel confident again and you'll soon have lots of shared experiences to talk to them about. Don't fret, you are still so young and your life will get so much better. Just tackle one thing at a time and you'll get there. Be strong. Good luck.