Geology degree: Which university is the best - Leeds, Bristol, Durham, or Exeter?

I am not sure which university to go for geology. Leeds and Exeter have very good career links but I'm not sure about the others. Also, since lockdown I've been leaning to somewhere in a city with more going on. Which is the best university for geology

Not a geologist at all, but I'll give you some general advice. All of those unis are good (perhaps very good) ones, so you won't have to worry about that. Look at the modules, see what interests you the most, and make a decision from there.

I can speak about Bristol to an extent (I am a PhD student there, but it has all been remote so far so I haven't been in). It is in the middle of the city, and a pretty great one at that (so I've heard). So this will at least meet the city criteria. I also know that Bristol is pretty good at paleontology/palaebiology, so it may be a good choice if you find that field interesting and would like to pursue it.

Thank you for your help. Do you know anything about their industry links?

I am not sure which university to go for geology. Leeds and Exeter have very good career links but I'm not sure about the others. Also, since lockdown I've been leaning to somewhere in a city with more going on. Which is the best university for geology?

I did a geology BSc at Durham uni. I loved it and couldn’t recommend it more. I come from a large city but moving to a smaller one didn’t seem to matter because the collegiate system makes it feel busy. And if you want a big night out or a shop ect. The train to Newcastle is 12 minutes away.
I see you are asking about industry - honestly I wouldn’t worry about that, all the unis will have similar levels of interaction as an undergraduate. For example guest talkers. I know durham has some links to BP and many lecturers externally linked for example, and at the moment they are running a weekly talk series from people who did geology and are now working in industry.
I think if you check the league system Durham wins but it’s negligible probably. Happy to help more if you want to know anything!

This might be a bit late but I'm currently studying for my Master's in Exploration Geology at the University of Exeter, although it's under the Camborne School of Mines (CSM) which is famous for producing mining geology graduates around the world. Due to this, they have really strong industry links with mining companies and the like. So if this is the part of geology you would be interested in going into, then I'd recommend it highly. The alternative option for this would be the Royal School of Mines at Imperial College London (albeit more expensive).

However the campus here at CSM is quite remote, based in Penryn near Falmouth in Cornwall (as are the industry links and the main history of mining here in the UK). So if you wanted a broader degree in geology then looking elsewhere is the main bet, and in a city is also recommended for your undergraduate degree. I did mine at Portsmouth and the city life was great (I miss it haha). You can always check the university rankings for Geology degrees here: https://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-tables/rankings/geology . However, I find these ranking lists to be moot and it really just depends on what you want to do for a career and what sort of course benefits each university provides (I wouldn't recommend Portsmouth). If you want to discuss this further I would be happy to oblige.

I was considering doing the undergraduate BSc at another university and completing a masters at CSM if I felt like I wanted to go into mining/geotechnics. How is it with getting a masters there in terms of price and do most people get a job after?