Bath or KCL

Bath.
The placement system is probably the best in the UK, it has an excellent Economics department and its graduates are targeted by employers. Its a beautiful. historic city - and its smaller than London, easier to get to know, and friendlier than London.

I’m currently deciding on my insurance choice between KCL or Bath and I’m not really sure on which to choose - for context I am an international student. For KCL I applied for international development with a year abroad, for Bath I chose international development with economics and a year in industry
KCL
Pros:
- it’s in London, I do like a city
- greater networking opportunities??
- well known internationally
- year abroad
Cons:
- ranking is low nationally
- not sure how good international development is: acceptance rate is very high
Bath
Pros:
- a year in industry should be good for employment prospects
- bath is still a nice place
- bath is ranked well nationally
Cons:
- no year abroad
- I would prefer to live in London
- less known internationally
Additional questions would just be about which generally has a better reputation and employability (I have checked the tables)

KCL is a Russel Group university. Bath is a well renowned Uni in UK. There is no single parameter based on which we can say certainly that KCL is better over Bath OR vice versa for International development. There are many key subjects individually like Economics, Sociology, Politics etc in International development. In some subjects Bath fares better and in some KCL fares better.
I would give local ranking more preference than the international rankings.
If you like London as a City and happy to afford slightly higher cost of living then don't think twice and go for KCL. If you like ancient style city with little calmness then choosing Bath is no brainer.
In my views, academically there won't be much difference between the two.
Hope this helps.

Ultimately you have to make the choice yourself based on the very different experiences you will have with the different locations and course structures. Academically, there is no meaningful difference at all between the two. Rankings don't matter, and if where you attended does end up mattering in a hiring decision it will be based on that person's subjective opinion of how good the university is, in which case KCL as the much older and much more famous university might win much of the time. There is literally zero chance they will even know the rankings, let alone care.
That all being said, really it comes down to the opportunity cost of a year in industry vs living in the place you want to be. The former is often very useful for securing good employment when you leave - with people sometimes being offered a job at the placement company for when they graduate - and you can always live in London later in life as that is where most jobs will be anyway. Moving to London in a skilled profession is very easy.
There are no right or wrong answers from a UK perspective. I cannot speak to how reputation might differ in whatever country you plan to work in as it is certainly more of a factor outside of the UK.

Thank you so much for your response! I definitely think that a year in industry would be beneficial, so I’ve now decided on Bath

I’m currently deciding on my insurance choice between KCL or Bath and I’m not really sure on which to choose - for context I am an international student. For KCL I applied for international development with a year abroad, for Bath I chose international development with economics and a year in industry
KCL
Pros:
- it’s in London, I do like a city
- greater networking opportunities??
- well known internationally
- year abroad
Cons:
- ranking is low nationally
- not sure how good international development is: acceptance rate is very high
Bath
Pros:
- a year in industry should be good for employment prospects
- bath is still a nice place
- bath is ranked well nationally
Cons:
- no year abroad
- I would prefer to live in London
- less known internationally
Additional questions would just be about which generally has a better reputation and employability (I have checked the tables)

Thank you so much for your response! I definitely think that a year in industry would be beneficial, so I’ve now decided on Bath

I’m currently deciding on my insurance choice between KCL or Bath and I’m not really sure on which to choose - for context I am an international student. For KCL I applied for international development with a year abroad, for Bath I chose international development with economics and a year in industry
KCL
Pros:
- it’s in London, I do like a city
- greater networking opportunities??
- well known internationally
- year abroad
Cons:
- ranking is low nationally
- not sure how good international development is: acceptance rate is very high
Bath
Pros:
- a year in industry should be good for employment prospects
- bath is still a nice place
- bath is ranked well nationally
Cons:
- no year abroad
- I would prefer to live in London
- less known internationally
Additional questions would just be about which generally has a better reputation and employability (I have checked the tables)