Original post by Heymis
Hi guys. I'm an international student that has applied to the UK for chemical engineering. I have offers from the University of Bath and Sheffield university and I'm an finding it hard to choose. Please help.
What is important to you in a university, a city or a chemical engineering course?
The quality of education of the university must be good and not affected greatly by the state of the economy. I'd very much love a university that leads and pushes me to research and innovation. The uni should have good industrial connections. The ideal city for me would be safe, good night life, variety of restaurants to try and the city must not be too expensive to live in. Those are the main things and I don't know if I should consider more things.
That's quite a shopping list. 
Final year students at Sheffield rate the quality of teaching and learning higher that those at Bath. See the following from the National Student Survey, as published by The Uni Guide.
Bath (source):
Sheffield (source):
I'm not sure from where I'd source this information. I'm not aware of either university being in particular financial difficulty.
The Complete University Guide rates Bath 3.30 (83%) for "research quality" and Sheffield 3.53 (88%). I know this isn't really the metric you wanted, as this is a measure of the quality of the research undertaken in the university (for Chemical Engineering), rather than being an indication of how much they lead students into research. (source)
I'd say that both unis have good industrial connections.
Bath is a safer city. According to the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, there were 327 crimes reported in Bath city centre in February 2025 (source). According to South Yorkshire Police there were 674 in Sheffield (source) during that same month. These numbers will be impacted to some extend by the size if the city centres (Sheffield's is larger), but not to a significant extent. Note that I haven't made any allowance for where either uni is, as you referred to the city being safe, not the uni or the area around the uni.
According to Uni Compare, Sheffield ranks better for student life ("Students rank their universities based on how good the social side of uni is"). Sheffield ranks 11th with a score of 3.96, whilst Bath ranks 69th with a score of 3.65.
They both reasonably-sized cities, so you're going to get a wide variety of restaurants in both.
It's more expensive to live in Bath than in Sheffield. According to Save the Student, students at Bath spend an average of £445 per month (excluding rent) on living costs, whilst students at Sheffield spend an average of £422. You can get an idea of likely rentals costs here for Bath ("One bedroom flats in the city centre can be found for around £1,100 per month, or you might decide to rent a room in a shared house for around £810 a month per person") and here for Sheffield ("If you prefer to live alone, a studio apartment in the city centre will cost around £830 per month, and if you’d rather share a house with friends, a three-bedroom apartment will set you back around £1,450 on average."). So, it's more expensive to rent in Bath.
The main things?! Now you need to weight each of those criteria to see which of the two "wins".
Original post by Heymis
The quality of education of the university must be good...
Final year students at Sheffield rate the quality of teaching and learning higher that those at Bath. See the following from the National Student Survey, as published by The Uni Guide.
Bath (source):
Sheffield (source):
Original post by Heymis
...and not affected greatly by the state of the economy.
I'm not sure from where I'd source this information. I'm not aware of either university being in particular financial difficulty.
Original post by Heymis
I'd very much love a university that leads and pushes me to research and innovation.
The Complete University Guide rates Bath 3.30 (83%) for "research quality" and Sheffield 3.53 (88%). I know this isn't really the metric you wanted, as this is a measure of the quality of the research undertaken in the university (for Chemical Engineering), rather than being an indication of how much they lead students into research. (source)
Original post by Heymis
The uni should have good industrial connections.
I'd say that both unis have good industrial connections.
Original post by Heymis
The ideal city for me would be safe...
Bath is a safer city. According to the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, there were 327 crimes reported in Bath city centre in February 2025 (source). According to South Yorkshire Police there were 674 in Sheffield (source) during that same month. These numbers will be impacted to some extend by the size if the city centres (Sheffield's is larger), but not to a significant extent. Note that I haven't made any allowance for where either uni is, as you referred to the city being safe, not the uni or the area around the uni.
Original post by Heymis
...good night life...
According to Uni Compare, Sheffield ranks better for student life ("Students rank their universities based on how good the social side of uni is"). Sheffield ranks 11th with a score of 3.96, whilst Bath ranks 69th with a score of 3.65.
Original post by Heymis
...variety of restaurants to try...
They both reasonably-sized cities, so you're going to get a wide variety of restaurants in both.
Original post by Heymis
...and the city must not be too expensive to live in.
It's more expensive to live in Bath than in Sheffield. According to Save the Student, students at Bath spend an average of £445 per month (excluding rent) on living costs, whilst students at Sheffield spend an average of £422. You can get an idea of likely rentals costs here for Bath ("One bedroom flats in the city centre can be found for around £1,100 per month, or you might decide to rent a room in a shared house for around £810 a month per person") and here for Sheffield ("If you prefer to live alone, a studio apartment in the city centre will cost around £830 per month, and if you’d rather share a house with friends, a three-bedroom apartment will set you back around £1,450 on average."). So, it's more expensive to rent in Bath.
Original post by Heymis
Those are the main things and I don't know if I should consider more things.
The main things?!
Now you need to weight each of those criteria to see which of the two "wins".
Original post by Heymis
The quality of education of the university must be good and not affected greatly by the state of the economy. I'd very much love a university that leads and pushes me to research and innovation. The uni should have good industrial connections. The ideal city for me would be safe, good night life, variety of restaurants to try and the city must not be too expensive to live in. Those are the main things and I don't know if I should consider more things.
Hi Heymis, 👋
It's great to hear you are considering studying at the university of Sheffield!
I did my BA, MA and now PhD here because I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather study and research. 😀
The university prides itself on its research and innovation. My partner did chemical engineering here and loved it! The connections to industry were great. He attended a talk at the university by Sellafield and then applied for and got his industrial placement at Sellafield! 🤩
The resources and equipment are amazing too! The Diamond Pilot Plant, which is one of Engineering's main buildings, features the UK's first university powder processing line, and it mirrors the systems and processes used in industry, ensuring you graduate with real-world skills that employers value. It's a very cool building in the hart of the campus and also houses lots of study spaces, lecture theatres and a café! ☕️
If you have any more questions about the university please feel free to ask them here. Or you can chat to current chemical engineering students via this link. 😃
All best wishes,
Phoebe
Student Ambassador - PhD in English Literature
(edited 4 weeks ago)
Original post by DataVenia
Final year students at Sheffield rate the quality of teaching and learning higher that those at Bath. See the following from the National Student Survey, as published by The Uni Guide.
Bath (source):
Sheffield (source):
I'm not sure from where I'd source this information. I'm not aware of either university being in particular financial difficulty.
The Complete University Guide rates Bath 3.30 (83%) for
Original post by DataVenia
That's quite a shopping list.
Final year students at Sheffield rate the quality of teaching and learning higher that those at Bath. See the following from the National Student Survey, as published by The Uni Guide.
Bath (source):
Sheffield (source):
I'm not sure from where I'd source this information. I'm not aware of either university being in particular financial difficulty.
The Complete University Guide rates Bath 3.30 (83%) for "research quality" and Sheffield 3.53 (88%). I know this isn't really the metric you wanted, as this is a measure of the quality of the research undertaken in the university (for Chemical Engineering), rather than being an indication of how much they lead students into research. (source)
I'd say that both unis have good industrial connections.
Bath is a safer city. According to the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, there were 327 crimes reported in Bath city centre in February 2025 (source). According to South Yorkshire Police there were 674 in Sheffield (source) during that same month. These numbers will be impacted to some extend by the size if the city centres (Sheffield's is larger), but not to a significant extent. Note that I haven't made any allowance for where either uni is, as you referred to the city being safe, not the uni or the area around the uni.
According to Uni Compare, Sheffield ranks better for student life ("Students rank their universities based on how good the social side of uni is"). Sheffield ranks 11th with a score of 3.96, whilst Bath ranks 69th with a score of 3.65.
They both reasonably-sized cities, so you're going to get a wide variety of restaurants in both.
It's more expensive to live in Bath than in Sheffield. According to Save the Student, students at Bath spend an average of £445 per month (excluding rent) on living costs, whilst students at Sheffield spend an average of £422. You can get an idea of likely rentals costs here for Bath ("One bedroom flats in the city centre can be found for around £1,100 per month, or you might decide to rent a room in a shared house for around £810 a month per person") and here for Sheffield ("If you prefer to live alone, a studio apartment in the city centre will cost around £830 per month, and if you’d rather share a house with friends, a three-bedroom apartment will set you back around £1,450 on average."). So, it's more expensive to rent in Bath.
The main things?! Now you need to weight each of those criteria to see which of the two "wins".
Final year students at Sheffield rate the quality of teaching and learning higher that those at Bath. See the following from the National Student Survey, as published by The Uni Guide.
Bath (source):
Sheffield (source):
I'm not sure from where I'd source this information. I'm not aware of either university being in particular financial difficulty.
The Complete University Guide rates Bath 3.30 (83%) for "research quality" and Sheffield 3.53 (88%). I know this isn't really the metric you wanted, as this is a measure of the quality of the research undertaken in the university (for Chemical Engineering), rather than being an indication of how much they lead students into research. (source)
I'd say that both unis have good industrial connections.
Bath is a safer city. According to the Avon and Somerset Constabulary, there were 327 crimes reported in Bath city centre in February 2025 (source). According to South Yorkshire Police there were 674 in Sheffield (source) during that same month. These numbers will be impacted to some extend by the size if the city centres (Sheffield's is larger), but not to a significant extent. Note that I haven't made any allowance for where either uni is, as you referred to the city being safe, not the uni or the area around the uni.
According to Uni Compare, Sheffield ranks better for student life ("Students rank their universities based on how good the social side of uni is"). Sheffield ranks 11th with a score of 3.96, whilst Bath ranks 69th with a score of 3.65.
They both reasonably-sized cities, so you're going to get a wide variety of restaurants in both.
It's more expensive to live in Bath than in Sheffield. According to Save the Student, students at Bath spend an average of £445 per month (excluding rent) on living costs, whilst students at Sheffield spend an average of £422. You can get an idea of likely rentals costs here for Bath ("One bedroom flats in the city centre can be found for around £1,100 per month, or you might decide to rent a room in a shared house for around £810 a month per person") and here for Sheffield ("If you prefer to live alone, a studio apartment in the city centre will cost around £830 per month, and if you’d rather share a house with friends, a three-bedroom apartment will set you back around £1,450 on average."). So, it's more expensive to rent in Bath.
The main things?!
Now you need to weight each of those criteria to see which of the two "wins".Thank you very much about this. This is comprehensive and useful.
Original post by Heymis
Thank you very much about this. This is comprehensive and useful.
You're welcome.
Quick Reply
Related discussions
- Can I apply to Bath, Southampton chemical engineering with AAB?
- Is Chemical Engineering a good career to consider for my undergrad?
- Unlocking the Path to Chemical Engineering: The Essential A-Level Choices
- Can I do chemical engineering without a level maths
- Engineering vs. Medicine: Stuck Between Dreams and Expectations
- What A levels should I choose if I want to study Chemical Engineering at uni?
- Can I do chemical engineering without chemistry?
- Chemical engineering vs pharmacy?
- Picking University Choices
- Chemical engineering MEng UCL vs Nottingham (with placement and MEng)
- alevels for engineering
- A level
- Are my A-Level choices suitable for Chemical Engineering
- chemical engineering uni application
- Chemical Engineering at Edinburgh
- A level choices
- Chemical engineering or chemistry degree
- is it possible to switch from healthcare career (pharmacy) to engineering
- Mech Eng or Chem Eng?
- chem engineering vs medicinal chemistry
Latest
Trending
