Bristol probably has the better reputation for Politics, but overall this is more for political theory than international development.

Bath has a very good department, plus it is a much nicer city - fantastic place.

I would go through the course outlines and see which course appeals to you most - both have a good reputation so pick the one that is more focused towards what you want out of it. If you're interested in prestige of the institution, probably choose Bristol (but take lots of day trips to Bath whilst you are there!)

You can argue that your supervisor was of insufficent help - they will probably come back and ask why didn't you mention this before all the extensions they have already granted you.

I'm PT (work as well) and I know exactly what you mean when you say there is a stigma attached to studying part-time. There is NO support available for PT students and yet I still feel that I am held to full-time standards. I am constantly criticised for not attending internal seminars/training and external conferences...because these are all on when I'm at work. I try not to be bitter and accept the situation, but it isn't easy when I see people with funding wasting their time (especially as I have better qualifications than them; I'm not eligible for research council funding however so can't apply for financial support). I'm not entitled to all the resources they have - but I pay the fees they ask so why not? To use a cliche, I feel like a second-class citizen. Right, rant over!

Business Time is my fav FOTC song - excellent stuff

Just call me Mrs Alan Rickman

Get this sorted asap - sit down with the internal, your supervisor (and even someone neutral from the academic staff) and go through it all. A similar thing happened to a friend of mine and it turned into a complete mess with him not knowing what was expected and stuff being mentioned after the viva by the internal that, eventually, he was not required to do. Clarify exactly what is expected of you and why before you start.

I'm self-funded so £2k (so far) on fees

I can't believe I actually pay to put myself through this torture!

Join the club - except I think I'm not just having one of those days, but one those years!

NEVER throw anything away! Lost track of the number of times I've had to come back to something I thought was totally irrelevant, but turned out to be very important later on.

Google scholar is fantastic

Exactly the same thing happened to me - got on the scales before Xmas and had put on a whole stone! Freaked out and threw away the choccie and now a lot slimmer - how long that will last is another matter though LOL

I'm another ex-journo who can't stick to PhD deadlines!

It took me 2.5 months to write a 10k word draft of my lit review - which has just been torn apart by my supervisor so now I'm basically starting again! I'm PT though - that's my excuse for taking so long!!!

I can't seem to find much on the flowers - do you know of any specific sites?

Thanks!

Bouncing in case anyone else can make a recommendation

I have to recommend texts/advice on good academic writing to my undergrads. I've never used one - can anyone recommend books that would be useful to them???