Hi Calum.
I failed Part 1 a few years ago then passed at my second attempt this year. If you remember what you struggled on last year, take some time to work on those areas before you start the Stage 1 tests - I did that and it helped considerably.
As far as Stage 2 goes, there's assessment centres regularly and you'll get dates available for a few months ahead. I passed mine at the beginning of April but selected a Stage 2 date of end of August as it suited me better at the time.