Rudestuff - I dont think any reputable ATO offering an intensive PPL over a short span of time would cut corners. There are indeed advantages of doing it that way. For me personally I wanted to space the training out over a year because that's the pace I wanted to learn at.
However, I know of several people who attended PPL groundschool courses that sat all the exams in one day without opening a book. I think this is primarily why the CAA has chosen to conduct the PPL exams on a computer now, with a centralised bank of questions just like the ATPL's.