I'm also doing ATPL's with Bristol.Went to them initially because of their exellent reputation and the added bonus that i live in Bristol!Am going into school for module 1 brush up in september,and have so far found them to be very efficientwith an exellent cd rom package and great technical support. The contents of the course is explained really thoroughly,and so far i'm pretty impressed.I also know for a fact that they've been up and running as a distance learning groundschool fo at least a few years,so i don't know who told you that they'd only been going a few months,but my guess is that they maybe work somewhere in the oxford area!!
Good luck fly boys and girls!!