Im not so sure i agree with the no upfront payment, if you find a school that has been around a while ,looks good and feels right ask them if they do a discount for partial payment, here at Blackpool some schools offer 10% off if you pay £1500 to start an account then just pay some in to your account when its empty.
Others offer buy 10 hours get one free i think these are good deals, incentives for you to use your time/money quicker so you will fly more. At least one of the clubs also offers the 10% for IMC, CPL etc , now are we really to believe that we shouldnt take advantage of this? If you dont thats fine you pay full price if you do you take a very very small risk (with the clubs i have mentioned) and you get the reward.