It looks like I'm going to be in the same situation, with a 3 - 4 week wait after the brush up course until the exams.
From what I have observed, this appears to be prevalent for CPL exams only, due to there only being CPL exams every 2 months, with only Gatwick offered as a venue.
I must admit, I don't relish having to wait either, so will have to adopt WingoWangos' philosophy