I have been a distance learning CATS stude.
On the positive side, it took me 6 months to pass all the exams, all results in the 90's, two re-sits which were fundamentally my poor preparation - so no probs with either the coursework or groundschool.
Would I recommend them. Definitely NOT.
Shambolic, hap-hazard, very hard to communicate with and I continually felt that I was not a customer but an inconvenience. I disliked the HOT's sneering supercilliousness intensely and was annoyed that he spent so much time teaching us by rote, subjects that admittedly were on the syllabus, have never appeared as exam questions.
At LGW, I met other studes, who seemed better prepared by their respective schools - Bournemouth & Bristol.
I'm not bitter, I paid £999 and I've passed. I do know that the experience could have been more enjoyable had I been treated like an adult - and even over 40, I was amongst the youngest on my ground school days!!
Stik