ClubWorld1979:
The salary is apparently low, however I doubt you took into consideration the 'extras'. There is a 'flying pay' which is typically around £800pm, and of course the £1000pm to repay the £84k bond. The salary increases quite dramatically to fall in line with that of a DE FO after a number of years (5 I think).
As for the funding of living expenses, this information is readily available from the FTOs themselves, what's included depends on the individual FTOs so you'll have to look there or ask about a specific school.
Sam_90:
There was somebody having a rant about this a couple of pages back. It's safe to assume that the best candidates were chosen, their geographic locations are merely a coincidence.