Was a club rule for me too. Had to have Air Law passed before first solo, along with Met and Nav passed before first solo navex.
In answer to the original question - also 30 something PPL student about to embark on my QXC. Currently at 9 months and 44 hours, but have had some weather delays this year which have been frustating.
When you say doing it over a period, what sort of timescale are you thinking of? Most people take 1-2 years anyway so unless you do an intensive course it's not exactly a rushed process. The one major negative to spreading it out too much is if you have massive gaps between lessons you'll end up having to revise previous lessons, rather than go straight on to the next one.
I think the general and very broad concensus is that you can learn in a short or long period and neither is right; learning quickly will probably cost you less where as taking your time will cost more but make you a better pilot. Naturally this doesn't apply to everyone.