Hi,
Surprised you have not been swamped by replies yet, no idea of Schools in the W Midlands as it is not my area, might be worth putting a search into Google for flying schools nearby, as far as speed of learning goes, deffinitely better to do it intensely, I would say do some studying for the ground exams first, though you do not need to do ALL of it before you start, then if you have the time to spare do it as quickly as you can, though keeping down to a max of 3 trips a day (you will feel like you need a beer and relax at the end of that!)