Martin is right. To put what he says into perspective consider a medium sized FTO that turns over 2 million a year. Sounds like a lot of money? Using Martin's profit figures, which I think might be a bit high, that means a profit of £160,000 a year. You only need a few too many staff or an overpaid MD and all of that profit disappears.
Big schools work on cash flow. When you pay £50,000 to them up front they don't keep the money to pay for your training over the next year, they use it to pay today's bills. As soon as customers start to dry up they have a rapidly developing cash problem. The message is clear, don't pay large sums up front and find a training provider that doesn't run their business on your credit.