Just thought I'd through in my two cents to update this a bit.
I joined AST's PATH course after looking around other FTO's.
The flying training is conducted through ACS Aviation and ground school is AST, however it is all monitored by AST.
PPL Training: My PPL training was second to none. I had a few flying lessons prior to joining and I felt the instruction I had was top quality and very friendly guys. ACS have a PPL training fleet of numerous C152/172/PA-38 - standard training aircraft, no fancy glass cockpit, real machines to keep you on your toes, great for initial training I think. A good selection of airfields and airspace nearby Perth to allow you to explore and not be stuck in Class G. ACS have a club at Glasgow Int. as well and it's fun to go land for a decent fee.
Groundschool: Hour building is done in conjunction with ground school. GS lasts for 8 months if you don't fail anything, and in all honesty if you can't pass your exams here, you will find it hard to pass anywhere else. What I mean by that is; the lecturers are really great. I had Santiago (ex. BMI captain, British Antarctic Survey pilot and numerous other qualifications), Herb (ex. RAF Hercules, Phantom, etc), Norm (ex. Dash-8 Captain) and Gerard (CTKI, ex. BA engineer). My class was relatively small, 8 students at most which gave us a really good bond with the lecturers and allowed opportunities for them to take time to sit and explain any problems I had. The lecturers even gave me their e-mail/phone no. in order to ask any questions out of class, great customer experience here. And unsurprisingly, no exam fails! Lectures are 9am-12:30pm and self study with the lecturers till' 4:30pm. We used PadPilot on iPad and ATPL question bank. Also in class we have the Bristol and Oxford books if we should need to reference them. AST also provides engineering training and during AGK we would visit the engineering hangar and do practical lessons there with the engines, electrics etc - great way to learn.
ME/IR/CPL: Training is provided by ACS on the Piper Seneca and FNPII sim and Arrow. I am yet to complete this portion of training, and will update this post as necessary. I do know from current students that the ME/IR/CPL instructors are second to none, very good at teaching, patient and understanding. No one is there to waste time or money which is nice to know.
Student Life: I find student life to be good. I commute daily from Edinburgh and the drive is just short of 1hr. With the PATH course, you are an official 'student' and get discount in most high street shops. No training funding though. AST aim to keep the cost down for students though and through research, the PATH course is surprisingly well priced for a course like this. Do your research, you'll know what I mean. Students have access to the college and UHI library which I used nightly, canteen too for dinner. ATPLs are hard and I would encourage people to study day and night - 8 months flies by. I keep hearing of past students getting picked up by airlines which is pleasant to hear. Perth City is nothing like Edinburgh or Glasgow, but to look on the bright side, there isn't much to distract your studies!
All in all, I would highly recommend this course to anyone looking to complete their ATPL training with a professional FTO that actually cares about you, provides great teaching and has a great reputation. If you're struggling a bit, they will do their best to get you back on track, not dismiss you from the course. The AST/Student relationship is great.
Feel free to PM me for any questions and I'll try and answer as best as possible.