i wouldn't recommend an intensive course if you want to gain some experience whilst you're learning. best take a lesson or two first and see how you get along. when i was learning two years ago i started off in a td corsa which was an awful car, you never knew when the turbo would kick in etc etc, then a month later my instructor changed to AA driving school and i was in a new focus. what a brilliant car it practically drives itself, it's big enough to see where you're putting it and i think the controls are spot on. cost £25 a lesson but easily worth the extra few quid (you get a discount for bulk-buying lessons anyway). i think i took 30 odd lessons and i was insured provisionally on my mums car (£150 a year fully comp) which gave me a lot of out-of-lesson experience.
then all you have to do is consider a test centre, ideally one with a high pass rate and one in a locality you are comfortable with, my test centre wasn't the nearest or the highest pass rate one but had nice, wide and empty local roads.
then the test, got a little nervous and thought i had failed about 15mins in but i came out with 6 minors and the examiner suggested that if i'm pulling out in traffic i should 'give it a bit more' on the throttle
i've had 2 friends go with the AA driving school since and both praised the focus.
as for the theory make sure you revise on the computer with the latest CD until you pass nearly all the time, the hazard perception you shouldn't have to worry about if you've had some experience on the roads