best of luck with the exams! i'm in the middle of A2 should be finishing in about a week :) i live in Reading not tooo far from london, i bought an otp to start off with (bowery mashup) at first i loved it and i gradually had more and more problems with it, shoddy component quality, i'm trying to get a refund/ repair at the moment so i really wish i had built one in the first place, i was just a bit scared of taking the plunge! i just think the amount i would learn from building one and choosing the components myself would be great!
J

hi! I noticed you were in the same situation as me, building / buying a bike with little building knowledge. best of luck! If you want i can Pm you if i find any less obvious issues that only beginners would have
J