Bar Course Exam LOCATION + FUNDING

Hey,

Wondering if anyone's exam centre was miles away from where they lived and how they dealt with it? I'm in Manchester and they're all in London and I'm semi freaking out. They're on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday so I'm not sure whether to stay in a hotel for the week (looking to be around £500), or whether I should train back and forth (guessing that will also cost around £300/£400)? I don't really understand why they can't just let you do it in the closest exam centre if we're all taking the same exam? But yeah needing some advice please.