I would imagine that there's a fee for the lessons and the test both as an adult and a student given that once you're 17 for all intents and purposes you're an adult. I also expect that the apparition test centre run tests on set days 3-4 times a month but that's mostly because otherwise I can't imagine what they do all day.

There were local schools that offered free education to the poor, largely run and sponsored by the church, so perhaps we could get around the WC not having the money for formal lessons by agreeing that the CMJ run an evening class?