My gut feeling is that the learner don´t have to worry too much about a tight schedule, just have to study, and study hard.    

As for the teacher/tutor I would say that is precisely what Ricardo pointed out, depends uniquely of the student (if he is a fast learner, if he is motivated, have self-discipline, stick to a study routine, adjust himself to the method(s) etc.

One thing is certain.  The learner has to measure his learnship, say, in percentage or any other means (say, number of topics and skills studied, how many (mock) exams taken, clock the time of his tests, etc.  That´s a saying that goes "What is not measured can not be improved/managed" and tends to be ignored.