I finished CPL/ME/IR with Stapleford recently and my experience there was generally good overall. I finished with first time passes in minimum hours so can’t really complain...however, I was a bit disappointed with the time it has taken to get through. They are struggling for instructors (an industry wide problem to be fair) and I had quite a few cancelled lessons and days when I couldn’t get a slot booked. When you have taken considerable time off work and want to crack on this becomes very frustrating! I’m not sure if the integrated guys get preference but I had at least 2 occasions when my IR lesson was cancelled due to ‘bad weather’ only to see my instructor’s call sign on flight radar at the time I’m meant to be flying!
Stapleford are definitely worth considering, and I have no complaints about the instruction I received, but just be prepared for the course to take longer than you expect. It took over 5 months full time for me to finish (in minimum hours), and when you see guys going to Diamond in Sweden and Bartolini in Poland and finishing in less than 3 months, it gets very frustrating.
I personally think they should stop taking so many students on when they haven’t got the right amount of instructors, and perhaps adopt a similar style course to Diamond Flight Academy, and have courses for modular CPL/ME/IR where they take a fixed number of students, start them all together and finish them together.
Perhaps it was lack of research on my part, but in hindsight I wish I’d have gone over to Diamond in Sweden. One or two of the reception staff could do with some customer service training also, but that’s another story!