Hello ILS Capture,
To answer your point, I believe that it is the personal touch of a smaller training establishment that got me through in the minimum hours and with the first time pass. My experience on test-day at busy busy Cranfield lead me to conclude that an awful lot of Cabair students must waste a great deal of time holding in mid-air and on the ground waiting to get clearances!! So to get the same amount of actual flying time and number of approaches that I did during my training at Stapleford, a Cabair student would probably have to be in the air twice as much!
Believe me, it's not a slurr on the "big" flying schools, and I'm not doubting the quality of flight instruction, I'm just examining the logistics of training at such a busy airfield.
PS.....do i know you??