Have to agree with Flying Boat about Jersey, as I did my PPL re-training there - it’s great and the system works fine.
Special VFR clearance from ATC required of course , but I had no problem from ATC when taking the aircraft out to the South-East/West, up to FL50 for general handling. Occasionally you might receive and instruction to remain East/West of present position for perhaps 10 minutes, whilst some traffic (VFR and IFR) passes through.
Circuits may be rejected during the busiest periods of the summer, but will still be granted outside the very busy hours.
Many of the controllers are private pilots, and will do their best to accommodate GA at all times. Fitting in the jets and slow GA, in a very small airspace makes for a challenging ATC environment, and the controllers do it very well.
A special VFR would only be rejected because of weather minima, and if it was class D you wouldn't be able to fly VFR in it in such conditions anyway.
For arrivals, a simple call on the frequency approaching one of the VFR entry points (although ATC will pick you up wherever you are), an SSR code, radar ident, and a SVFR clearance (maybe not above 2000ft, but you can get higher if you need it), and you're in! Departures are the opposite. Often you will get SVR not above 1000ft, but this will only be until clearing the departure routes or maybe the island (its only a few miles, remember
), then higher will be granted on request (2000-3000ft is usual).
During my training I made a navigation flight, SVFR JER, GUR, ALD, France, and back to JER, SVFR at 3000ft - no problem at all. When I called for re-entry from France, ATC had obviously been watching me, as I had an immediate entry clearance and my former squawk.
It works great, don't be afraid of it - use it