I think the thing you will find in Staplefords favour is although they do not hold your hand every step of the way they will do a cross channel check out prior to your hours building with a senior or commercial instructor who will make use of this flight to assess & give pointers on weak areas & what to concentrate on whilst flying around. You are allowed to take aircraft where you like without the restriction of returning to base each night and you are actively encouraged to go tour France or the low countries in an attempt to develop your flying & confidence. Half way through hours building it is again recommended a dual flight with commercial instructor is undertaken to ensure that no nasty habits are developing & further advice is given on what needs attention prior to CPL course. If a night rating is required this too is scheduled during hours building giving further guidance if needed. As has been said earlier in this thread students are not just a number at Stapleford so an instructor knows if you are on a commercial licence course and will treat you accordingly. It must be working reasonably well as they have had a 100% first series pass rate on CPL since 2002