Hi laakdown,
I'm in a similar situation, ATPL theory exam is expected in May. After that
(hopefull will succeed all 14 subjects at once) the big questions comes: where
and how to continue.
I don't know much about stapleford, but after checking their website, they seem to have reasonable prices. Moreover, I agree totally to what Excel has written. However, for the time being, I'd advise to consider doing your ME CPL/IR in the USA. There you can find JAA flight schools which are approved by the CAA. After completing your practical flight exams by a JAA FE, your license will be issued from the CAA in the UK (as if you've flown in Euope, with no conversion needed). This step saves some money for you, which you can eventually invest later in an MCC course.
I was considering to apply to Oxford or CTC Wings, but as I read on their websites: there is no guaranty to be hired at an airline after graduation. After reading their websites, I've discovered that they like to advertise with the number of the students they could find an employment to, but 99% of them come from the integrated cadet program and they have priority.
There is a so called "CTC TakeOff" course, i.e. ME CPL/IR:
CTC TAKEOFF which seems interesting, but much more expensive than other schools. Then if you read their FAQs, you'll find it clearly stating that cadets have prioroty than students on a modular training. Maybe you can return to CTC or Oxford for the MCC course, landng by that in their holding pool.
At the same time I would try to make social connections at my local airport to get a job at a small biz company, maybe need to pay the TR if promised a job. I would try all the serious companies that accept low houred pilots after passing their assessments: AirBerlin, BE, Condor, Lufthansa City Line and I would apply at Cargo Companies too, like DHL in Leipzig (Germany).
The big advantage of our modular training, is that we won't be in deep debts when we finish the training, and our salaries will continue flowing, even if the pilot job wasn't waiting for us upon completing the trainig. Let's hope that the economy will continue improving.
Concerning TR, I personally won't pay for it if there's no job guaranty.
Hope to have given you a good advice,