Wrong on both counts. UAS credit towards an NPPL remains in place and training on Annex II aircraft is acceptable towards the LAPL / PPL in the UK.
Nope. According to the Aircrew Regulation, if you wish to fly any EASA registered aircraft then you must hold an EASA licence and relevant medical. The deadline for GA pilots converting to an EASA licence was 08 April 2018, which would have restricted National licence holders to 'Annex II' aircraft only. However, the UK CAA have issued an exemption delaying this deadline until 07 April 2019 for licences already in issue. NPPL (SSEA or SLMG) must have been issued by the UK CAA
before 8 April 2018 to convert to an EASA LAPL(A) or PPL(A). So the UAS exemption is next to useless now as you cannot use it to convert to LAPL or PPL. Very few clubs have Annex II aircraft for hire and the NPPL will not get you on your way to professional licences as you will need to convert it to an EASA one and that window is now closed for new NPPLs.
The “3rd country” description came straight from the Authority; this is the person who deals with this and his initials are JO. He is the lead on military credits at the Belgrano and he said that it was the fact that the military needed to be treated as a 3rd Country meant that any accreditation would need to meet Part-TCO requirements. So again, 22Gp don’t write these regs - EASA do!
@Ken Scott, getting the studes an EASA PPL(A), 150hrs TT, TK and the exams to do a modular CPL is just too lengthy and expensive to bear. We want our pilots to flow EFT through MELIN/MEEC to MEPT or Outsourced as quickly as possible. Granted it’s a bit messed up at present but when it runs smoothly it should be a better route to a military OCU entry standard. I do agree with you about the professional recognition piece though.