Likewise, a pilot who has never seen a flight director needs to be able to get used to it quite quickly
The ground training syllabus pertaining to operation of the flight director system takes at least 2-3 hours and that is before getting into a simulator where all the modes are demonstrated and practiced.
When the type rating starts you're not going to be given extra hours just because you don't know how to use a flight director
Precisely. So is the point of the assessment test to assess a pilot's general instrument flying ability? Or to assess how quickly he picks up the all the modes of flight director operation - without having undergone a course of training? Not exactly a level playing field, don't you think?