There is a holdee in our HQ that starts EFT this month - he finished IOT almost 2 years ago to the day. There are students on IOT at the moment who have been told to expect around 12 months from graduating. People starting IOT early next year are expected to have holds of around 6 months when they finish IOT. I’d call your ‘guy’ a fibber if I was you - there is even an app on Defence Connect that allows any student to check their EFT date if they input their Service Number. Also, there are no less than 3x full-time staff looking after the pipeline in HQ Directorate of Flying Training that can give your ‘guy’ his expected start dates any time (although he should have started if he finished IOT 2 years ago!) - sorry, I don’t believe you/him.
Which ‘AVM’ told you that? There are many AVMs in the RAF that know nothing on this subject. You need to go to a source who actually knows real facts rather than some scuttlebutt at a cocktail party.