Hasnt ;competency' been with pilot training ever since it started.??
It not something recently invented by CAsA
The instuctor never let you loose for solo circuits in the Tiger if he thought you'd smash it.
He never sent you off to pracitice spins if he thought you'd crash it.
Having assessed your newly acquired flying 'skills' as A-OK, yet to be totally soliditied by further experience, you got turned loose to learn by doing yourself.
The lazy bureaucratic way,,box ticking...does not tell the full story. Ye olde assessment /comments file by various instructors allowed the next guy to " get your picture",,,and to see what might need a re-run or brush up. ie to see that you were competent in all those things that you would need to demonstrate in the PPL flight test
Low flying, spinning, engine re-start and forced landing into a field ..with a touch down and go ( I would have skittled a few sheep) Lucky for them no landing run! And who does steep, very steep and limit turns these days.
Lucky for me, the crusty old WW2 guys, who had put their "competencies" to the ultimate tests.