If you hadn't spent the money on the notes, guides and other support material prior to seeing what the rules were, you could have saved a great deal of money.
The £2K covers all of that material - it also includes invaluable support through the self study period and the "brush up" course I attended probably covered more material than I had learnt up to that point.
I think, as Alex has already alluded to, that a major problem is occuring - people thinking that learning the answers is enough to get them through.
The exams are there to check that you have sufficient knowledge of the subject - they are not just a hurdle which has to be passed before progressing to the glamourous flying side. Your knowledge will be assessed at future occasions - interviews etc. and you wont have a list of answers for those questions.
Air Law was probably the most ridiculous exam I have ever sat - but it has also turned out to be pretty important for an aviation career.
There are some errors in all of the notes - how are you going to find out what those errors are without listening to expert guidance, gleaned from 40 golden years of experience?
Finally, the brush up course I attended was good fun and it was nice to have a final check that I was ready to sit the exams.
I do happen to agree about the charging of VAT though...