Signing students out
Every so often on the Private Forum, there is a 'how long does my licence take to come' question and various posts allude to the fact that a someone waiting for a licence to be issued can be 'signed out solo by an instructor'.
Being a sad sort of person and looking in the ANO to answer some other question I found that there is no direct authority for this case.
The authority to authorise solo flight derives from ART 21 para (b), but this only covers pilots flying for the purpose of becoming qualified. If someone is waiting for a licence to be issued, they must have completed all the training and no longer be flying to become qualified.
Any other reference I have missed?