GuinessQueen
You are absolutely correct in that the the CPL Skill Test doubles as the ME Class Rating. The point that I was trying to make is that, despite having the class rating and quite a few flying hours, it could well be that practically none of the student's experience (if any) would be directly applicable to the profile required on the IRT. Hence the need for quite a bit of sim time before starting on the aircraft but then integrating the two to try and get the best of both worlds. Also, it could be that the aircraft used on the CPL is not the same one as used on the IRT - remember that on the modular route you are not obliged to do all your training with the same FTO.
Good luck with your studies.
M1.1