For what it's worth, this is how I understand it. There is nothing called the night rating now, it is called the night qualification. There are no pre-course requirements for it, in fact it can be done as part of the PPL course.
I have been filling in my students' night qualification application on the old night rating form and just writing "Not Applicable" across the boxes for all the requirement bits. The CAA have been issuing the bit of paper to them, within a few days as well.
Regards, GT.