FD,
In theory, it's the same here. There are no set routes. It's just that there are so few airfields with instrument approaches which have enough spare capacity to do practice approaches that there aren't very many options of places to go that are within a reasonable flying distance. Even more so when you consider that somewhere either on the way there or the way back you've got to leave controlled airspace to do the general handling (not sure how you'd explain to ATC that you're going to do some unusual attitude recoveries in the middle of the airway.....)
Towards the end of my IR course, when I'd done all the "common" routes enough that I pretty much knew them by heart, my instructor had me fly to Liverpool in the sim. Apparently, one student had been taken to Liverpool for his test a couple of years previously when the examiner fancied a change. The problem is the airspace, though - the detour to get out of controlled airspace after following the SID makes the test extremely long, which is why Liverpool is so rarely used.
FFF
--------------