Triadic,
I beg to differ. I while ago, what I said above were the rules. It's just that it's disappeared out of AIP with no guidance at all as to what to say now, hence all the confusion. I never been chipped for giving my last passed ATC-assignable level. "Report Present Level" is used to allow another aircraft to be cleared closer to you, and by reporting your actual level they have to do more mental calculations to work out the assignable level for the other aircraft. Hence they don't want "approaching" as you rightly say, bit IMO, they likelwise don't want "5,300".
If controllers want my actual, precise level (only for a altimeter check), they always say "Report Level/Altitude passing" or "verify present level".
Standing by to be shot down in flames!
Of course, all this nonsense could easily be fixed by some clarifications of R/T procedures which suffered when AIP was butchered by office boffins into ICAO R/T and has not recovered.
For example, what's the correct call to a radar Approach facility on descent?
"On top"?
