If you get caught out by a Check out ride quite honestly its your own fault.
We have all had the odd person who we thought was OK pull a blinder lets face it. Everyone does it occasionally.
Now back to the issue of standards.
I doudt very much if any of the methods employed in the Uk is significantly different to any other countrys.
The methods employed by the RAF in the intial years of aviation have become pretty much standard around the world. Basically because they proved without doudt they work. The americans have as usual gone the easy way in some respects. They are right in someways the British have always been known for doing things the hard way. Its a pretty well know concept in the armed forces of the British way and the American way. 95% of the time you will get away with doing the US method. By the time that they realise it should have really done it the British way its to late.
Now how do we get PPL's not pissed off with getting constantly retrained when they are using perfectly acceptable methods? If they are crap and dangerous deal with it. I suspect most of us wouldn't pass each others check rides if it was done blind without the instructor know what thay had sitting next to them.
It would be great if the CAA tasked a new staff examiner who's face isn't known. Tour the country with a fresh PPL and 70hour log book and see how many times they get re-trained, informed they arn't doing it properly and they have to do it this way.
MJ