You might consider the 'PPL student' to be the lowest common denominator, but my experience does not support that.
The lowest common denominator is someone who is gash and can't be ar$ed to put in any effort pre-flight. Saw it at the UAS when I was an A2 on the 'dog, and I see it now from
some ex-EFT people converting to PPL.
Bear in mind the minimum legal in-flight conditions in which a basic PPL holder may fly with passengers after obtaining his/her licence (3km, clear of cloud and in sight of the surface), compared to the mollycoddling weather in which the EFT pilot will be grudgingly allowed to fly solo and perhaps you might understand why we insist on proper planning.
Capacity for actually
doing a job? Oh purrleaze - that's nonsense.
I'm always amazed at the comments from UAS/EFT QFIs about navigation. Maybe it's because it's now as it always was on the UAS, they simply can't be bothered to put in any effort to teach navigation properly. Much easier to sit there and criticise a 28-day "Show us yer aeros" check than to teach medium level VFR navigation properly.....
Except that they can't even afford to teach aeros these days...
