Partly correct - except that the training towards the SSEA Rating would need to be conducted on a SEP Class aeroplane with a Public Transport (or whatever the Euroword is) CofA from a licensed or government aerodrome.
Not if you own it....Also, flying in a 3-axis microlight counts towards the totals required for the issue of a NPPL(SSEA). All of the info you need is on the NPPL website.
http://www.nppl.uk.com
The info about converting from NPPL (Microlight) to NPPL (SSEA) is here:
http://www.nppl.uk.com/documents/NPPLXCREV061.pdf
The training could be done, as you say - xrayalpha, but from a LICENSED airfield ONLY for the SSEA flying. The flying is a MINIMUM of 3 more hours (1 hr instrument appreciation / 2 hrs Stall/Spin Training) PLUS tests. Also, to do the NPPL (SSEA) section in a Eurostar or similar, they would have to be a sole owner of the aircraft, since it is on a Permit to Fly as a SSEA; it is fairly simple to arrange to learn to fly in a permit aircraft. Contact the PFA coaching scheme for advice.
To do paid instructing (i.e. someone paying the dual rate) in an SSEA, whether the instructor is paid or not, still requires a commercial licence. For a non-CPL to instruct (CRI or instructor), the flying
instructing must be unpaid. There are proposals for this to change, but not yet.
Additionally, to obtain an NPPL (SSEA) would still require a total of 32 hours flying for initial issue - a combination of microlight and SSEA flying. Since the costs of operating are the same, there is little saving. My advice would be to go for the licence you ultimately want.
Regards,
ifitaint....