having flown the same route on my QXC, i find it hard to believe that if the student has done most of his/her training at WW, the visual clues close to WW would not have been obvious. the incorrect route would have taken the a/c close to aldermaston/burghfield, greenham common etc, and anyone who flies from WW would easily recognise Reading. so i dont think we have the whole story.
having said that, things dont always go according to plan on QXC`s, and panic can easily set in. most of the WLAC warriors have a lovely garmin 430, the moving map part of which is not normally explained to students. a bleep from the airspace warning would have alerted the student long before the infringement ocurred.
im with those who say that GPS must be taught in the syllabus.