, I'm not convinced that, from a height of 800', flying downwind, the best course of action would be to make a 180 degree turn then try to land in a field
Me neither! A 180deg turn with zero power (not to mention stationary prop) can lose over 1000ft in nil wind, A/C depending. Hence we teach students not to attempt to turn back to the airfield with an EFATO.
To be honest, some of the practices mentioned here alarm me and demonstrate the tendancy for *some* (often newly qualified) instructors to make things up as they go along. The syllabus has been honed and tweaked over the years and therefore should be adhered to. All those years of experience in getting the order right count for far more than one instructors belief that the programme ought to be rejiggled at their discretion.
What would be of more value than PFL before first solo would be spending a bit more time on the orbit and, go around's from final approach (Southend anyone?) if these are practices sometimes employed at your airfield. Personally, I think extending downwind far safer than orbitting (does not take you back into on coming circuit traffic) but I digress....
After Ex.14 there is some scope to rearrange things due to wx issues but not before.
VFE.