Back in my day '70-'73 (and that of course means your day as well BEagle), UAS was just a jolly flying club; at least it was at Woodvale. No pressure to pass anything; turn up when you can and have a good time, no formal syllabus other than the obvious S&L comes before turns; PFLs before Aeros. Enjoy as much or as little flying as you want, but most guys got between 30-50 hrs a year. The RAF considered your priority was your degree course. The flying kept us 'beggars' interested. There was some ground training on a Thursday evening in town HQ, but as I was at a University some 50 miles away, I very rarely went to that, and was never compelled to. All pretty dumbed down as I recall BEags.
By the mid 70s, well after you and I had left UAS, things became a little more serious, and I believe one could even get chopped. That was the start of the slippery slope.