No the time with an Instructor is any time in the last year. The signing of the licence is the last 3 months which is a UK specific thing.
It never fails to amuse me why pilots leave this to the last minute. I spend my entire life doing last minute flight with an instructor and revalidation examiner stuff for people when they could get a signature anytime in the last 3 months and it still runs from the existing date.
My JAA licence did not expire until January next year, I paid my dosh to the CAA last month and have the new pages sitting and sorted.