FA
I agree with you - it is most frustrating to try and get an IR for a PPL. For myself, I am outside of the eyesight limits for a Class 1 medical, so there was/is absolutely no point in going for CPL/ATPL etc etc. All I wanted to be able to do was fly IFR outside of UK airspace, and be able to transit the great swathes of class A in the UK (one of my regular routes was BRI-EDI. The drop to 'below 2000' having climbed over Wales, and then to climb over the Pennines was a tad annoying to say the least. Also below 2000' in a single over the water is somewhere I dont want to be.
Fortunately, PPSC were soluble at the time, and having less than the 6-700 hours, needed the approved course. The content was pretty relevant (no, I didn't have to work out the fuel flow for a VC10), and have appreciated on more than one occasion what it gave me (blocked static: yes, I could have worked it out given time, but PUDSOD from the IR course had it worked out in seconds for me. Border crossing/FPL's diverting to an A/D not in the FPL - different country, non-Schengen. Can I do it? What when I land?) The course was 90% useful, an other 9% will be fine if/when I ever get to afford something that goes as high as FLmassive. Possibly 1% was dud, but then I've still got loads to learn, so quite probably it wil be useful. Ironically, one of the reasons I pressed ahead to get it done was the prospect of confusion post CAA IR exams being available - from what I see now I can feel smug, but it is useless to those who want to get to the same place...
Best hints I can offer would be to chase the contacts on the PPL/IR Organisation home page - Linda at PAT, Michael Dobson at the CAA, and see if they can offer you some hope - best of luck, and please post back if it is positive.
IFR ('cos it was more that the PPL)