the biggest joke is that when you get on to propper airline flying you realise that you have no reason to know 99% of the crap you learn for these exams!
When have I ever / will I ever say for example "hmmm, bit of fog today, must be a high environmental lapse rate."
"hmmm, better make sure on this approcah to check that the approach path lighting is spaced every 10 m, with a stop bar every 300m"
"hmmm, are the registration markings on this aircraft the required 30cm high?"
In reality you need to know very little, which is why I think the Americans have for once got it right. As far as I know they dont need to learn half the crap we JAA pilots need to. Very sensible indeed.