Sorry Gerturde, but you are wrong plain and simple.
ANY flight of 1hr or greater in the qualifying period will count as the flight required for revalidation by experience. A pilot can ask to fly around in circles for an hour, do aeros or just fly in a straight line. As long as the flight is logged as PUT it is job done. Show me an Instructor (according to the endless arguments on these forums) who is not going to log the time as Instructional and the pilot as PUT.
Once the hour is logged they may then have the licence signed by an examiner and that's it for the next 2 years.
When I do the 2 year flight and licence sign off I give the pilot the option of what they would like to do. If they have no idea I make suggestions which usually include general handling but if all they want to do is fly around in circles then I will respect the request. There used to be guidelines issued by the CAA but these were withdrawn.
I am not saying it is not sensible to make the most of the time by doing general handling but I respect the individuals right to free choice and don't support the pencil pushing nanny state. Perhaps some have spent to much time around government bureaucracy to recognize that individuals have free will and don't need decisions making for them......