What an interesting thread!
I trained and passed the IRT in the UK quite some time ago. I am now CFI of a commercial pilot school here in Spain and feel that I´m, probably more qualified than most to give my opinion on this matter.
1/ I have never had a student take a test on paper only. The very suggestion is ridiculous and to be honest, offensive. They take the skill test for the CPL always, weather integrated or modular, and again for the ME/IR. The examiner is nothing to do with the school and I actually try to change examiner when I can so that no bond is formed. This is not as easy as in the UK as our examiners here in Spain are 90% flying for the airlines and hard to book.
2/ The training here is to the same syllabus as every other JAA country. I agree with a previous post that the IR skills taught here are very much orientated to flying commercially and not towards passing a test. This has it´s pros and cons but on the whole it turns out well prepared pilots. (I´ve just lost 2 low hour instructors to the airlines and the amount of students that get jobs is very high). In the UK I was taught to a standard that is certainly very high but it was just a ticking boxes procedure which I now look back on as being somewhat pedantic.
As to the approaches flown here for the test. If on the day of the test the approach is denied by ATC then you have to either fly it on the sim or go up again or fly to another airport. (You cannot book slots for training due to the fact that the international airports are very busy with all the tourists coming in).
3/I think that anyone who says that practices such as phantom tests/flights, are facts and has first hand knowledge of them, should report it to the DGAC.
And I should just mention that although they are very slow, closed in August, dont answer the phone etc.. They are certainly not fools and if you could see the amount of documentation I have to send in every time for license issue, you would realise that inventing flights and not taking tests just isnt even an option.
4/As to the person needing extra IR traing for their CPL, wel... maybe they should come and finish here in Spain. We follow the syllabus to the best of our ability. The instrument flying required for the CPL is basic to say the least and the CPL is often done before the IR in the UK as well as here.
5/ I would apprciate it if you all realised that different countries will do things different ways. A childish "my country is better than yours" debate is not very productive. If things are wrong here then we need to do something about it (and I´m sure that some things could be loads better) and likewise in the UK. I can still remember very well the dozens of VFR flights taking off in IMC!
And just to finish, my last IR modular student has 6500 hours on an ICAO non JAA license and flies a Mustang. He chose Spain to convert to JAA because of the good wx, good prices and good training. Dont think you can call him a muppet who cant make the grade.
I havent mentioned the school I work for or where we are because I dont want it considered to be publicity, not due to any other reason.
As to the premium for UK students...thanks for the idea, I´ll consider it very carefully!