Canada Goose....can I correct a few things here...
UK Guidelines for approach minima? Pardon? They are rigidly set down in accordance with the a/c capabilities and your licence - if he doesnt know what they are then he shouldnt have the licence IMO.
Comm Failure? Procedures are set out according to ICAO but different countries and airfields have different procedures - as an instuctor he should *KNOW* where this stuff is...For instance Aerad details ALL countires comm failure procedures and often airport/approach specific procedures too.
For UK specific you reference the UK AIP.
Now this is *very* basic IR knowledge - certainly stuff I was taught on my course at OATS.
I can only say that where he did his course obviously not up to scratch. However, I do agree that it is distinctively worrying that the course instructors did not feel this way....