Thanks, BOAC. Yes, I can imagine his nails are somewhat shorter that evening.
Out of interest: do the other cadets sit in the cabin while their contemporary flies, waiting their turn? I imagine it might be useful to experience how well (or not!) others do it?
One more (!) question: the OP said that he saw the touch-and-go circuit being flown at East Midlands Airport. That's a fairly busy airport with plenty of commercial traffic. In order to carry out these touch-and-go circuits at such airports, is it necessary to 'book a slot' with ATC? Do ATC have to find a 'quiet time' for you to do it? Or can such flights be flown with other traffic arriving and departing?