So reading all this, am I correct in thinking that my newly minted JAR-FCL PPL allows me to fly above a cloud layer, not in sight of the surface provided I'm 1,000 feet above it?
It would in theory now be perfectly legal to climb through a hole in the cloud layer to reach "VFR on top", and then descend through a hole to get back under the cloud? Or take off in clear skies, fly over a layer of cloud en route (and be out of sight of the surface) and reach clear skies the other side?
I think the PPL syllabus needs revising!