BillieBob
Ok - fair enough. Its a cross country flight, which is completed as per the rules set out by EASA as part of the syllabus for a PPL / SPL / LAPL course, which forms part of the qualification of a candidate for licence issue.
Which normally involves completing a form which says the following at the top:
Authorisation for PPL/SPL/LAPL Qualifying Cross Country
And which resembles the old Qualifying Cross Country flight under a previous regime, but isn't the same as that.
And if using something other than a "whizz wheel" is an approved training method in Part 2 of the relevant training manual - then so be it. The rules don't say "thou shalt use a whizz wheel".
I suggest that the training manuals aren't likely to be easily available to students? In which case, as far as a student is concerned - its whatever the instructor says goes.