I concur with Localflighteast. ANY professional who'se services you hire,-Solicitor, Dentist, Estate agent plumber......etc. you must be entirely comfortable with....that's not to say you won't be in the situation "he's a great bloke, but he's rubbish at his job".....but it should be much easier to dissolve that sort of "partnership" than someone you're terrified of or in awe of.
Your cash, make sure you get value!
"kit" comes up regularly on fleabay, but as warned, rules are changing and a lot of the textbooks are going to change with the new syllabus.
No doubt Mad Jock will be along soon to tell you you just don't need a lot of this "special" piloty -stuff with it's ludicrously high price-tags.
IIRC he suggested a clipboard from Mr Cohen's emporiums at ~1.50 , does the same job as the pilot one ~a tenner...if you MUST strap it on to your knee, Velcro and Evostic are cheap enough!
a good stationer's will stock Chinagraph pencils etc.
The principles of flight and the mechanics and physics of flight are unlikely to alter in our lifetime
understanding of Human Performance and meteorology will, no doubt, and this will eventually percolate through to affect the exams.
good luck with your adventures!