I soloed on gliders, as a teen, then did a 30 hour PPL on no-radio Jackeroos (Tiger Moth convertion) at age 23, at Thruxton. After letting my license lapse, due to expence. I re-did it on C152s at age 46, at Inverness.
The airspace in the Thruxton area has changed since 1964.
Although almost all my flying since January 1990 is wood-and-fabric taildragger (Jodel DR1050), I doubt if any taildragger would be an economic trainer at Inverness. The tarmac runways and wind strengths would rule it out.
And the more stable aircraft are much less affected by turbulence.
A school must provide students with as little weather downtime as possible.
I like the C150/152, but don't like the 172. However my few hours on the C172 include the highest winds and the worst weather I have continued my flight through, without thinking of diverting. The high wing gives it a sideways vision advantage in heavy rain over the Pa28 (which is a very stable aircraft).