dubbleyew eight, touch and goes are perfectly acceptable for passenger recency (using the correct EASA terminology) in the UK, and the OP was talking about the UK. Clued Up is a UK CAA magazine, but you probably wouldn't have known that.
In response the the OP, any flight where the instructor will take over in case of something not going right will mean the instructor is P1 and the PPL will be PUT (except for a skills test or LPC - which will be P1S).
If you are P1 then the instructor can only be a passenger. For check rides I wouldn't have thought the instructor can be a passenger to satisfy insurance or club requirements - so he will be P1 and you will be PUT. After you have completed the three take-offs and landings then it is for you and the instructor to agree who will be in charge should anything go wrong. If it's you, and the instructor will not takeover at any time, then you are P1. Otherwise, he is P1 and you are PUT.
The only time you can be P1S is for a skills test or LPC - not for check outs, or any other post-PPL flight with an instructor. It's seems quite common for PPLs to log P1S for check rides, which is incorrect.