The number of loops flown with or without an instructor isn't confirmation of an individual pilots ability to safely conduct aerobatics. A more meaningful criteria would be the ability to recover from a manoeuvre that has gone wrong. Does he/she know how to recover safely if the aircraft gets slow and flicks out of the top of a loop or tailslides out of a stall turn. That's what most aeros checks are about, ensuring that a pilot can fly the manouevre safely and take the corrective action if something goes wrong or they make a mistake. Good spin training( including accelerated spins) and recovery from unusual attitudes is standard in most basic aerobatic courses.