CATS misinformed you. Ifitaintboing arleady posted the correct information. It's up to the Head of Training to decide the exact requirements but someone with your claimed vast experience would be allowed to direct their own study and directly take the exams.
Also don't confuse doing the ATPL exams with the CPL exams which are a massively reduced subset. I had a student do a an FAA to EASA CPL conversion including the flying in less than a month this summer.
Way too much is made of the requirements generally told by those looking for a shortcut......
