This is a schools/instructing issue which the hapless student can all but go along with- only 1 body is to blame for producing a 'non-compliant' student after 45 hours and that is the school that gave/allowed him 45 hours of 'non-compliant' flying and is now complaining about it!
Totally agree, which is why I say its vital that instructors are blunt with students who aren't going to make it or who have the wrong attitude to learning. In the case of ChickenHouse's student somebody should have made a stand much earlier and explained to the student that, for example, he wasnt going pass a skills test using an iPad that way.
We dont know how the current state of affairs came about, but faced with where he is now, CH is right to refuse to teach this student.