Sorry if my post sounded a bit grumpy, it was not intended to be.
The current situation is actually an improvement on the previous one. For many years the rules simply stated that calculators must not be programmable and must no have an alpha function button. Unfortunately almost all types of modern calculator do have an alpha function button, so there was always a risk that students would have their calcultor confiscated (and replaced by a wheeties box version) immediately before the exam.