Do students count as passengers?
 

The legislation states that a pilot shall not fly as pilot in command of an aeroplane carrying passengers unless within the preceding 90 days he has made three take-offs and three landings as the sole manipulator of
the controls of an aeroplane of the same type or class

As a flying instructor I am almost never the sole manipulator of the controls, since I always try and get my students to have a go. Surely by this rule I am always out of date?

By default you are the PIC so that does not count in your case

If you are PIC the 90 day rule regarding passengers always applies! There are no exemptions.
However the question was, is a student a passenger? The answer lies in Art 255
A student is a member of crew and is therefore not a passenger. If however you had a second student sitting in the back observing, they would be a passenger and as PIC you would have to comply with the 90 day rule.

How can a FI not give 3 demonstrations in a 90 day period?

Remember though.....sole manipulator doesn't mean sole occupant!

In a word: No.
Students aren't pax, 90 day rule doesn't apply.
I got that from a CAA inspector some years ago and have never asked the question since, just in case.

Not good for an FI not to solely manipulate 3 in 90.
Treat yourself to a solo circuit session now and again!

True the student is a member of the flight crew and is not a passenger.

However, if the instructor has not completed at least 3 take-off and landings in the past 90 days (almost 3 months!!!!) then one would have to question their ability to both safely operate the aircraft should the sutdent be unable to do so and also correctly demonstrate all the required parts of the sylabus which includes various take-offs and landings.

If you find that all your students at at the stage where they do the take-off and landings on each flight then your training organisation should provide the posibility for you to retain the required currency either by scheduling you to fly with students at an earlier stage or taking an aircraft and completing some circuits with another instructor.

I would regard 90 days as being a very extreme limit when dealing with members of the public.

It also comes down to the class/type of aircraft.

I instruct on both microlights and SEP, and for the last 2 months it's been more microlight. I'm still fully current, but at the moment seem to mainly have students who are far on in their course so I rarely touch the controls at all. Just got me thinking.