So.... yah. I feel vindicated.
After 'passing' the test at Manchester and thus failing to become a CI candidate, I booked an appointment with a private audiologist. The following things happened. My audiogram was constructed, using earphones and not headphones, a totally different reading for my high frequencies was obtained; no high frequencies were detected in my right ear - which surprised me as in all my previous audiograms they were detected. I had a speech discrimination test done. An AB word list test. This is apparently the benchmark speech discrimination test done in CI assessment centres...... (Single speech sounds are spoken, then words in isolation - the listener repeats back what is heard.) When I described the test that I completed, comprising short sentences his jaw actually dropped and he shook his head, tres amusant. Well, not really - really frustrating to think that the centre had only deployed one testt!! Anyways - AB test, no visual cues with both hearing aids in with no background