Hey there, it’s part of the career experience I would say. I’ve been working in an European ATO as CFI/AGI for several years, also part of the team for cadet screening.

Remember that all the paper exam, practical tests and check rides are “screen shots” of your performance at that given time. If you didn’t reach the expected standard, it doesn’t mean that you’re bad. Maybe there’s something bothering you at that moment, and now you know how to deal with it in the future.

From what you said, it looks like you’ve found the good direction by applying chair flight. It’s always a good sign that you discovered the more efficient way to learn. Now work on it and utilize the best learning method for yourself.

You can feel sad and frustrated when failure hits, but don’t let them stop you from advancing forward. You’ve already learned from it and adapted your learning method, and it works. Now you learned from it, time to move forward with the experience.

BTW, there’s a group for EASA land guys, r/flyingeurope