Even building a pond liner calculator in Microsoft Excel we had to explain every single step of the process, in writing which took literally weeks in order to get the 'documentation' as they call it to A grade standard (as opposed to creating the thing which took about an hour).
I can imagine with regard to developing an iPhone application his story is 100% plausible.
What people are missing is a) The difference between ICT and Computing (especially at GCSE and A level), and also the fact that blame should be pointed at the exam boards and NOT the teachers themselves, many of whom will share your views and be commenting alongside you here. They have to legally adhere to the exam board specifications and whilst many teachers push the boundaries as far as they can (just as the teacher in this example did), it's quite clear why many don't (again - just see the example posted by Emma).