Err... DS12 qualified with the achievement test score and a portfolio, no IQ score, when he was 6. Has it been different somewhere in the middle of that time, then?
No, that was always possible. DD11 qualified (at age 8, I think) with an IQ score and a (single) achievement test score, without a portfolio. She wouldn't qualify under the current achievement rules, because she only had a high-enough score in Broad Math, but she would still qualify with the IQ score without needing a portfolio. The difference is that you couldn't have qualified before without a portfolio, and now you could (as long as he got that high achievement score in at least two categories).
I also like the new system better.