I have the 13" version of the same Macbook Pro.
I have a separate network hard drive for all my larger files but depending on what he wants to use it for specification is excellent, he will NEVER look back I promise you that much!
He could upgrade it to 500gb for an extra £249, so double the flash storage. Don't forget you also have iCloud and Apple have reduced their prices a lot for the cloud, so you have additional storage there, so does he really need a bigger drive?