PTE Academic, the computer-scored alternative, in one screen:

- Accepted: UK (including UKVI), Australia, Canada, and New Zealand widely. US acceptance is growing fast, now thousands of programs. - Scoring: 10-90 scale. PTE 58-64 = IELTS 6.5. PTE 50 = IELTS 6.0. - Why people switch: AI scoring means no human examiner bias, results land in 48 hours, and the integrated tasks suit multitaskers. - Why people do not: fewer test centers than IELTS in some countries, and a handful of picky programs still list IELTS only. Sources: IELTS If writing is your weak band on IELTS, PTE's scoring sometimes treats it kinder. One full practice test tells you which format fits your brain.