For an Australian PR visa, is the IELTS Academic or PTE Academic easier?

To answer this question, we have to go back in history a bit. IELTS test started in 1989 so, obviously it was not applicable. Yet, people were going to Australia and settling down there. As far as student visa is concerned, at least from India, the numbers were negligible.

Now, once the point-based system for PR kicked in, IELTS became a very important component of the process. Initially, it started with band 6 in all the four modules. Over the years, it has moved to 7 and 8 band in all the modules. Here comes the crunch, getting Band 8 in all the 4 modules became a really tough job, the success rate would probably was- and still is- less than 5%. There are no official statistics and many trainers claim this astounding feat with regularity, but my experience has been what I have stated.

In 2017, November to be precise, Australian authorities started accepting PTE as an alternative to IELTS, with band scores similar to IELTS, 6 being replaced by 60 and 7 with 70, so on and so forth.

Here, I will try and answer your question. IELTS offers you both paper based and computer based version whereas, PTE is totally a computer based test ( CBT).

The difference is that, computerized IELTS is still assessed by humans, meaning examiners still mark the writing module whereas speaking is still a face to face.

PTE is assessed by using AI ( artificial intelligence) and algorithm. Therefore, a perception has been created that PTE is easy. With technology moving at the lightning speed, software whiz kids have developed many techniques and templates as to how to fool the system. That is why, we see such astounding results as 90 out of 90, in PTE. Let British Council or IDP come out with figures as to how many candidates have scored 9 out of 9 in IELTS, from its inception in 1989 till date and, trust me, it would be below 1%.

So, to cut the long story short, go for PTE but do your home work well, there are many mock test sites which mimic the actual test and even Pearson group offer 3 mock tests. All these should point towards your current level, and if it meets your requisite score, decide and take the plunge.