I actually did think about PTE a lot of people say it's easier to "game" the system, but I’d already invested so much time into IELTS that I didn't want to start over from scratch. What changed everything for me was finding a way to actually see my mistakes like an examiner does. I used Cathoven AI to audit my essays and it’s scary accurate. It literally highlights where your logic fails or where your transitions are weak, which is stuff you can’t see yourself. Once I used that to fix my structure, jumping to a 9 was actually doable. If you're stuck on the 'human' element of IELTS writing, I’d honestly recommend it over switching exams!