fairly demanding oral exam,
There are no demanding oral exams left that I know of.
The FAA examiners who used to conduct these put themselves out of business and lowered their standard for commercial reasons as they wouldn't get any business as everyone chose the easy examiners.
Most FAA orals last less than 10-15 minutes now with the same questions asked to every candidate.
If you think the FAA system is better you clearly up to date with the current reality of the system in use.