diff --git a/pySDC/helpers/fieldsIO.py b/pySDC/helpers/fieldsIO.py
index 3b124dd109aae19a109f88cbccddcafaa04d5d16..5ac312ac07499f37abc3555e2fdcd59a20a273f2 100644
--- a/pySDC/helpers/fieldsIO.py
+++ b/pySDC/helpers/fieldsIO.py
@@ -45,9 +45,7 @@ See :class:`pySDC.helpers.fieldsIO.writeFields_MPI` for an illustrative example.
 Warning
 -------
 To use MPI collective writing, you need to call first the class methods :class:`Rectilinear.initMPI` (cf their docstring).
-Also, `Rectilinear.setHeader` **must be given the global grids coordinates**, wether the code is run in parallel or not.
-
-> ⚠️ Also : this module can only be imported with **Python 3.11 or higher** !
+Also, `Rectilinear.setHeader` **must be given the global grids coordinates**, whether the code is run in parallel or not.
 """
 import os
 import numpy as np
@@ -202,7 +200,7 @@ class FieldsIO:
         if not self.ALLOW_OVERWRITE:
             assert not os.path.isfile(
                 self.fileName
-            ), "file already exists, use FieldsIO.ALLOW_OVERWRITE = True to allow overwriting"
+            ), f"file {self.fileName!r} already exists, use FieldsIO.ALLOW_OVERWRITE = True to allow overwriting"
 
         with open(self.fileName, "w+b") as f:
             self.hBase.tofile(f)
@@ -475,7 +473,7 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
 
         Example
         -------
-        >>> # Suppose the FieldsIO object is already writen into outputs.pysdc
+        >>> # Suppose the FieldsIO object is already written into outputs.pysdc
         >>> import os
         >>> from pySDC.utils.fieldsIO import Rectilinear
         >>> os.makedirs("vtrFiles")  # to store all VTR files into a subfolder
@@ -494,12 +492,13 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
     # MPI-parallel implementation
     # -------------------------------------------------------------------------
     comm: MPI.Intracomm = None
+    _nCollectiveIO = None
 
     @classmethod
     def setupMPI(cls, comm: MPI.Intracomm, iLoc, nLoc):
         """
         Setup the MPI mode for the files IO, considering a decomposition
-        of the 1D grid into contiuous subintervals.
+        of the 1D grid into contiguous subintervals.
 
         Parameters
         ----------
@@ -514,6 +513,20 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
         cls.iLoc = iLoc
         cls.nLoc = nLoc
         cls.mpiFile = None
+        cls._nCollectiveIO = None
+
+    @property
+    def nCollectiveIO(self):
+        """
+        Number of collective IO operations over all processes, when reading or writing a field.
+
+        Returns:
+        --------
+        int: Number of collective IO accesses
+        """
+        if self._nCollectiveIO is None:
+            self._nCollectiveIO = self.comm.allreduce(self.nVar * np.prod(self.nLoc[:-1]), op=MPI.MAX)
+        return self._nCollectiveIO
 
     @property
     def MPI_ON(self):
@@ -541,7 +554,7 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
         """Write data (np.ndarray) in the binary file in MPI mode, at the current file cursor position."""
         self.mpiFile.Write(data)
 
-    def MPI_WRITE_AT(self, offset, data: np.ndarray):
+    def MPI_WRITE_AT_ALL(self, offset, data: np.ndarray):
         """
         Write data in the binary file in MPI mode, with a given offset
         **relative to the beginning of the file**.
@@ -553,9 +566,9 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
         data : np.ndarray
             Data to be written in the binary file.
         """
-        self.mpiFile.Write_at(offset, data)
+        self.mpiFile.Write_at_all(offset, data)
 
-    def MPI_READ_AT(self, offset, data):
+    def MPI_READ_AT_ALL(self, offset, data: np.ndarray):
         """
         Read data from the binary file in MPI mode, with a given offset
         **relative to the beginning of the file**.
@@ -567,7 +580,7 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
         data : np.ndarray
             Array on which to read the data from the binary file.
         """
-        self.mpiFile.Read_at(offset, data)
+        self.mpiFile.Read_at_all(offset, data)
 
     def MPI_FILE_CLOSE(self):
         """Close the binary file in MPI mode"""
@@ -620,13 +633,22 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
 
         offset0 = self.fileSize
         self.MPI_FILE_OPEN(mode="a")
+        nWrites = 0
+        nCollectiveIO = self.nCollectiveIO
+
         if self.MPI_ROOT:
             self.MPI_WRITE(np.array(time, dtype=T_DTYPE))
         offset0 += self.tSize
 
         for (iVar, *iBeg) in itertools.product(range(self.nVar), *[range(n) for n in self.nLoc[:-1]]):
             offset = offset0 + self.iPos(iVar, iBeg) * self.itemSize
-            self.MPI_WRITE_AT(offset, field[iVar, *iBeg])
+            self.MPI_WRITE_AT_ALL(offset, field[(iVar, *iBeg)])
+            nWrites += 1
+
+        for _ in range(nCollectiveIO - nWrites):
+            # Additional collective write to catch up with other processes
+            self.MPI_WRITE_AT_ALL(offset0, field[:0])
+
         self.MPI_FILE_CLOSE()
 
     def iPos(self, iVar, iX):
@@ -669,9 +691,18 @@ class Rectilinear(Scalar):
         field = np.empty((self.nVar, *self.nLoc), dtype=self.dtype)
 
         self.MPI_FILE_OPEN(mode="r")
+        nReads = 0
+        nCollectiveIO = self.nCollectiveIO
+
         for (iVar, *iBeg) in itertools.product(range(self.nVar), *[range(n) for n in self.nLoc[:-1]]):
             offset = offset0 + self.iPos(iVar, iBeg) * self.itemSize
-            self.MPI_READ_AT(offset, field[iVar, *iBeg])
+            self.MPI_READ_AT_ALL(offset, field[(iVar, *iBeg)])
+            nReads += 1
+
+        for _ in range(nCollectiveIO - nReads):
+            # Additional collective read to catch up with other processes
+            self.MPI_READ_AT_ALL(offset0, field[:0])
+
         self.MPI_FILE_CLOSE()
 
         return t, field
@@ -684,7 +715,7 @@ def initGrid(nVar, gridSizes):
     dim = len(gridSizes)
     coords = [np.linspace(0, 1, num=n, endpoint=False) for n in gridSizes]
     s = [None] * dim
-    u0 = np.array(np.arange(nVar) + 1)[:, *s]
+    u0 = np.array(np.arange(nVar) + 1)[(slice(None), *s)]
     for x in np.meshgrid(*coords, indexing="ij"):
         u0 = u0 * x
     return coords, u0
@@ -706,8 +737,7 @@ def writeFields_MPI(fileName, dtypeIdx, algo, nSteps, nVar, gridSizes):
     iLoc, nLoc = blocks.localBounds
     Rectilinear.setupMPI(comm, iLoc, nLoc)
     s = [slice(i, i + n) for i, n in zip(iLoc, nLoc)]
-    u0 = u0[:, *s]
-    print(MPI_RANK, u0.shape)
+    u0 = u0[(slice(None), *s)]
 
     f1 = Rectilinear(DTYPES[dtypeIdx], fileName)
     f1.setHeader(nVar=nVar, coords=coords)
@@ -726,6 +756,11 @@ def writeFields_MPI(fileName, dtypeIdx, algo, nSteps, nVar, gridSizes):
 def compareFields_MPI(fileName, u0, nSteps):
     from pySDC.helpers.fieldsIO import FieldsIO
 
+    comm = MPI.COMM_WORLD
+    MPI_RANK = comm.Get_rank()
+    if MPI_RANK == 0:
+        print("Comparing fields with MPI")
+
     f2 = FieldsIO.fromFile(fileName)
 
     times = np.arange(nSteps) / nSteps
diff --git a/pySDC/tests/test_helpers/test_fieldsIO.py b/pySDC/tests/test_helpers/test_fieldsIO.py
index 1e75505d0faab3f8c062a251466fe1a2b378c4b4..2878be5fe71f6994c45c30ed9e1598e170232a40 100644
--- a/pySDC/tests/test_helpers/test_fieldsIO.py
+++ b/pySDC/tests/test_helpers/test_fieldsIO.py
@@ -3,9 +3,6 @@ import sys
 import glob
 import pytest
 
-if sys.version_info < (3, 11):
-    pytest.skip("skipping fieldsIO tests on python lower than 3.11", allow_module_level=True)
-
 import itertools
 import numpy as np
 
@@ -14,6 +11,7 @@ from pySDC.helpers.fieldsIO import DTYPES, FieldsIO
 FieldsIO.ALLOW_OVERWRITE = True
 
 
+@pytest.mark.base
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("dtypeIdx", DTYPES.keys())
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("dim", range(4))
 def testHeader(dim, dtypeIdx):
@@ -65,6 +63,7 @@ def testHeader(dim, dtypeIdx):
         assert np.allclose(val, f2.header[key]), f"header's discrepancy for {key} in written {f2}"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.base
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("dtypeIdx", DTYPES.keys())
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nSteps", [1, 2, 10, 100])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nVar", [1, 2, 5])
@@ -106,6 +105,7 @@ def testScalar(nVar, nSteps, dtypeIdx):
         assert np.allclose(u2, u1), f"{idx}'s fields in {f1} has incorrect values"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.base
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("dtypeIdx", DTYPES.keys())
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nSteps", [1, 2, 5, 10])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nVar", [1, 2, 5])
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ def testRectilinear(dim, nVar, nSteps, dtypeIdx):
             assert np.allclose(u2, u1), f"{idx}'s fields in {f1} has incorrect values"
 
 
+@pytest.mark.base
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nSteps", [1, 10])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nZ", [1, 5, 16])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("nY", [1, 5, 16])
@@ -249,8 +250,7 @@ if __name__ == "__main__":
     parser.add_argument('--gridSizes', type=int, nargs='+', help="number of grid points in each dimensions")
     args = parser.parse_args()
 
-    if sys.version_info >= (3, 11):
-        from pySDC.helpers.fieldsIO import writeFields_MPI, compareFields_MPI
+    from pySDC.helpers.fieldsIO import writeFields_MPI, compareFields_MPI
 
-        u0 = writeFields_MPI(**args.__dict__)
-        compareFields_MPI(args.fileName, u0, args.nSteps)
+    u0 = writeFields_MPI(**args.__dict__)
+    compareFields_MPI(args.fileName, u0, args.nSteps)