Australia already had the highest concentration of international students in the world before the pandemic hit.
As illustrated below by Salvator Babones, an Associate Professor at Sydney University, Australia had more than twice as many international students as the United Kingdom as a share of its population and roughly three times as many as Canada in 2018.
Source: Salvatore Babones (2019)
In his recent book, Australia’s Universities: Can they Reform?, Babones noted that “Australia had the third largest international student population in the world in 2018, and actually overtook the UK in 2019 to enter second place”, despite having a significantly smaller population.
“Australia has by far the highest concentration of international students as a proportion of its population, exceeding 20 international students per 1000 population in 2019. This is internationally unparalleled”, Babones wrote.
The concentration of international students has become more extreme in recent years.
The latest Department of Education data shows there were a record 839,200 international student enrolments in the year to June 2025.
This was up around 13,400 (1.6%) from the 825,800 enrolments in 2024 and around 130,440 (18%) higher than the same time in 2019 before the pandemic.
However, the Department of Education notes that “many international students study more than one course in a reported year. So, while there were 839,199 enrolments counted in the year-to-date June 2025, these were generated by 739,843 international students”.
The latest temporary visa data from the Department of Home Affairs shows that student and graduate visa holders comprised 3% of Australia’s population—almost one in 30 people—in the June quarter of 2025. This was up from 2.6% at the pre-pandemic peak and double the 1.5% share in 2012.
There are also around 100,000 prospective or former students on temporary bridging visas, which are not counted above.
Last week, The Australian posted the following chart showing that “international students account for 27% of enrolments in Australian universities—a bigger share than every other country bar Luxembourg, where half the students are foreigners”.
“Only 5% of university students in the US come from other countries, compared to 23% in the UK, 21% in Canada and 20% in Switzerland”.
“In Germany, just 10% of university students are foreigners, in Italy and Japan it’s 5% of enrolments, and in New Zealand 15%”, The Australian reported.
The world record increase in international students has raised serious concerns about the erosion of standards at Australian institutions.
Concerns include mass cheating across Australia’s universities:
Academics working at Australia’s universities are being prevented from failing poorly performing international students because it risks revenue:
Tutorials at leading Australian universities are being held in foreign languages:
Competitor nations have seen a reduction in international student enrolments in recent years.
International student numbers in the UK declined for the first time in a decade in 2023-24 after the government prohibited students from bringing partners.
The US Department of State recently ordered the suspension of all new applications for international student visas.
The Canadian government last year announced a three-year population freeze and significantly lower caps for international students.
The Australian government has taken the opposite approach, increasing the 2026 planning level for international students by 25,000 places per year to 295,000.
The government also relaxed English language requirements for visa holders seeking entry to Australia.
Universities Australia proclaimed that the nation’s higher education institutions are willing to enrol “academic refugees’’ who are barred from other countries.
Phil Honeywood, CEO of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA), likewise declared that the sector is ready to fill the void left by other countries.
“Australia’s been very fortunate that other countries we compete against, particularly Canada, Donald Trump’s USA now and the UK are also winding back on international student recruitment”, he said.
“And therefore when students are thinking which country to go and study at, they’re obviously seeing that Australia is in many cases the least worst when it comes to their ability to access education”.
Meanwhile, international students with sound English skills have complained about being dragged down by international students with poor English-language proficiency and have called for an increase in entry standards.
“Furious students have blasted universities for enrolling Chinese internationals ‘who can’t speak a word of English,’ claiming they are dragging down grades”, the Daily Mail reports.
There’s this group of Chinese international students in my class who cannot and refuse to speak English. When the lecturer asks them something they just stare blankly at them then smile and giggle with their mates”, a Thai student complained.
I just wish the government and universities would hold higher standards”, the student said. “Better students mean better graduates, and a better reputation for Australia”.
The most recent IDP Emerging Futures survey showed that Australia remained the top study destination for potential overseas students.
Research by Dutch analytics company Studyportals also found that Australia was the only major destination to register an increase in overseas student demand over the first quarter of 2025.
The Albanese government clearly has no intention of stemming the flow and improving the quality of international students.
