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Beijing/Sydney: Chinese education agents say Australia’s top universities are lowering entry requirements and offering more scholarships to attract students as demand shrinks due to caps, overseas competition and economic concerns.
The Australian National University dropped its average academic score requirement this year for students from China’s lower-tier universities from 85 to 80 for some master’s courses while its international student scholarship threshold fell from 90 to 85 for semester two.
It is one example of what agents say is a relaxation of course entry requirements across Australia’s elite Group of Eight universities as competition to recruit Chinese students intensifies, fuelling a long-running debate about declining academic standards and heavy reliance on foreign student fees.
Meanwhile, overseas Chinese student visa applications plunged 30 per cent in the four months to April compared with the same time last year, Home Affairs data reveal. The fall returns visa applications from Chinese students to pre-COVID levels, following a spike in recent years.
Christina Gao, a director at JJL Overseas Education Consulting, one of China’s largest study-abroad agencies which works closely with the Group of Eight, said some institutions were relaxing English-language requirements in addition to academic grades and offering more scholarships to Chinese students this year.
“Most universities, especially for this year, were finding challenges [in recruitment],” Gao said in an interview in JJL’s Beijing office.
“They have definitely adjusted some of the entry requirements, especially for master’s [degrees].”
Australian universities’ heavy reliance on international students – particularly among the Group of Eight – has left them exposed to dwindling demand as the 2024 introduction of student caps, expensive course costs, the world’s highest visa fees and the cost of living in Australia deter students.
Gao said these factors, coupled with tough economic conditions in China, meant parents were increasingly questioning the value of an expensive Australian education for their children – claims echoed by other agents and international education experts.
Universities defended their admission standards for overseas students as rigorous, while acknowledging that slumping demand meant they had to adjust to market conditions.
“Quality is not negotiable,” said Group of Eight chief executive Vicki Thomson, adding that fluctuations in the Chinese market underscored “the structural vulnerability of a funding model that relies disproportionately on international student revenue to sustain teaching and research”.
Candy Xian, director of the Australia program at EIC Education, a key recruiter for the Group of Eight, said relaxed admission thresholds, more scholarships and easier language pathways meant there was a “golden window” for Chinese postgraduate students to study in Australia.
“We do see a change in the market,” Xian said. “Some [Australian universities] are lowering or phasing out entry score bands for different university tiers in China. Some faculties are reducing [entry scores] by five to 10 points.”
In its 2026 marketing materials, EIC noted that “previously, competition for admission to top Australian universities was fierce, with popular programs often closing early and filling up quickly”. But this was expected to “ease significantly” for the 2027-28 academic year.
It also highlighted a policy shift adopted by Australian universities for the IELTS exam (the standardised English language proficiency test), which, since 2023, has allowed struggling students to re-take sections of the exam without having to re-sit the entire assessment.
This was “helping more students meet the language requirements of top universities”, EIC said.
Gao said that where some courses once required scores of 7 or higher on the IELTS exam, they now accept 6.5. She declined to name which universities had adopted this approach but said that business and finance courses were among those affected.
The agents said Australia remained a top destination for Chinese students, along with the United States, Britain and Canada.
But high visa costs, student caps and lengthy processing times meant students were increasingly submitting multi-destination university applications. As a result, more students were taking up offers in countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Britain that had faster and cheaper visa approvals.
The ANU confirmed it had made study offers to 47 additional students after lowering the admission settings for graduates from China’s lower-tier universities in March. A university spokesperson said the change was adopted after a review found Chinese students, whether from elite or lower-ranked universities, achieved comparable academic results once enrolled at the university.
International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood said universities faced rising competition from Hong Kong and other Asian markets as parents looked for more affordable options closer to home that still offered high-quality education.
“When faced with a decline in demand, it becomes very tempting for education providers to become more flexible with their entrance standards,” Honeywood said.
University of Sydney vice chancellor Mark Scott said he expected demand to continue to soften.
“We remain focused on maintaining our high entry and English language standards, and we continue to see strong completion rates among all our students,” Scott said.
In Victoria, Monash University said its “admission standards are strictly evidence-based and informed by students’ performance data”, while the University of Melbourne said it was seeing a “shift in international student decision-making, with a stronger focus on value, outcomes and the range of available options”.
The University of NSW said that an “all-time low” in visas being granted was putting off students. It reviewed course requirements periodically based on demand and to remain competitive with its peers. However, it said that its English language requirements had not changed.
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