More than 50 per cent of international students admitted to the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in 2018 did not undertake formal testing of their English ability, according to the results of a new external review.

Key points: A review found international UTAS students whose English skills were not assessed during admission were "more likely to fail"

A review found international UTAS students whose English skills were not assessed during admission were "more likely to fail" UTAS has now scrapped a policy which considered a student proficient in English if they had studied somewhere that taught in English

UTAS has now scrapped a policy which considered a student proficient in English if they had studied somewhere that taught in English Growth in international students has been very lucrative for UTAS

A report into the university's international recruitment and admission practices said in that year, 919 international students entered the university after their level of English was assessed via the now scrapped "Other Mode of Instruction" (MOI).

The MOI process assumed a student was proficient in English if they had previously learnt at an institution which taught in English. It did not require them to sit a test to prove that proficiency.

The review found students accepted on the basis of MOI were more likely to fail.

"Analysis shows that students admitted on the basis of Mode of Instruction perform more poorly and have higher failure rates than those admitted on formal entry tests of English proficiency," the report read.

The report also described academic governance oversight at the university as "weak".

Investigation highlights influx of international students

In May, UTAS launched an external review — headed by Hilary Winchester — after it was featured in an ABC Four Corners investigation which included allegations that Australian universities had waived English standards to attract more international students.

UTAS immediately announced it would scrap the MOI pathway for future entry to the university.

The Winchester Review pointed to UTAS's "considerable international growth" since 2016, with international students currently making up 26 per cent of its total students.

The growth in international students has been very lucrative for UTAS. In 2017 its "global division" saw revenue increase by 44 per cent on the previous year, to $86 million.

That was part of a country-wide trend, with the report noting "nationally, international student growth from 2016-17 was 10.5 per cent and in 2017-18 reached 11.8 per cent".

From 2013 to 2017, there was an increase of more than 100,000 international students studying at Australian universities, reaching just over 400,000 people.

The report also highlighted the university's failure to properly track the performance of its students, which the report's authors referred to as a "failure of compliance".

"The reviewers requested standard reports of performance by cohort and by admission category. The university was initially unable to supply such reports as they were not standard and had not been regularly produced," the report said.

UTAS has accepted all 19 recommendations in the report, including that it review and update its website and evaluate the impact and accuracy of its Chinese website.

UTAS said it had "made a shift from rapid to sustainable growth, which is welcome to most staff, but will have financial and organisational implications".