Two in five Hong Kong students in Australia have not attained English competency even after they graduate from the universities there.

Monash University in Melbourne did a study on the language competency of foreign students in the country. Data from immigration tests, for university students who apply for permanent residency, showed that 42.9 percent of the students from Hong Kong failed the language tests.

But Hong Kong students fare slightly better than students from the mainland (43.2 percent failure) and those from Taiwan (47.4).

Indian students (17.3) fared the best, with South Koreans (55.5) the worst.

(Wen Wei Po)