The recent growth in the numbers of international full-fee students in New Zealand universities has been accompanied by growing concern about their level of academic performance. In this paper we outline a method for benchmarking the performance of international first year students against their New Zealand counterparts which can identify at risk international student groups and predict the likely impact of proposed changes to entrance requirements. Behind this benchmarking exercise lies a belief that our universities should not accept international students for study unless they have a reasonable prospect of academic success.