This study investigates the academic performance differences between Chinese and UK students in a UK university using two undergraduate cohorts by uniquely exploring academic performance patterns among Chinese and UK students across a full degree study period (3 or 4 years). The results reveal a dramatic drop in performance among Chinese students from year 1 to year 2 and increasingly significant performance gaps between Chinese and UK students in the final academic year by gender, prior academic performance, degree programme, prior academic qualification and enrolment year. Among Chinese students, their final degree mark is not influenced by gender, prior academic performance, prior academic qualification or degree programme. The distinctive nature of Chinese students in higher education is clearly demonstrated here and such uniqueness warrants further work focusing on learning approaches, curriculum design and the contents of assessments, in the context of academic achievement.