Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana are no more eligible to use the United Kingdom’s direct application route for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England following a change that came into effect on September 9, 2026.
The UK Department for Education (DfE) excluded both countries from the list of nations whose teachers can apply through the overseas-trained teacher QTS service.
NewsRegion reports that India was also removed from the eligibility list.
According to the department, the change followed updated eligibility requirements designed to ensure that the professional standing, qualifications and employment history of overseas-trained teachers can be properly verified.
Under the revised criteria, countries must have a national regulator capable of verifying teachers’ professional standing and providing authenticated references to remain eligible.
The DfE said Nigeria and Ghana failed to satisfy the reference-verification requirement, citing the nature of employment references submitted by applicants from the two countries.
“Our data shows that more than 70% of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria include work history references that use public email addresses, such as Gmail or Hotmail, rather than a school’s official email domain,” the department said.
“This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications,” it added.
The department said the verification process was necessary because it must be confident that information supplied by applicants is genuine before granting QTS.
“We must be confident that the information applicants provide is genuine. This helps ensure that overseas teachers awarded qualified teacher status have the skills and experience needed to teach in schools in England,” the department said.
Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) remains an important professional qualification for teachers seeking employment in England and is required by many schools, although it is not mandatory for every type of school.
The UK government says overseas-qualified teachers can teach in England for up to four years without QTS, provided they meet specified conditions.
The latest changes therefore do not completely bar Nigerian and Ghanaian teachers from working as teachers in England.
Teachers who are unable to use the direct QTS service can explore alternative routes, including assessment-only QTS, teacher training in England and international qualified teacher status (iQTS), depending on their circumstances, according to the UK government.
Applicants using the direct route, where available, must hold a valid passport and a degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree. They must also have professional recognition as teachers in their country of training, complete mandatory induction requirements and have at least nine months of post-qualification teaching experience.
They are also required to provide references confirming their employment history through school-domain email addresses.
South Africa remains listed by the UK government among the African countries whose teachers can access the QTS application route, subject to the relevant conditions.
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