Why Nigeria, Ghana-trained teachers were removed from UK qualification list
The United Kingdom has removed teachers trained in Nigeria, Ghana and India from the list of countries whose teachers can use its direct application service for Qualified Teacher Status, QTS, in England.
The change, which takes effect from September 9, 2026, means teachers trained in the three countries will no longer be eligible to use the Apply for qualified teacher status (QTS) in England service.
According to the UK Department for Education, the decision followed an update to the eligibility requirements for overseas-trained teachers seeking QTS.
The department said countries eligible for the service must have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional standing and be able to provide references that meet its verification requirements.
It specifically cited the absence of a national regulator in India capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing.
For Nigeria and Ghana, the UK said its decision was linked to concerns over the verification of work-history references submitted by applicants.
“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.
It added that the use of such email addresses meant assessors spent additional time and resources attempting to verify information provided in applications.
The UK government said it needed to be confident that information supplied by applicants was genuine to ensure that overseas teachers awarded QTS had the skills and experience required to teach in English schools.
Under the revised rules, overseas-trained teachers seeking QTS must meet a number of mandatory requirements.
Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a UK undergraduate degree, as verified by UK ENIC, the UK national agency for international qualifications and skills.
They must also hold full professional status to teach in the country where they completed their training, with this status verified by a national regulator or competent authority.
Applicants must have completed all mandatory requirements, including any required induction period, in the country where they trained and must have no conditions or restrictions on their teaching practice.
They must also be qualified and suitable to teach children aged between five and 16.
The teacher-training programme must lead to professional recognition as a teacher in the country where it was completed, be delivered to trainees in the country where the provider is based, meet the standard of a Level 6 qualification and be at least equivalent to one year of full-time English initial teacher training.
The training must either be a postgraduate qualification in which at least 75 per cent of modules have a pedagogical focus or an undergraduate qualification with at least one year of study having a pedagogical focus.
Applicants are also required to have at least the equivalent of one school year of teaching experience after qualifying.
The experience must have been gained after the applicant received the teaching qualification and professional status and must have been carried out in a setting providing mainstream compulsory education.
During that period, applicants must have taught primary or secondary pupils without supervision, been responsible for planning, preparing and delivering lessons to at least four students at a time, and been responsible for assessing and reporting on their progress.
The UK authorities said applicants’ references would be contacted to verify their work history.
Applicants must also demonstrate a required level of English-language proficiency.
They can meet the language requirement by, among other routes, showing that they were born in, hold citizenship of, or studied at undergraduate level or higher in the UK or one of the exempt countries and territories.
They can also provide evidence that their undergraduate or higher degree was taught wholly in English or pass a recognised Secure English Language Test, SELT, at Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR, B2 level.
The UK government said teachers who are no longer eligible for the direct QTS application service could explore other routes into teaching.
Teachers qualified in Wales automatically hold QTS and do not need to apply.
Teachers qualified in Gibraltar, Northern Ireland or Scotland can apply if they hold a teaching qualification equivalent to at least UK Level 6, are recognised as teachers in the country where they trained and meet other specified requirements.
The direct QTS service remains available to teachers with qualifications from countries and regions including Australia, Canada, the European Economic Area, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.
Teachers from Jamaica, Singapore and South Africa may also qualify under specific conditions, including requirements relating to their teaching roles and, in some cases, subject specialisation in mathematics, science or languages.
The UK Department for Education said the changes were aimed at ensuring that teachers awarded QTS through the overseas route met the required professional standards and that information submitted during the application process could be reliably verified.
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