Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana can no longer apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England through the United Kingdom’s overseas-trained teacher route, the Department for Education has confirmed.
The change, which took effect on September 9, removes the two West African countries from the list of eligible nations whose educators may seek the professional status via the dedicated application service.
QTS is widely used by schools in England when recruiting teachers. The department said the decision followed a review of the conditions countries must meet to remain in the scheme, particularly the ability to authenticate qualifications, professional status and teaching records.
A key requirement is the presence of systems that allow UK authorities to verify employment references through official channels. Nigeria and Ghana did not meet this standard, the department stated.
“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 for Education said.
It added that such practices create extra work for assessors who must spend additional time and resources confirming the authenticity of the information.
India was also removed from the list because it lacks a national regulator able to verify teachers’ professional standing. South Africa remains the only African country whose teachers can still use the QTS application route.
Overseas-trained teachers seeking QTS must still hold a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s qualification, professional recognition in their country of training, and at least nine months of post-qualification teaching experience with pupils aged five to 16. Employment references must come from official school email domains.
Despite the change, the department noted that individual schools in England may still consider alternative pathways when recruiting overseas-trained teachers.
