UK Bars Nigeria, Ghana-Trained Teachers From Direct QTS Route

Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana can no longer use the United Kingdom’s (UK) direct service to apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England.

The UK Department for Education (DfE) introduced the change on September 9, 2026, alongside a similar removal of India from the list of countries whose teachers can use the service.

QTS remains a legal requirement for teaching in many schools in England. Most schools also prefer teachers to hold the status, although some schools can employ teachers through other routes.

The DfE said countries must meet two key conditions for their teachers to qualify through the direct recognition service.

They must have a national regulator that can confirm a teacher’s professional standing. They must also provide references that meet the department’s verification requirements.

According to the department, Nigeria and Ghana failed to meet the second requirement.

The DfE said more than 70 per cent of applications from teachers trained in the two countries contain work-history references from public email services.

It cited Gmail and Hotmail as examples instead of email addresses linked to the schools where the applicants worked.

The department said this practice creates additional work for assessors who must verify the information provided by applicants.

“We must be confident that the information applicants provide is genuine,” the department said.

It added that the verification process helps ensure that overseas teachers who receive QTS have the skills and experience required to teach in English schools.

The UK department said it assesses about 90 per cent of applications within 12 months.

India also lost eligibility because it does not have a national regulator that can confirm the professional standing of teachers under the service.

South Africa now remains the only African country on the list of countries whose teachers can use the direct QTS application service.

Teachers seeking QTS through the service must meet several other requirements. These include holding a valid passport and an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree.

Applicants must also have recognition as professional teachers in the country where they trained. They must have completed all mandatory induction requirements for full teacher registration.

The UK rules also require at least one school year, or nine months, of teaching experience after qualification. Applicants must provide references that can verify their work history.

Those references must use an email address connected to the school, such as an official school domain.

Depending on the country and teaching specialism, applicants may also need qualifications that show they can teach pupils aged between 11 and 16.

They may further need a teaching specialism in subjects such as mathematics, science, biology, chemistry, physics and selected foreign languages.

The change does not mean Nigerian and Ghanaian teachers have no route into teaching in England.

The DfE says teachers who cannot use the direct QTS service can explore alternative routes.

One option is the assessment-only route, which allows experienced teachers to demonstrate that they already meet QTS standards without completing another teacher-training programme.

Qualified teachers from outside the UK can also teach in England for up to four years without QTS under certain conditions. After that period, they need QTS to teach in many schools where the status is required.

The department also lists teacher training in England and International Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS) among alternative routes available to overseas-trained teachers.

The changes therefore affect the direct recognition route rather than ending all opportunities for Nigerian and Ghanaian-trained teachers to work towards teaching in England.