Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana are no longer eligible to apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England through the country’s overseas-trained teacher application route.
The United Kingdom’s Department for Education (DfE) said the change took effect on September 9, 2026.
QTS is the professional status required to teach in many schools in England. Applicants under the overseas-trained teacher route are expected to meet several requirements, including holding a valid passport, having an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, being recognised as a qualified teacher in the country where they trained, and completing any mandatory induction required for full teacher registration.
The DfE said countries included in the application route must have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing and providing authenticated references.
According to the department, Nigeria and Ghana were removed after concerns over the verification of employment references submitted by applicants.
“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 DfE said.
It said this required assessors to spend additional time and resources verifying information provided by applicants.
The department added that about 90% of applications are assessed within 12 months.
India was also removed from the list because it does not have a national regulator that can confirm applicants’ professional standing.
With the latest changes, South Africa is the only African country remaining on England’s list of countries whose teachers can apply through the overseas-trained teacher route.
The DfE said the requirements are intended to ensure that information submitted by applicants can be independently verified.
“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.
