Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana can no longer use England’s direct overseas-trained teacher application route for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) followin...
Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana can no longer use England’s direct overseas-trained teacher application route for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) following changes introduced by the United Kingdom Department for Education.
The new eligibility rules took effect on September 9, 2026, and also removed India from the list of countries whose teachers can use the direct QTS application service.
QTS is the professional teaching status used in England. Holding QTS can make teachers more likely to be employed by schools, although the Department for Education says the QTS application service does not provide a teaching job or arrange a visa.
The Department for Education said countries whose teachers remain eligible for the direct service must have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional standing and must be able to provide employment references that meet its requirements.
For Nigeria and Ghana, the department specifically cited problems with employment-reference verification.
According to the DfE, more than 70 percent of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria included work-history references using public email addresses such as Gmail or Hotmail instead of official school email domains.
The department said this required assessors to spend additional time and resources verifying information submitted by applicants.
The DfE said it needed to be confident that information provided by overseas teachers was genuine before awarding QTS, as part of its assessment of whether applicants have the skills and experience required to teach in England.
Thousands of applications affected
The change affects a route that had been used by significant numbers of teachers from Nigeria and Ghana.
UK Government data published in August 2026 shows applications and QTS awards to overseas-trained teachers through the direct service for the 2024–25 academic year.
Recent reporting based on the Department for Education’s figures said Nigeria recorded 1,076 applications during the 2024–25 academic year, while Ghana recorded 1,067 applications. The two countries therefore accounted for more than 2,100 applications through the route during that period.
South Africa remains eligible
Under the updated rules, South Africa remains the only African country in the group covered by the direct overseas QTS route.
Teachers with qualifications from Jamaica, Singapore and South Africa can apply if they are already working in a valid teaching role in England and meet the other requirements. Applicants from those countries who are not already working in England may still qualify in certain circumstances, including requirements relating to subject specialism and the age group they are qualified to teach.
Teachers from countries including Australia, Canada, countries in the European Economic Area, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States also remain covered by the direct application service, subject to the applicable requirements.
Alternative routes remain available
The removal of Nigeria and Ghana from the direct application service does not prevent teachers trained in those countries from pursuing teaching careers in England.
The Department for Education says teachers who are no longer eligible for the service can explore alternative routes to QTS.
These include the assessment-only route, teacher training in England and International Qualified Teacher Status (iQTS), depending on an individual’s qualifications, experience and circumstances.
The UK Government also distinguishes QTS from immigration permission. Obtaining QTS does not itself provide a teaching job or a visa to work in England.
What the change means for African teachers
The latest decision represents a change to England’s system for recognising teaching qualifications obtained overseas rather than a general prohibition on Nigerian or Ghanaian teachers working in the country.
Teachers affected by the change will need to consider whether they qualify through another QTS pathway or meet the requirements for employment in England without immediately holding QTS.
The Department for Education’s latest guidance also shows that eligibility rules for overseas-trained teachers can change as the government reviews the verification of qualifications, professional standing and employment experience.
For Nigerian and Ghanaian teachers who had been planning to use the direct QTS service, the September 9 change therefore closes that particular application route while leaving other pathways available.
