UK removes Nigeria and Ghana from overseas QTS application route effective September 9, 2026

 The UK education department says it removed Nigeria and Ghana-trained teachers from the list of countries eligible for its direct qualified teacher status (QTS) service, due to the use of public email addresses for work history references in applications, rather than official domains.   The department disclosed this in a statement on its website, where it said teachers from the two African countries will no longer be eligible to apply for the United Kingdom’s QTS, a legal requirement to teach in several schools in England.   “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,” it stated.   “This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications.”     The exemption took effect on September 9.   The UK government previously expanded QTS eligibility to countries including Nigeria and Ghana in 2023, according to an annual report by the UK teaching agency.   According to the UK education department, teaching qualifications and experience are assessed against strict requirements to ensure that they confirm QTS for teachers who meet the requirements.     To remain eligible, a country must have a national regulator that can confirm a teacher’s professional standing and provide authenticated references.   About 90 percent of applications are assessed within 12 months.   India was also removed from the list for not having a national regulator that can confirm professional standing.   South Africa is now the only African country on the list of eligible countries.     “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.   It added that teachers who are not eligible to use the “Apply for QTS in England” service can explore other routes.   HOW TO APPLY   To apply for QTS, teachers must have a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equal to a UK bachelor’s degree, recognition as a professional teacher in the country where they completed teacher training, and completion of all mandatory induction processes to gain full teacher registration in the country where they qualified.     Teachers must also provide evidence that they can teach children aged 5 to 16 years, have at least one school year (nine months) of experience employed as a teacher in any country.   However, the experience must be from after they first became qualified to teach, and they must provide references that can confirm their work history and have an email address that uses the school’s domain.

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 post Why Nigeria, Ghana-trained teachers were removed from UK qualification list appeared first on Vanguard News.

The United Kingdom Department for Education has excluded teachers trained in Nigeria, Ghana and India from using the route to apply for Qualified Teacher Status in England. The change took effect on September 9, 2026, according to updated guidance posted by the DfE and sighted by PUNCH Online on Tuesday. QTS is the professional teaching Read More: https://punchng.com/full-list-uk-removes-nigeria-ghana-from-teacher-qualification-route/

 Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana will no longer be eligible to apply for the United Kingdom’s qualified teacher status (QTS), a legal requirement to teach in many schools in England.   The exemption took effect on September 9.   According to the UK department of education, teaching qualifications and experience are assessed against strict requirements to ensure that the department only confirm QTS for the highest quality teachers.   To remain eligible, a country must have a national regulator that can confirm a teacher’s professional standing and be able to provide authenticated references.     The UK education department said Nigeria and Ghana failed to meet the second requirement.   “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 said.   “This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications.”     About 90 percent of applications are assessed within 12 months.   India was also scrapped from the list for not having a national regulator that can confirm professional standing.   South Africa is now the only African country on the list of eligible countries. “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.   QTS QUALIFICATIONS     To apply for QTS, teachers must have a valid passport that has not expired; an undergraduate degree equal to a UK bachelor’s degree; a recognition as a professional teacher in the country where they completed teacher training; and a completion of all mandatory induction processes to gain full teacher registration in the country where they qualified.   Teachers must also provide qualifications to show they can teach children aged anywhere between 5 and 16 years old; have at least one school year (nine months) of experience employed as a teacher in any country, but must be from after they first became qualified to teach; and references that can confirm work history and have an email address that uses the school’s domain.   Depending on the country that they trained to teach in, they may be required to have qualifications to show they can teach children aged anywhere between 11 and 16 years old and have a teaching specialism in one of the following subjects: maths, science, biology, chemistry, physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian, or Spanish.   However, since teachers in England are employed by individual schools rather than the education department, some schools may consider alternative qualification routes, although QTS remains a status preferred by most schools.     The department said teachers who are not eligible to use the apply for QTS in England service can explore other routes.

Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana are no longer eligible to apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England under the United Kingdom’s overseas-trained teacher application route. The post UK excludes Nigerian, Ghanaian-trained teachers from teaching qualification list appeared first on Vanguard News.

The United Kingdom, UK has changed the eligibility rules for overseas-trained teachers seeking to obtain Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England, removing Nigeria, Ghana and India from the countries whose teachers can use the direct application service. The post UK QTS: Full list of countries whose teachers can apply as Nigeria loses eligibility appeared first on Vanguard News.

The UK removed Ghana, India and Nigeria from its 2026 QTS eligibility list after a review found verification challenges with teacher credentials and references.