Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana will no longer be eligible to use the United Kingdom’s “Apply for QTS in England” service, following changes introduced by the Department for Education (DfE).
The change took effect on September 9, 2026, according to updated guidance published by the DfE.
Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) is the professional teaching qualification for teachers in England and is recognised by schools across the country.
Under the revised rules, teachers trained in Nigeria, Ghana and India are excluded from using the application service.
The decision followed the release of data covering applications for QTS from overseas-trained teachers during the 2024–2025 academic year.
The data, published on August 27, showed that 1,076 applications were submitted by teachers trained in Nigeria. Of these, 364 resulted in QTS being awarded, while 599 applications were declined.
Ghana recorded 1,067 applications, with 196 resulting in QTS and 749 declined.
The DfE said the eligibility requirements were updated to ensure that countries covered by the service have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing and providing references that meet its requirements.
The department specifically cited the absence of a national regulator in India capable of confirming professional standing as the reason for its exclusion.
Regarding Nigeria and Ghana, the DfE said its application data had raised concerns over the verification of employment references.
“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.
It added that this required assessors to spend “additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications.”
The department said it needed to ensure that information supplied by applicants was genuine before awarding QTS, particularly to establish that overseas-trained teachers possess the skills and experience required to teach in English schools.
“Teachers who are not eligible to apply for QTS in England service can explore other routes into teaching,” it said.
Under the QTS requirements, overseas-trained teachers generally need a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree and professional recognition as a teacher in the country where they trained.
Applicants must also have completed any mandatory induction requirements required for full teacher registration in their country of qualification.
They are expected to demonstrate that they are qualified to teach children aged five to 16 and have at least nine months of teaching experience gained after qualifying as a teacher.
Employment references verifying an applicant’s work history are also required, with the email address expected to be linked to the school’s official domain.
Additional requirements may apply depending on where the teacher received their training. These can include qualifications to teach pupils aged 11 to 16 and specialisation in subjects such as mathematics, science, biology, chemistry, physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish.
The DfE noted that teachers in England are employed by individual schools rather than the department. As a result, schools may consider alternative routes for overseas-trained teachers seeking employment.
Following the latest changes, South Africa is the only African country remaining on the general list of countries eligible for the QTS application service.
Other eligible countries and regions include Australia, Canada, the European Economic Area, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.
Teachers qualified in Jamaica, Singapore and South Africa may also apply under specified conditions, including additional age and subject requirements where applicable.
