Teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana can no longer apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England through the United Kingdom’s overseas-trained teacher application route.
The change, which took effect on September 9, removes Nigeria and Ghana from the list of countries whose trained teachers are eligible to use the route to secure QTS, a professional status recognised by many schools across England.
The UK Department for Education (DfE) said the decision followed an assessment of the countries participating in the scheme and the systems available for verifying applicants’ qualifications, professional standing and teaching experience.
A key requirement is for countries to have a national regulatory body capable of confirming a teacher’s professional status and providing authenticated references.
According to the department, Nigeria and Ghana failed to meet its reference-verification requirements.
The DfE said more than 70 per cent of applications from teachers trained in the two countries contained employment references using public email services such as Gmail and Hotmail rather than official school email domains.
It said the practice increased the time and resources required by assessors to verify information 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 department said.
The UK authorities said the verification measures were designed to ensure that information supplied by applicants was genuine and that teachers granted QTS possessed the necessary qualifications, skills and professional experience.
India was also removed from the eligible-country list because it does not have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing.
With the latest changes, South Africa is now the only African country remaining on the list of countries whose teachers can apply through the overseas-trained teacher route.
Teachers seeking QTS through the service are generally required to hold a valid passport and an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree, as well as professional recognition as a teacher in their country of training.
Applicants must also have completed any mandatory induction requirements for full teacher registration and demonstrate that they are qualified to teach children aged five to 16.
At least nine months of teaching experience gained after qualification is required, alongside employment references confirming an applicant’s work history. Such references must use email addresses linked to the relevant school’s official domain.
Additional requirements may apply depending on the applicant’s country of training, including qualifications covering pupils aged 11 to 16 and subject specialisations in areas such as mathematics, sciences and foreign languages.
The DfE noted that teachers are employed by individual schools in England rather than directly by the department. As a result, teachers who no longer qualify for the overseas-trained teacher application service may still explore alternative routes into teaching in England.
The department said those alternative pathways could provide options for teachers from countries removed from the QTS application list.
