The United Kingdom has removed Nigeria, Ghana and India from the list of countries whose teachers can use its direct application route for Qualified Teacher Status in England.
The change took effect on September 9, 2026, following an update to the eligibility requirements by the UK Department for Education.
Qualified Teacher Status, known as QTS, is the professional status required in many schools in England and is recognised by schools across the country. However, obtaining QTS does not automatically provide a teaching job or a visa to work in the UK.
According to the Department for Education, countries included in the direct QTS service must have a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing and must be able to provide employment references that meet its verification requirements.
The department said India was removed because it does not have a national regulator capable of confirming professional standing.
For Nigeria and Ghana, the department said its data showed that more than 70 per cent of applications from teachers in the two countries contained work-history references using public email services such as Gmail or Hotmail instead of official school email domains.
It said this required assessors to spend additional time and resources verifying information submitted by applicants.
The department said it needed to be confident that information supplied by overseas-trained teachers was genuine so that those awarded QTS had the necessary skills and experience to teach in English schools.
Data released by the department on August 27, 2026, showed that Nigerian-trained teachers submitted 1,076 applications during the 2024–2025 academic year. Of these, 364 resulted in QTS awards, while 599 were declined.
Ghana recorded 1,067 applications during the same period, with 196 resulting in QTS awards and 749 declined.
Countries still eligible
Teachers with recognised qualifications from the following countries and regions remain eligible to use the direct QTS application service, subject to meeting the required conditions:
1. Australia
2. Canada
3. European Economic Area
4. Guernsey
5. Hong Kong
6. Jersey
7. New Zealand
8. Switzerland
9. Ukraine
10. United States of America
Teachers trained in Jamaica, Singapore and South Africa can also apply under specified conditions. Depending on their circumstances, they may need to be working in a valid teaching role in England and meet additional requirements relating to their subject specialism and the age group they are qualified to teach.
What the change means for Nigerian teachers
The removal of Nigeria from the direct QTS service does not mean Nigerian-trained teachers are permanently barred from teaching in England.
The UK Department for Education said teachers who are no longer eligible for the direct QTS application service can explore alternative routes into teaching.
Under the previous direct route, applicants were required to meet strict conditions, including holding a bachelor’s degree equivalent to a UK undergraduate degree, having full professional recognition as a teacher in their country of training, completing required induction processes, being qualified to teach children aged five to 16, and having at least nine months of post-qualification teaching experience.
The department also requires employment references capable of verifying an applicant’s work history, with references expected to use official school email domains.
The latest guidance is therefore a significant change for teachers trained in Nigeria, Ghana and India who had planned to use the direct QTS route to seek teaching opportunities in England.
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