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The United Kingdom has closed one of the routes Nigerian and Ghanaian teachers have used to obtain professional recognition to teach in England.
The UK Department for Education (DfE) has removed Nigeria and Ghana from the list of countries whose teachers can apply for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) through its overseas-trained teacher application service.
The change took effect on September 9, 2026, alongside the removal of India from the route.
QTS is the professional status required for teachers in many schools across England and is recognised as an important qualification for those seeking to teach in the country.
The decision comes after the UK government reviewed applications from overseas-trained teachers during the 2024-2025 academic year.
The data showed that Nigerian teachers submitted 1,076 applications during the period. Of these, 364 resulted in QTS awards, while 599 were declined.
Ghana recorded 1,067 applications, with 196 resulting in QTS and 749 declined.
Explaining the decision, the DfE said countries covered by the route must have a national regulator capable of confirming applicants’ professional standing and providing references that meet its requirements.
For Nigeria and Ghana, however, the department pointed to concerns over the way employment references were being submitted.
It said more than 70 per cent of applications from teachers in both countries included work-history references using public email addresses such as Gmail and Hotmail instead of official school email domains.
According to the department, this meant assessors had to spend additional time and resources verifying information supplied by applicants.
The DfE said it needed to be confident that information provided by overseas teachers was genuine before awarding QTS.
The change leaves South Africa as the only African country generally listed among those eligible for the QTS application service, although teachers from Jamaica, Singapore and South Africa can apply under specified conditions.
Other countries and regions still covered by the service include Australia, Canada, countries in the European Economic Area, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ukraine and the United States.
The removal does not mean Nigerian or Ghanaian teachers are completely barred from teaching in England.
The DfE said teachers who can no longer use the QTS application service may explore other routes into the English teaching profession, while individual schools can consider alternative pathways because teachers in England are employed by schools rather than directly by the department.
