The United Kingdom Department for Education has removed teachers trained in Nigeria, Ghana and India from its direct application route for Qualified Teacher Status in England.

The change took effect on September 9, 2026, following an update to the department’s official guidance on overseas-trained teachers.

Qualified Teacher Status, commonly known as QTS, is the professional teaching qualification used in England and is required or recognised by many schools when employing teachers.

Under the revised rules, teachers who trained to teach in Ghana, India or Nigeria can no longer use the “Apply for QTS in England” service.

The Department for Education said the eligibility requirements were updated to ensure that countries included in the service have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional standing and can provide employment references that meet its requirements.

The department said India was excluded because it does not have a national regulator capable of confirming professional standing.

For Nigeria and Ghana, the DfE cited concerns over the format of employment references 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.

According to the DfE, the practice means assessors spend additional time and resources attempting to verify information submitted by applicants.

It said it needed to be confident that information provided by applicants was genuine to ensure that teachers awarded QTS possess the skills and experience required to teach in English schools.

The decision followed the publication of DfE data on applications for QTS from overseas-trained teachers for the 2024–2025 academic year. The data was released on August 27, 2026.

The figures showed that Nigeria recorded 1,076 applications during the period, with 364 resulting in QTS and 599 declined. Ghana recorded 1,067 applications, of which 196 resulted in QTS and 749 were declined.

The DfE said teachers who are no longer eligible to use the direct QTS application service can explore alternative routes into teaching in England.

Other requirements for teachers using the service previously included holding 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 were also required to have completed any mandatory induction requirements for full teacher registration in their country of qualification, demonstrate that they were qualified to teach children aged five to 16, and have at least nine months of teaching experience gained after qualifying.

They were also required to provide employment references verifying their work history, with references using an email address linked to the school’s official domain.

Depending on the country and subject, additional requirements could include qualifications to teach pupils aged 11 to 16 and subject specialisms such as mathematics, science, biology, chemistry, physics, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Latin, Mandarin, Russian or Spanish.

However, the removal from the direct application service does not mean teachers from Nigeria, Ghana or India have no possible routes into teaching in England.

The DfE lists alternative pathways, including assessment-only QTS, teacher training in England and international qualified teacher status (iQTS), with eligibility depending on the individual teacher’s qualifications, experience and circumstances.

The department also states that qualified overseas teachers may, under certain conditions, teach in England for up to four years without QTS, although QTS is required in many schools after that period.

Following the removal of Nigeria, Ghana and India from the direct service, 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 use the service under specified conditions, including additional requirements depending on their subject and the age group they are qualified to teach.

The DfE said the updated information was correct as of September 2026 and advised teachers who are no longer eligible for the direct QTS service to consider the alternative routes available to them.