LONDON — The UK has removed teachers trained in Ghana, Nigeria and India from the direct application route for Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England, with the change taking effect on 9 September 2026.
The UK Department for Education said the eligibility rules were changed because of difficulties in verifying professional qualifications and references. The department said countries using the route must have a national regulator able to confirm teachers’ professional standing and provide references that meet UK requirements.
The decision follows official application data for the 2024–25 academic year. Nigeria received 1,076 applications, of which 364 resulted in QTS and 599 were declined. Ghana recorded 1,067 applications, with 196 resulting in QTS and 749 declined. India recorded 649 applications, with 208 resulting in QTS and 309 declined.
Importantly, the 95% figure for Nigeria and 97% figure for Ghana should not be described as rejection rates. In the official table, those percentages refer to the share of successful applications whose recipients had at least two years of teaching experience and were therefore exempt from an induction requirement.
The UK government also said that more than 70% of applications from teachers in Ghana and Nigeria included work-history references using public email addresses such as Gmail or Hotmail rather than official school email domains.
The change affects the direct QTS application service, rather than preventing teachers from these countries from working in England altogether. Alternative routes may remain available depending on individual qualifications and circumstances, including other QTS pathways and teacher-training options.
The decision is therefore expected to require affected teachers to explore different qualification or recruitment routes if they want to pursue teaching careers in England.
