Teachers from India, Nigeria and Ghana now unable to apply for QTS

Teachers in India, Ghana and Nigeria are now not able to apply for Qualified Teacher Status in England.

An update from the Department for Education explains that teachers from these nations cannot use the application service due to concerns about how teachers’ professional standing in these countries is monitored.

Specifically, the DfE update says that in India there is no national regulatory body to confirm a teacher’s professional standing. Meanwhile, for Ghana and Nigeria it says that over 70 per cent of applicants list Gmail or Hotmail email addresses when applying for QTS.

As such, it says that without an official school email domain, “assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications”.

It continues: “We must be confident that the information applicants provide is genuine. This helps ensure that overseas teachers awarded Qualified Teacher Status have the skills and experience needed to teach in schools in England.”

The move could be a significant blow for schools in England as the numbers of QTS applications from these three countries are some of the highest.

The most recent data for the 2024-25 application year, published on 26 August, shows that 196 teachers from Ghana, 208 from India and 364 from Nigeria were granted QTS - a total of 768 teachers.

In the previous year the total was much higher, with 582 teachers from Ghana, 701 from Nigeria and 390 from India receiving QTS - a total of 1,673.

Qualified teachers ‘unfairly disadvantaged’

Dr Jill Cowie, head of Broadoaks British School in Abuja, Nigeria, told Tes that Nigerian staff at her school said the update would disadvantage the majority because of the actions of a minority.

“The new position risks disadvantaging a large number of genuinely qualified and experienced Nigerian teachers because of these wider verification issues,” she said.

While acknowledging that the DfE is right to have concerns around verification, particularly securing references from public email addresses, Dr Cowie said the blanket ban seemed a step too far.

“Some of my teachers are excellent, while others are highly trainable and have the potential to become very strong teachers,” she said.

“Given the ongoing teacher shortages in the UK, it does feel like there is something worth discussing here - particularly whether the verification process could be tightened without effectively closing the direct route for an entire country.”

Another headteacher in Nigeria, speaking anonymously, said teachers felt the decision was not fair and the DfE was creating an unbalanced system.

“Providing applicants can verify their identity with a passport and submit a letter of reference from a recognised school (which most school owners would happily do as it improves the standard of their teachers), the matter of a work-related email should not be considered when applying for QTS,” they said.

“We don’t want a two-tier application system that mitigates against applications from African teachers.”

The move does not mean schools cannot hire teachers from these countries - but they would need to apply for the assessment only (AO) route to the QTS qualification. Teachers could also apply via the iQTS route but only if they work in a British School Overseas-accredited school.

The removal of Ghana and Nigeria also means South Africa is the only country in Africa where teachers can apply for QTS.

The update could prove awkward for those spearheading the government’s International Education Strategy, which specifically identified Nigeria and India as growth markets for UK education, including international schools.