The change took effect on September 9, according to the UK Department for Education (DfE), which said overseas teaching qualifications and experience must meet strict requirements before applicants can be awarded QTS.
The department explained that eligible countries must have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional standing and must also provide authenticated references for applicants.
However, the DfE said Nigeria and Ghana failed to meet the required reference standard.
“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.
India was also removed from the list because it does not have a national regulator that can confirm the professional standing of teachers. South Africa is now the only African country remaining on the eligible list.
The DfE said the requirements were necessary to ensure that information provided by applicants could be verified.
“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,” it said.
To qualify for QTS, applicants must have a valid passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree and professional recognition as a teacher in their country of training.
They must also have completed the required induction for full registration and provide evidence of at least nine months of teaching experience after qualifying, with references confirming their work history through a school-domain email address.
The DfE noted that teachers in England are employed by individual schools, meaning some schools may consider alternative qualification routes. However, QTS remains the preferred qualification for most schools.
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