The United Kingdom government has blamed difficulties in verifying employment records submitted by applicants for its decision to remove Nigeria- and Ghana-trained teachers from the countries eligible for its direct Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) route.
The UK Department for Education said a significant proportion of applications from teachers trained in both countries contained work-history references linked to personal email accounts rather than official school addresses.
The department said its data showed that more than 70 per cent of applications from Nigeria and Ghana included references sent from public email platforms such as Gmail and Hotmail.
According to the UK government, the use of such addresses meant assessors had to devote additional time and resources to establishing whether the information supplied by applicants was genuine.
“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 for Education said.
“This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications.”
The explanation came after the UK ended the direct QTS application route for teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana on September 9.
The route had been extended to the two countries in 2023, allowing suitably qualified teachers to apply for QTS without going through some of the alternative pathways available to overseas teachers.
The Department for Education said countries on the direct application list must satisfy requirements that enable the UK authorities to authenticate teachers’ qualifications, professional standing and work experience.
Among the conditions is the existence of a national regulator that can confirm an applicant’s professional standing and provide authenticated references.
The UK government said the verification requirements were necessary to maintain confidence in the credentials of overseas teachers granted QTS.
“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.
Nigeria and Ghana are not the only countries affected by changes to the list. India was also removed, but the UK government attributed that decision to the absence of a national regulator capable of confirming teachers’ professional standing.
South Africa is currently the only African country retained on the list of countries eligible for the direct QTS application route.
The UK Department for Education said around 90 per cent of applications are assessed within 12 months.
Teachers who are no longer eligible for the direct service can consider other routes to obtain QTS, it said.
For the direct route, applicants are required to hold a valid passport and an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree.
They must also be recognised as professional teachers in the country where they trained and have completed any mandatory induction requirements necessary for full registration.
Applicants must demonstrate that they can teach children aged five to 16 and have at least nine months of teaching experience, equivalent to one school year.
The experience must have been obtained after they became qualified teachers.
They must also submit references capable of confirming their employment history, with the references required to use email addresses associated with the relevant school’s official domain.
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