The UK Department for Education (DfE) has barred teachers trained in Nigeria and Ghana from applying for the Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) in England through the United Kingdom’s overseas-trained teacher application route.

The DfE said the change took effect on September 9, 2026, following a review of the countries whose teachers remain eligible under the scheme.

Under the QTS route, applicants are generally required to hold a valid and unexpired passport, an undergraduate degree equivalent to a UK bachelor’s degree and professional recognition as a teacher in the country where they completed their training.

Applicants must also have completed all mandatory induction requirements needed to obtain full teacher registration in their country of qualification.

The DfE said applicants’ teaching qualifications and professional experience are assessed against strict requirements before QTS is awarded.

According to the department, an eligible country must have a national regulator capable of confirming a teacher’s professional standing and providing authenticated references.

It said Nigeria and Ghana were removed from the eligibility list after failing to meet the requirement.

“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.

“This means assessors spend additional time and resources trying to verify information provided in applications.”

The UK education department said about 90 per cent of applications are assessed within 12 months.

India was also removed from the list after the DfE determined that it did not have a national regulator capable of confirming applicants’ professional standing.

With the latest changes, South Africa is now the only African country remaining on the list of countries whose teachers can apply through the overseas-trained teacher route.

Explaining the requirement for reliable verification, the department said: “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.”

1. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has extended his working vacation in Europe by a few days and will return this weekend, the Presidency announced yesterday.

But African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar and his party protested the extension.

The party even threatened a legal challenge to the action

2. The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Lagos State Command, has smashed an illegal factory in the Badagry area of Lagos State, where adulterated fruit juice branded as “Barkas Juice” was allegedly being produced. Two women were arrested in connection with the operation. The command’s Public Relations Officer, Oluwaseun Abolurin, disclosed in a statement on Monday that the suspects were arrested after operatives from the Badagry area conducted about five days of surveillance in collaboration with a Nigerian Army formation in the area.

3. Lateef Fagbemi, attorney-general of the federation (AGF) and minister of justice, has asked the federal high court in Abuja to dismiss the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Nasir el-Rufai, former Kaduna governor, against the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
During proceedings on Monday, the AGF, who was represented in court by Maimuna Lami-Shiru, a lawyer from the federal ministry of justice, said he had filed a counter-affidavit challenging el-Rufai’s suit.

4. Parents and community members of Mussa and Lassa in Askira/Uba Local Government Area of Borno State on Monday threatened to storm the Presidential Villa in Abuja within six days if their abducted children are not rescued from Boko Haram captivity. The distressed families, whose children have now spent more than 130 days in the hands of insurgents, expressed their frustration during a protest over the government’s perceived inaction in Askira/Uba.

5. The Nigerian Air Force has taken a major step towards the acquisition of 12 AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters following a beam-signing ceremony with Bell Textron in Amarillo, Texas, United States. The Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Aneke, led a NAF delegation to the ceremony, which marked a significant milestone in the implementation of the Nigeria-United States Government defence cooperation programme.

6. Staff of Federal Unity Colleges nationwide defied the Federal Government’s directive to resume academic activities on Monday, insisting that their indefinite strike over the concession of King’s College, Lagos, remains in force. During visits to some Unity Colleges in Lagos and Ibadan on Monday, staff union members were sighted in front of the school gates, while parents largely stayed away despite the Federal Government’s resumption directive.

7. The Abia State Police Command has arrested four suspects for allegedly stealing a four-day-old baby from its mother, who is mentally challenged, and selling the infant to another person. The Police Public Relations Officer, Maureen Chinaka, disclosed this in a statement on Monday. She identified the suspects as Gladys Nathaniel, 48; Victor Udochukwu, 47; Chijioke Obunwa, 59; and Onyeonoro Chinwe, 43.

8. Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has revealed how the G-5 governors strategically worked against the presidential ambition of the Peoples Democratic Party candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the South-South during the 2023 election.
Wike disclosed this on Monday during an interview on TVC’s Journalists’ Hangout where he explained that the G-5 identified Atiku and the strength of the PDP in the region as a major concern and decided to allow Labour Party candidate Peter Obi to win some states.

9. Kwara State All Progressives Congress’ (APC’s) governorship candidate for the 2027 general election, Yakubu Salihu, now has a new running mate. He is Oluwaseun Ogunniyi aka Adato. Ogunniyi represents Ojomu/Balogun Constituency in the House of Assembly. He hails from Offa in Offa Local Government

10. The Plateau State Government has imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Mangu Local Government Areas of the state following attacks and killings in the LGAs. It was gathered that more than 20 people, including women and children, were killed in Mangu, Barkin Ladi, Bokkos and Riyom LGAs within two days. Many houses were also burned in the attacks.

The identities of the thirty-seven suspected illegal miners who died in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in Niger state have been revealed.

The victims were reportedly among several suspects arrested during operations conducted on September 15 and 16 around Lt Gen Mohammed Inuwa Wushishi Estate in Minna, the Niger state capital.

Suberu Aniviye, NSCDC commandant in the state at the time, had said in a statement that “scores of the detained suspects were found dead in the early hours of Thursday following a suspected outbreak of disease”.

Following the development, the Federal Government suspended Aniviye and ordered a full Suberu Aniviye into the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

But in a report by TheCable, the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) claimed that had compiled a list of the 37 deceased. 

According to TheCable, Awaisu Giwa, international peace ambassador at the IHRC, said on Sunday that the organisation obtained the initial list from the records of General Hospital, Minna.

Giwa said the names were provided by the mortuary attendant on the instruction of the hospital’s chief medical director (CMD).

He said four additional names had been added to the list after relatives of victims whose names were not initially recorded approached the commission.

“We got the list from the CMD of the general hospital. It was written by the mortuary attendant for us, but we are going to the hospital tomorrow for the list to be on the official letterhead of the hospital,” he said.

“The CMD was the one who instructed the mortuary attendant to give us the names. Some people whose relatives were missing are beginning to report in our office.”

Giwa said the list would also be used to facilitate compensation for families of those who died in the incident.

The newspaper also revealed the identities of the victims as follow:

Ibrahim Sani

Fahad Sa’adu

Abdulsalam Ismail

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Usman Aliyu

Abubakar Alhaji

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Sani Nasir

Sanusi Khalid

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Ahmad Aliyu

Safiyanu Abdullahi

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Suleiman Dantala

Idris Haruna

Sani Yakubu

Safiyanu Abubakar

Abdullahi Abubakar

Abubakar Musa

Abdul Mudassir

Suleiman Lawal

Usman Abdullahi

Samuel Sambo

Ibrahim Musa

Yusuf Nasiru

Umar Lawal

Isyaku Amisu

Bissallah Adamu

Abdulbari Suleiman

Shafisu Lado

Usman Ahmad

Usman Ibrahim

Sani Isyaku

Musa Ibrahim

Idris Bashir

Kabiru Suleiman

Emmanuel Emeka

Mu’awiya AbdulKarim (not included in the general hospital list)

Abdul Gafar Abubakar (not included in the general hospital list)

Usman Haruna (not included in the general hospital list)

Yaro Salihu Soba (not included in the general hospital list)

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