Teacher Verification API

Who this is for

The Teacher Verification API is for organisations that need to confirm a Nigerian teacher’s TRCN registration status programmatically. Typical consumers:

• Examination bodies (WAEC, NECO, JAMB) verifying invigilator and examiner credentials
• Schools and education employers running pre-hire HR checks
• Recruitment platforms validating teaching credentials at point of application
• Government agencies cross-referencing TRCN status against payroll, pension, or licensing data

For an interactive lookup that does not require any code, use the public Search the Register page.

Quick reference

Quick start

The endpoint accepts a single query parameter, searchTerm, which can be a TRCN registration number, TID, NIN, email, or phone number.

curl "https://api.trcn.gov.ng/teacher/verify-license?searchTerm=TRCN%2FABJ%2F2024%2F123456"

Query parameters

Response

All responses use HTTP status 200 OK when the request itself is well-formed — including when no teacher matches the search term. Distinguish "no match" from "match" by reading the boolean found field, not the HTTP status code.

When a teacher is found

{
  "found": true,
  "name": "Adeyemi John Olumide",
  "tId": "1234567",
  "status": "Licensed",
  "state": "Lagos",
  "teacher": {
    "name": "Adeyemi John Olumide",
    "tId": "1234567",
    "state": "Lagos",
    "category": "Professional",
    "photoUrl": "https://api.trcn.gov.ng/file/proxy/..."
  },
  "certificate": {
    "status": "VERIFIED",
    "regNo": "TRCN/ABJ/2024/123456",
    "issueDate": "2024-01-15"
  },
  "license": {
    "status": "VALID",
    "issueDate": "2024-01-15",
    "expiryDate": "2027-01-14",
    "daysRemaining": 612
  },
  "verifiedAt": "2026-05-18T15:30:00.000Z"
}

• license.status is one of VALID, EXPIRED, or NOT_FOUND. Treat anything other than VALID as "not currently licensed".
• certificate.regNo is the canonical TRCN registration number. Use it as the stable identifier in your records — TID, NIN, email, and phone are secondary search keys that can change.
• teacher.photoUrl may be present but is not guaranteed; do not rely on it for identity confirmation in production flows.
• verifiedAt is the server timestamp when the lookup ran. Persist it alongside the result if you cache responses.

When no teacher matches

{
  "found": false,
  "verifiedAt": "2026-05-18T15:30:00.000Z"
}

Error responses

Code samples

const res = await fetch(
  'https://api.trcn.gov.ng/teacher/verify-license?searchTerm=' + encodeURIComponent(searchTerm)
);
const data = await res.json();

if (data.found) {
  console.log(data.teacher.name, '·', data.license.status);
} else {
  console.log('No TRCN record for that search term');
}

import requests

resp = requests.get(
    'https://api.trcn.gov.ng/teacher/verify-license',
    params={'searchTerm': search_term},
    timeout=10,
)
resp.raise_for_status()
data = resp.json()

if data['found']:
    print(data['teacher']['name'], data['license']['status'])
else:
    print('No TRCN record')

Rate limits and fair use

The endpoint is rate-limited per source IP to protect availability for all consumers. Typical interactive use (one verification per user action) is well within the limit. For bulk verification volumes — periodic reconciliation against an entire staff register, for example — please contact us so we can provision a dedicated channel.

Caching is permitted and encouraged. License status changes infrequently; a 24-hour TTL is appropriate for most consumers. Always persist verifiedAt with any cached response so you can prove when the check was performed.

OpenAPI specification

The full endpoint contract is published as an OpenAPI 3.1 document. Use it to generate typed client libraries, drive contract tests, or import into Postman / Insomnia / Bruno.