TRCN Teacher Verification API

A partner integration guide for approved examination bodies and government agencies that need to confirm TRCN teacher standing before examiner, invigilator, supervisor, or posting workflows.

Request access View quickstart

What the API answers

Is this person a TRCN-verified teacher?

Have they passed PQE?
Do they hold a TRCN certificate?
Do they hold a professional licence?
Is the licence valid, expired, due for renewal, suspended, or revoked?

Quickstart

Use the primary endpoint for single-record checks. Send the least sensitive identifier that can uniquely match the teacher, preferably TRCN registration number or Teacher ID.

cURL request

curl https://api.trcn.gov.ng/v1/inter-agency/teacher-verification \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TRCN_PARTNER_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: 9d6d3c30-8bd1-4d62-9ec6-17c03d44f3a7" \
  -d '{
    "identifier": {
      "regNo": "TRCN/AB/001234"
    },
    "purpose": "WAEC_EXAMINER_REGISTRATION",
    "context": {
      "partnerReference": "WAEC-EXAMINER-2026-000481",
      "examBody": "WAEC",
      "examYear": 2026,
      "role": "Examiner",
      "subjectCode": "ENG"
    }
  }'

Signed response envelope

{
  "verificationId": "ver_8f4b7d6c9a1e4f23b1c0a992",
  "verifiedAt": "2026-05-04T18:34:11.229Z",
  "issuer": "https://api.trcn.gov.ng",
  "audience": "waec",
  "result": {
    "found": true,
    "source": "new_system",
    "verifiedByTrcn": true,
    "eligibleForExamDuty": true,
    "professionalStanding": "ACTIVE",
    "teacher": {
      "name": "Okafor Adaeze Ngozi",
      "tId": 70123,
      "state": "Lagos",
      "category": "A"
    },
    "pqe": {
      "status": "PASSED",
      "examNumber": "PQE-001",
      "gradeLabel": "Passed",
      "source": "result"
    },
    "certificate": {
      "status": "VERIFIED",
      "regNo": "TRCN/AB/001234",
      "issueDate": "2026-01-10"
    },
    "license": {
      "status": "VALID",
      "expiryDate": "2029-01-10",
      "daysRemaining": 981,
      "validityYears": 3,
      "renewalState": "CURRENT"
    },
    "disciplinary": {
      "status": "CLEAR",
      "source": "credential_records"
    },
    "reasons": ["PQE_PASSED", "CERTIFICATE_VERIFIED", "LICENSE_VALID"]
  },
  "signature": "eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsImtpZCI6InRyY24taW50ZXJhZ2VuY3ktdjEifQ...",
  "signatureKid": "trcn-interagency-v1"
}

Authentication and signed responses

Partner access is not self-service because the API can disclose regulated professional standing. TRCN issues credentials after partner approval, scope assignment, and UAT.

Partner credentials

Use Bearer API keys or mTLS certificates issued for a named partner system.

Purpose-limited calls

Every request must declare a permitted purpose such as WAEC examiner registration or NECO e-Posting.

Verify the envelope

Responses include a JWS signature. Fetch JWKS and verify issuer, audience, and key id.

Node.js verification example

import { jwtVerify, createRemoteJWKSet } from "jose";

const jwks = createRemoteJWKSet(
  new URL("https://api.trcn.gov.ng/v1/inter-agency/.well-known/jwks.json")
);

const response = await fetch("https://api.trcn.gov.ng/v1/inter-agency/teacher-verification", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.TRCN_PARTNER_API_KEY}`,
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
    "Idempotency-Key": crypto.randomUUID()
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    identifier: { nin: "12345678901" },
    purpose: "NECO_SUPERVISOR_RECRUITMENT",
    context: {
      partnerReference: "NECO-SUP-2026-01442",
      examBody: "NECO",
      examYear: 2026,
      role: "Supervisor"
    }
  })
});

const envelope = await response.json();
await jwtVerify(envelope.signature, jwks, {
  issuer: "https://api.trcn.gov.ng",
  audience: "neco"
});

if (envelope.result.eligibleForExamDuty) {
  // Continue examiner or supervisor workflow.
}

Endpoints and partner purposes

The API is versioned in the URL and returns JSON. Batch calls accept up to 100 records and should include idempotency keys for safe retry.

Method	Path	Use
POST	/v1/inter-agency/teacher-verification	Primary teacher standing check
POST	/v1/inter-agency/eligibility-check	Compatibility alias for older integrations
POST	/v1/inter-agency/batch	Batch verification, maximum 100 records
GET	/v1/inter-agency/.well-known/jwks.json	Public keys for response verification
GET	/v1/inter-agency/health	Public service health check

Supported WAEC and NECO purposes

WAEC_EXAMINER_REGISTRATIONWAEC_MARKING_VENUE_UPLOADWAEC_MARKING_INVITATIONWAEC_CURRENT_EXAMINER_RECHECKNECO_SUPERVISOR_RECRUITMENTNECO_EPOSTING_ASSIGNMENTNECO_SUPERVISOR_APPOINTMENT

Professional standing statuses

Partners should drive their workflow from eligibleForExamDuty and keep professionalStanding for audit, reporting, and manual review queues.

Standing	Eligible	Meaning
ACTIVE	Yes	PQE passed, certificate verified, licence valid.
RENEWAL_DUE	Yes	Licence is still valid but close to renewal.
EXPIRED	No	TRCN licence has expired.
CERTIFIED_UNLICENSED	No	Certificate exists but no valid licence was found.
PQE_FAILED	No	Candidate did not pass PQE.
PQE_NOT_FOUND	No	No digital PQE pass or trusted legacy substitute was found.
REVOKED	No	Credential record indicates revocation.
SUSPENDED	No	Credential record indicates suspension.
NOT_FOUND	No	No matching TRCN teacher record was found.

Production checklist

These are the integration rules TRCN expects partner teams to meet before production traffic is enabled.

Retry safely

Use Idempotency-Key on POST requests and exponential backoff on 429 or transient 5xx responses.

Protect teacher data

Never expose API keys in browser code. Store only the minimum response fields needed for the exam workflow.

Use typed integration code

Validate request and response schemas in the partner application, and reject unknown professional standing values.

Keep an audit trail

Persist verificationId, partnerReference, purpose, timestamp, and professionalStanding for later review.

Need access?

Contact TRCN with your organisation name, technical contact, intended use case, expected request volume, and preferred identifiers. Credentials are issued only to approved partners.

Contact TRCN

For public teacher checks without partner credentials, use Search the Register.