Entry qualification, academic achievement, and teaching practices of newly qualified teachers (NQTs) qenrolled into the teacher education programme directly from senior high school (DfSHS) were compared with NQTs enrolled through the Untrained Teacher Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE) programme. Survey data collected from 140 NQTs (84 DfSHS and 56 UTDBE) of 20 public schools in central Ghana and lesson observations showed that the two categories of Newly qualified teachers differed greatly in entry grades and academic achievements during training. Differences in teaching practices pertained to content knowledge, classroom interactions, and lesson closure. Implications for pre-service and in-service teaching training are discussed.