Daily DBS
Guide · updated 10 November 2026

Do you have to re-check DBS certificates for existing staff?

Short answer. A DBS check has no official expiry date. The DBS says there is no prescribed frequency for Update Service status checks. Some sectors have their own rules, set out below. This guide covers England, and Wales where stated. The DBS covers England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Where the suitability decision is made in Scotland the application goes to Disclosure Scotland, and in Northern Ireland to Access NI. We have not covered Scottish or Northern Irish sector rules.

Want to know the day a status changes, not the day you next look? Daily DBS runs the free GOV.UK status check for everyone on your list every day.

See how it works  ·  Try the demo  ·  Start a 14-day free trial

What the DBS says

  • There is no official expiry date for a criminal record check issued by the DBS. Information on a certificate is accurate as at the date it was issued. (DBS considerations, as set out in the Ofsted guidance.)
  • In certain sectors, a new criminal record check may be required periodically. You may also be required by law to carry out a fresh barred list check under sector-specific guidance. (Same source.)
  • The Update Service employer guide says there is no prescribed frequency for status checks. It says organisations should determine a risk-based schedule that takes into account the nature of the role, the level of potential risk, regulatory requirements and safeguarding policies.
  • The DBS searches weekly for new convictions and barred list information, and every nine months for non-conviction information. It does not tell employers when a status changes.
  • The guide gives an example in which an academy's policy is to run status checks every 6 months, and to re-check staff identities every 2 years.
  • You can only check someone's status if you have their consent and could legally request a new check for the role. You must stop if the person leaves, moves to a role you are not entitled to check, or withdraws consent.

Schools and colleges in England

Keeping children safe in education (KCSIE) 2026 came into force on 1 September 2026. The paragraph numbers below are from the 2026 edition.

  • Existing staff and volunteers (paragraph 425). The paragraph says there are limited circumstances where schools and colleges need to carry out new checks on existing staff or volunteers. They are when a person moves from a post that was not regulated activity with children into work that is, when there has been a break in service of 12 weeks or more, or when there are concerns about the person's suitability to work with children.
  • Update Service (paragraphs 328 to 330). Applicants can join when they apply for a new check, or within 30 calendar days of the certificate's issue date. Before using the service a school must get the individual's consent, confirm the certificate matches their identity, examine the original certificate and check the level is right for the role. Paragraph 329 says that, as good practice, many schools and colleges require new staff or volunteers engaged in regulated activity to join the Update Service as part of their employment contract. It lists the benefits as portability of a check across employers, free online checks to see whether the recorded information has changed, and that the individual can see which organisations have carried out a status check on their account.
  • Staff from other posts (paragraphs 314 to 316 and 327). Paragraph 314 says a school has no requirement to obtain an enhanced DBS certificate if, in a period that ended not more than three months before the person's appointment, the applicant worked in a school in England in a post that brought them regularly into contact with children (or in other posts the paragraph lists, including some further education and 16 to 19 academy posts). Paragraph 315 sets the equivalent test for colleges. Paragraph 316 says schools and colleges should carefully consider whether to request a certificate anyway, to have up-to-date information, and must still carry out all other relevant pre-appointment checks, including a separate children's barred list check where the person is in regulated activity.
  • Volunteers (paragraphs 383 and 385). Under the Crime and Policing Act 2026, a volunteer in a role that involves teaching, training, instructing or supervising children frequently, or on more than 3 days in a 30-day period, or overnight, is now in regulated activity (paragraph 383). Existing volunteers who enter regulated activity from 1 September 2026 must have their children's barred list status checked.

We searched the full text of KCSIE 2026 and found no fixed interval for re-checking existing staff. Paragraph 425 is where it deals with new checks on existing staff.

Early years and childcare in England

Ofsted's guidance (page shows "Updated 1 November 2024", applies to England):

  • Ofsted strongly recommends that people registering with it as a childcare provider or childminder, and everyone aged 16 or over associated with the application, join the Update Service.
  • For people Ofsted does not check, such as staff in nurseries on non-domestic premises, it is the provider's decision whether to require them to join.
  • For people Ofsted assesses, it accepts an existing certificate from another organisation only if it is an enhanced check, the position states "child workforce", and the person is registered with the Update Service.
  • For other staff, the page says it is best to expect a certificate to have been issued within 3 months if the person is not on the Update Service, and that an existing check should not be used after a break in service of more than 3 months.
  • Ofsted does not routinely repeat checks on people already registered with it. A new check is needed when a person already known to Ofsted applies to register new provision or take a new role, and any of these apply: greater access to children or more responsibility, a break of more than 3 months between posts, concerns about suitability, or they have never had a DBS check.

The EYFS statutory framework for group and school-based providers (version from September 2026):

  • Paragraph 3.15: providers must obtain an enhanced criminal records check and barred list check for every person aged 16 or over who works directly with children or works or lives on the premises, subject to stated exceptions.
  • Paragraph 3.17: providers must not allow people to begin working or volunteering until they have received the applicant's enhanced criminal records and barred list check, and must not allow anyone whose suitability has not been checked to have unsupervised contact with children.
  • Footnote 24: where a potential or existing employee has subscribed to the Update Service, providers should check the status of the disclosure. If the check shows a change, a new enhanced DBS disclosure must be applied for. Consent must be obtained from the member of staff before the Update Service is accessed.
  • We searched the full text of the framework and found no periodic re-check interval.

The EYFS statutory framework for childminders (version from September 2026): Ofsted, or the childminder's agency, completes suitability checks, and enhanced criminal records and barred list checks are required for relevant people including volunteers (paragraphs 3.16 and 3.17). Paragraph 3.14 says it is the childminder's responsibility to check the initial and ongoing suitability of an assistant. We found no periodic re-check interval in the framework.

Health and social care

England. Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires persons employed to be of good character, and requires the information in Schedule 3 to be available for each person. Schedule 3 includes, where required, a copy of the relevant criminal record certificate. CQC's guidance on Regulation 19 says providers must operate robust recruitment procedures, must have a procedure for ongoing monitoring of staff, and must regularly review the fitness of employees. It says "person employed" includes volunteers, contractors and agency or bank staff. The page does not name the DBS and does not give a re-check interval. CQC's separate FAQs on Regulation 19 say CQC expects each provider to undertake the level of DBS check for which a staff member is eligible, and that providers must be able to demonstrate sound reasons for not obtaining a full DBS check before a person takes up post and show they have assessed any potential risk. The FAQs do not give a re-check interval either.

Wales. Regulation 35 of the Regulated Services (Service Providers and Responsible Individuals) (Wales) Regulations 2017 applies to service providers under those regulations. For a person appointed to a post covered by regulation 35(1), which includes employees, volunteers and others working at the service:

  • if the person is registered with the DBS Update Service, the service provider must check their certificate status at least annually (regulation 35(5));
  • if not, the service provider must apply for a new DBS certificate within three years of the issue of the earlier certificate, and at least every three years after that (regulation 35(6)).

Charities (England and Wales)

The Charity Commission's guidance says to consider asking DBS applicants to register with the Update Service, or to consider carrying out further DBS checks on a regular basis. It sets no interval. It says trustees should review what checks are needed as the charity evolves or roles change. See DBS checks for charities, volunteers and trustees.

Cost

The Update Service costs £15 a year, and is free for volunteers who meet the DBS conditions. Status checks are free. Our fees guide has the current DBS check fees.

Daily DBS runs the free GOV.UK status check for everyone on your list every day.

See how it works  ·  Start a 14-day free trial

Coming soon: DBS applications through Daily DBS.

Sources

Daily DBS is independent of the DBS and UK Government. This guide summarises published guidance. Sector rules change: check the current version for your setting. Paragraph numbers may change in later editions. Checked against these sources on 10 November 2026.