How to get a DBS check for an employee or volunteer

Who can ask for which check

• The DBS says a Basic check can be used for any position or purpose. A Basic certificate shows unspent convictions and cautions held on the Police National Computer (PNC).
• Standard, Enhanced and Enhanced with Barred List(s) checks are only open to employers entitled by law to ask an “exempted question”: a question that includes spent convictions, apart from protected cautions and convictions that are filtered. The roles are set out in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
• The DBS says knowingly asking for a higher level of check than the law allows is unlawful, and could breach the Data Protection Act 2018 and other law.
• A Standard check is for duties, positions and licences in that Order. The DBS gives court officers, work in a prison and Security Industry Authority licences as examples. It shows spent and unspent convictions and adult cautions from the PNC that have not been filtered.
• An Enhanced check is for specific duties, positions and licences in both that Order and the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) regulations. The DBS gives regularly caring for, training, supervising or being in sole charge of children as an example. It adds a check of information held by police forces.
• An Enhanced check with Barred List(s) is only for people carrying out regulated activity, and a small number of other positions listed in the regulations. It adds a check against the Children's and/or Adults' Barred Lists.
• The minimum age at which someone can be asked to apply is 16.
• The DBS says the roles in its eligibility guidance are written as they appear in legislation, not as in job descriptions. It says the duties of the person must meet the legislative test for the level of check applied for.

Who submits the application

• The DBS says an organisation can register with the DBS if it submits more than 100 applications a year, or it can use an organisation offering umbrella body services.
• An umbrella body is a Registered Body that gives other, non-registered organisations access to DBS checks. The DBS says an organisation that needs fewer than 100 checks a year should use one, and it must also be eligible to ask the exempted question.
• Registration costs £300, plus £5 for each countersignatory. A countersignatory is a person in the Registered Body who is registered with the DBS to countersign applications. They declare that the position is eligible for the check requested.
• For a Basic check, the DBS says the employer can ask the person to apply directly to the DBS (if they work in England or Wales) or to Disclosure Scotland (if they work in Scotland), or can use a Responsible Organisation with the applicant's consent.

What happens after the application reaches the DBS

The DBS sets out five stages (stages 3 and 4 do not apply to a Basic check):

1. Form received and validated. It is checked for errors or omissions, then scanned onto the DBS system or returned to the countersignatory within 24 hours of receipt.
2. The Police National Computer is searched for matches.
3. The Children's and Adults' Barred Lists are searched, where applicable.
4. Records held by the police are searched (Enhanced checks).
5. The certificate is printed and posted to the applicant. The applicant then shows it to the employer.

The DBS says processing times vary, and that some checks take longer, particularly Enhanced checks referred to the police for checks against non-conviction data. It publishes processing times on its performance pages.

Tracking: the DBS says it provides a free online tracking service for Standard and Enhanced applications, showing which stage an application has reached, whether it was returned for errors, and whether the result has been dispatched. For Basic checks the applicant, employer and Responsible Organisation can track using the application reference number, the applicant's surname and date of birth.

The certificate

• The DBS says a certificate is accurate as at its date of issue and has no official expiry date. In certain sectors a new check may be required periodically, and the law may require a fresh barred-list check under sector guidance.
• The DBS says employers must see an original certificate. It says copies or digital photographs are not acceptable and must be rejected.
• It describes security features: printing on both sides, paper larger than A4, personal details in purple, a crown seal watermark down the right-hand side, and a wave-pattern background with the word “Disclosure”. It says to contact the DBS if unsure a certificate is genuine.
• The DBS says a certificate that reveals no information may in some cases be sent as a letter (for example through e-bulk). It says such a letter should state at the start that it is not a certificate issued by the DBS.
• The code of practice says certificate information should be used only for the purpose it was obtained for, and destroyed after a suitable period, usually no longer than six months.
• The DBS says its minimum-age and storage rules come from the code of practice issued under section 122(2) of the Police Act 1997, and that organisations must comply with it.
• A previously-issued certificate: the DBS says it is the employer's decision whether to accept one. If the person is not on the Update Service it lists points to consider: information may have changed since issue; the level may not be right for the role; the workforce shown (child, adult, both or other) may not be right; and the identity details must match. See DBS Update Service results explained.
• The DBS says a person can join the Update Service within 30 days of the certificate being issued (the Update Service is for Standard and Enhanced checks only), and that if a reprint is requested the 30 days run from the original date.