DBS check

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) issues certificates showing information from criminal records. Employers use them to decide whether someone is suitable for a role. GOV.UK notes that employers can request a more detailed check for certain roles, for example in healthcare. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own systems, run by Disclosure Scotland and AccessNI.

A DBS certificate has no official expiry date. The information is accurate on the day of the check, and each employer decides when it needs a new one.

• Basic: unspent convictions and conditional cautions.
• Standard: spent and unspent convictions and cautions.
• Enhanced: as standard, plus information held by local police that is considered relevant to the role.
• Enhanced with barred lists: as enhanced, plus whether you are on a list of people barred from doing the role.

1. Your employer, or an umbrella body acting for it, gives you an application form for a standard or enhanced check. You cannot usually apply for these yourself.
2. You complete it and provide identity documents.
3. The employer sends it to DBS.
4. DBS posts the certificate to you, and you show it to the employer.
5. If you want to reuse it, register for the DBS Update Service within 30 days of issue.

The Update Service only works for standard and enhanced certificates. Once subscribed, you can carry a certificate from one role to the next unless the new organisation asks for a fresh check, or the role needs a different workforce type or a higher level. For adult care roles, DBS Adult First can confirm within about 2 days whether someone can start under supervision, for an extra £6.

From 5 October 2026 the fees are £20 for a basic check, £20 for a standard check and £41 for an enhanced check, down from £21.50, £21.50 and £49.50. The Update Service costs £15 a year. Checks for volunteers are free, and the registered body may add an administration fee. A basic check takes up to 14 days. Standard and enhanced checks usually take around 8 weeks, depending on the details given and which police forces are involved.

GOV.UK states that DBS checks do not cover the time someone lived outside the UK. It tells employers to check the rules in the country where the person lived, which is why overseas recruits are asked for a police clearance certificate from each country they have lived in, and regulators ask about character as part of fitness to practise. If you are coming on a Health and Care Worker visa, our visa guide explains the documents the Home Office asks for.

• Name or address history errors that delay the police search.
• Missing the 30-day window for the Update Service.
• Assuming a certificate never needs renewing. It has no official expiry, but each employer decides when a new check is needed.