A Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is a criminal background check that provides employers with an accurate and up-to-date overview of an individual's criminal record. It reveals details of all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and final warnings listed in central police records, as well as additional information contained in local police records that is deemed relevant. The DBS also checks the lists of barred adults and children, depending on the role of the person or position for which they are applying. At this level of DBS check, the individual's criminal record will be examined and any convictions or conditional cautions* that have not been disclosed by the applicant will be revealed.
Adult cautions will not be included in standard and enhanced DBS checks after 6 years, unless it is for a specific offence. If you are concerned about the information your DBS check may contain, you can request the police to release it to you before the check commences. The checks are referred to as DBS checks because the government body that carries them out is called the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and Barring Service enables employers to ensure the trustworthiness of potential employees by checking their criminal records to see if they have been cautioned, reprimanded, or convicted. DBS checks are designed and created primarily for organisations and companies to make informed hiring decisions with accurate and up-to-date information. Convictions of minors will be excluded from DBS checks if 5.5 years have elapsed since the date of conviction, if no custodial sentence has been imposed and if it has not been for a specific offence.
The system works by periodically checking an individual's criminal record without needing further criminal checks. For example, someone in a senior management role in the financial sector could be eligible for standard DBS verification. If someone is going to work with children, with money or with vulnerable adults, a potential employer will check their background to verify that they are suitably qualified to care for children, check their credit history to ensure that they can be trusted to manage money or their work history when caring for an elderly person with medical issues. If you're unhappy with the information the police have about you, you can request the police to release it to you before the check commences. Care Check is one of the main accredited bodies of the Disclosure and Barring Service and has been named one of the eight leading providers of criminal background checks in the United Kingdom.
