Criminal record checks for employers
A criminal record check shows a candidate's convictions and, at higher levels, cautions, police information and barred list status. Which body you use depends on where the job is based: the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for England and Wales, Disclosure Scotland for Scotland and AccessNI for Northern Ireland.
For most jobs no law requires a check. A basic check, showing unspent convictions and conditional cautions, is available for any role, but the ICO's draft guidance says you should not routinely vet all candidates unless the law requires it, and should vet only where you can identify significant and particular risks. Standard and enhanced checks are open only to roles listed in legislation, and DBS says knowingly asking for a higher level than the role allows is unlawful.
Start with the role. Decide whether the job carries a risk a criminal record would reveal, confirm the level the law allows, tell candidates early and check only the person you intend to appoint.
The levels of check in England and Wales
There are four levels of DBS check, and the role, not the employer, decides which one you can ask for.
Since 5 October 2026 DBS has charged £20.00 for a basic or standard check and £41.00 for an enhanced check, with or without barred lists. Standard and enhanced checks for eligible volunteers are free. Registered bodies and responsible organisations may add their own administration fee.
| Check | What it shows | Who can have it |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Unspent convictions and conditional cautions | Any position or purpose |
| Standard | Spent and unspent convictions and cautions, except those filtered out | Roles in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 |
| Enhanced | As standard, plus local police information considered relevant to the role | Roles in the exceptions order that are also covered by the Police Act 1997 regulations |
| Enhanced with barred lists | As enhanced, plus whether the person is barred from the role | People carrying out regulated activity and a small number of other listed positions |
Eligibility decides what you can ask for
Standard and enhanced checks are only available to employers entitled by law to ask about spent convictions, known as asking an exempted question. DBS says knowingly requesting a higher-level check than the legislation allows is unlawful and could breach the Data Protection Act 2018.
The recruiting organisation decides whether a check is needed and at what level, and must complete an eligibility assessment. The roles in the DBS eligibility guide reflect how they are written in legislation, not in your job description. These laws make checks available; they do not make them mandatory.
On 1 September 2026 the supervision exemption was removed from regulated activity with children in England and Wales, and the law also changed in Northern Ireland. People who teach, train, instruct, care for or supervise children on more than 3 days in any 30-day period, or once overnight between 2am and 6am, can now be in regulated activity even if someone else supervises them, where the other regulated activity criteria are met. DBS says this does not create a new requirement to carry out checks, but some roles can now have a children's barred list check.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
In Scotland, a Level 1 disclosure has replaced the basic disclosure, shows unspent convictions and is open to anyone. Level 2 is only used for specific roles, such as solicitors and prison workers. Joining the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme is a legal requirement for regulated roles with children or protected adults, and membership lasts 5 years.
In Northern Ireland, AccessNI provides basic, standard and enhanced checks. A basic check shows unspent convictions and anyone can apply. Standard checks are only available where the role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders (NI) Order 1978 and are not suitable for work with children or vulnerable adults, where an enhanced check is normally required. AccessNI says an employer can ask all applicants for a basic check, but the ICO's proportionality test still applies.
Spent convictions and filtering
In England and Wales, outside the exceptions order, section 4 of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 says a spent conviction, or a failure to disclose one, is not a proper ground for excluding a person from employment. For an adult, a fine becomes spent 12 months after the date of conviction (6 months if the person was under 18).
Even DBS standard and enhanced certificates filter out some old and minor records. Convictions and adult cautions for specified offences, and convictions that led to a custodial sentence, always appear. Other adult cautions appear for 6 years, other adult convictions for 11 years and youth convictions for 5 and a half years. Police may still add relevant information to an enhanced check.
The ICO expects that in general you will only need information about unspent convictions.
Running the check fairly
The ICO says you should not generally ask for a criminal records declaration on the application form; explain instead that you will ask for one at conditional offer. As far as possible, obtain a disclosure only for the person you intend to appoint, and tell candidates at the start what level of check the role needs.
Processing criminal offence data needs a lawful basis and, unless you have official authority, a condition in Schedule 1 to the Data Protection Act 2018, often with an appropriate policy document. The ICO says this processing will in most cases be high risk, so you must carry out a data protection impact assessment.
If you carry out criminal records checks you must have a policy on employing ex-offenders and show it to any applicant who asks. See the original DBS certificate: copies and digital photographs are not acceptable. A certificate has no official expiry date, so you decide when a new check is needed.
When a check shows a record
DBS guidance suggests your ex-offender policy commits to treating applicants fairly, not discriminating unfairly because of a conviction, and holding an open and measured discussion of any offence revealed. Talk to the candidate before you decide and record your reasoning. In our experience the questions that matter most are how relevant the offence is to this job and how long ago it happened.
A candidate can dispute a standard or enhanced certificate within 3 months of the date on it. An employer can also appeal a DBS check if it has spoken to the applicant first.
The DBS code of practice says certificate information should usually be destroyed after no longer than 6 months. Keep the outcome and your reasons, not the certificate, unless a sector rule says otherwise. For a second opinion on which check a role justifies, or on how to handle a disclosure, ask HRjoy.
What to tell the candidate
- Tell candidates at the start what level of check the role needs and how you will carry it out.
- A job applicant usually has no legal obligation to reveal spent convictions unless the role is in the exceptions order.
- Candidates can ask to see your policy on employing ex-offenders.
- A candidate can dispute a mistake on a standard or enhanced certificate within 3 months of its date.
- You must not require a candidate to obtain their own records through a subject access request.
Sources
- Pre-employment vetting of candidates · ICO
- Information provided by candidates · ICO
- Criminal offence data · ICO
- Check someone's criminal record · GOV.UK
- DBS checks guidance for employers, voluntary organisations and third parties · GOV.UK (Disclosure and Barring Service)
- DBS eligibility guidance · GOV.UK (Disclosure and Barring Service)
- DBS reduces fees for checks and Update Service from 5 October 2026 · GOV.UK (Disclosure and Barring Service)
- Change to the definition of regulated activity with children from 1 September 2026 · GOV.UK (Disclosure and Barring Service)
- Regulated activity with children: common misconceptions about the Sept 2026 Supervision Exemption changes · GOV.UK (Disclosure and Barring Service)
- New filtering rules for DBS certificates (from 28 October 2023 onwards) · GOV.UK (Disclosure and Barring Service)
- Rehabilitation periods · GOV.UK
- Recruitment of ex-offenders guidance · GOV.UK (Disclosure and Barring Service)
- Dispute a mistake on your DBS certificate · GOV.UK
- DBS Update Service · GOV.UK
- Guidance on the application process for criminal records checks overseas · GOV.UK (Home Office)
- Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, section 4 · legislation.gov.uk
- Data Protection Act 2018, section 184 · legislation.gov.uk
- Disclosure levels · mygov.scot
- Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme · mygov.scot
- Types of AccessNI checks · nidirect
- Regulation 19: Fit and proper persons employed · Care Quality Commission
- Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, Schedule 3 · legislation.gov.uk
- FIT 2 Main assessment criteria · FCA Handbook
- Keeping children safe in education 2026 · GOV.UK
- Early years foundation stage statutory framework for group and school-based providers · GOV.UK
General information for employers in the UK, not legal advice. HRjoy advises on screening policy and fair process. We do not run checks ourselves; where you need checks run, we can introduce you to our screening partners. Check the official sources for your situation.
When it’s justified
Usually justified
- Regulated activity with children in schools, colleges and early years settings in England, where KCSIE or the EYFS framework requires an enhanced check with children's barred list information
- Regulated roles with children or protected adults in Scotland, where PVG scheme membership is a legal requirement
- People employed for the purposes of carrying on a CQC-regulated activity in England, where Schedule 3 requires a copy of the criminal record certificate if one is required for an exempted question
- Senior managers and certified staff in FCA-regulated firms, where FIT says firms should check for convictions where possible
Only if the role justifies it
- Roles with real control over money, stock or confidential information, where a basic check may be proportionate if you can name the risk and nothing less intrusive would do
- Roles in the exceptions order, such as court officers or prison work: the law makes a standard check available but not mandatory
- Candidates who have lived abroad, where an overseas certificate may fill a gap a UK check cannot cover
Rarely or never justified
- Blanket checks on every applicant whatever the role
- Standard or enhanced checks for a role that is not eligible in law
- Criminal record questions on the application form, unless a safeguarding rule needs them at that stage
- Making a candidate obtain their own records through a subject access request, which is an offence
Questions
Something else? Ask us.
Can I ask every applicant for a basic DBS check?
A basic check is available for any role, but that does not make it proportionate. The ICO's draft guidance says you should not routinely vet all candidates unless the law requires it, and should only vet where you can identify a significant and particular risk. Decide role by role, and check only the person you intend to appoint.
Does a DBS certificate expire?
No. A DBS check has no official expiry date and is accurate at the time it was issued, so you decide when a new one is needed, although some sectors require periodic checks. With the candidate's permission, and if you are legally entitled to the check, you can see free of charge whether a certificate on the DBS Update Service is still current.
What if the candidate has lived abroad?
DBS cannot access criminal records held overseas, so a UK check may not give a complete picture. The Home Office says there are some statutory requirements for overseas checks in the health and education sectors, but elsewhere they are only best practice. Where no check is available, it expects employers to obtain as much information as possible through references.
Related checks
- Right to work checks: who to check and how from October 2026 Who needs a right to work check from 1 October 2026, including workers and sub-contractors, how each of the three methods works and follow-ups.
- Employment references: what employers can ask and when When to ask for references, what to ask, the sector rules for care, schools, early years and FCA firms, and how to treat candidates fairly.
- Adverse media checks on job candidates When a UK employer can search the press and online sources for negative coverage of a candidate, and how to handle namesakes and allegations.
Sector guides
- Pre-employment checks in health and social care in England What CQC regulation 19 and Schedule 3 require, which DBS check each care role can have, professional registers and agency staff checks in England.
- Background checks in financial services Which checks SM&CR firms need for senior managers, certification staff and other roles: FIT, financial soundness and SYSC 22 regulatory references.
Also covered in our guides for Charities and volunteering, Childcare, Construction and engineering, Education, Hospitality and retail, Logistics and transport, Public sector, Recruitment agencies, Security and facilities and Technology.
Related answers
- How should employers handle an employee subject access request? Employers should recognise the request, which can be made verbally or in writing, confirm the person's identity if needed, make a reasonable and proportionate search and respond without undue delay and within one month. Complex requests can be extended by up to two months. A fee usually cannot be charged, and information about other people may need redacting.
- What are the protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010? The Equality Act 2010 lists nine protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. In Great Britain, employers must not discriminate against job applicants, workers or former workers because of any of them.
- How should probation periods work? There is no legal requirement to have a probation period, and it can be any length. Acas recommends clear written expectations, regular reviews, support to improve, extension where appropriate, and a fair procedure before any dismissal. Day-one rights such as protection from discrimination apply throughout, and the unfair dismissal qualifying period falls to 6 months from 1 January 2027.