A DBS check is a criminal record check issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service, a UK government body. Employers use it to find out whether a person applying for a job or a role has a criminal history before they start work. It is one of the most common background checks in England and Wales, and it is required for a wide range of jobs, from teaching and healthcare to finance, security and voluntary work with children.

DBS stands for Disclosure and Barring Service. The organisation was created in 2012 under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, when the Criminal Records Bureau and the Independent Safeguarding Authority were merged into a single body. The Criminal Records Bureau had processed criminal record checks, while the Independent Safeguarding Authority had maintained the lists of people barred from working with children and vulnerable adults. You may still hear the older term CRB check used informally, but all criminal record checks in England and Wales are now processed through the DBS.

There are four levels of DBS check, and each one discloses a different amount of information. Which level applies depends on the role, not on the preference of the employer or the applicant. Under the law, an employer cannot request a higher level of check than the role legally warrants, and asking for more information than the role justifies can breach data protection law.

A basic check is the lowest level. It shows unspent convictions and conditional cautions held on the Police National Computer, as defined under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Spent convictions do not appear, and neither does locally held police intelligence or barred list information. Anyone can apply for a basic check, either for themselves or through an employer, and there is no eligibility test. It is commonly used for general employment checks, self-employed work where a client asks for proof of criminal record status, and some voluntary roles.

A standard check goes further. It shows spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings held on the Police National Computer, subject to filtering rules that remove certain old and minor offences. You cannot apply for a standard check yourself. It must be requested by an employer or a responsible organisation, and only for roles that are eligible under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Roles that typically require a standard check include positions in the legal profession, accountancy, financial services and certain licensed occupations.

An enhanced check includes everything in a standard check, plus any information held by local police that a chief police officer considers relevant to the role. This can include non-conviction intelligence, information that never led to a charge or a court appearance, if the police believe it is relevant to the position. Enhanced checks are used for roles involving regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults, such as teaching, nursing, social care and youth work.

An enhanced check with barred lists is the most detailed level. It includes everything in an enhanced check, plus a search of the Children’s Barred List, the Adults’ Barred List, or both. These lists hold the names of people who are barred from working with children or vulnerable adults in regulated activity. It is a criminal offence for a barred person to engage in regulated activity, and for an organisation knowingly to allow a barred person to do so. As of March 2025, the Children’s Barred List contained 91,015 entries and the Adults’ Barred List contained 69,900 entries, according to the DBS annual report.

The government fees for DBS checks were reduced on 5 October 2026. A basic check costs £20, a standard check costs £20, and an enhanced check costs £41, with no extra government charge for adding a barred list search. Volunteers applying for standard or enhanced checks pay no government fee. Processing organisations may add their own small administration fee on top. Fees can change, so always confirm the current amount on GOV.UK before applying.

How long a check takes depends on the level and on how many police forces need to be involved. A basic check takes up to 14 days, although many are returned within a few working days. Standard checks typically take between two and four weeks. Enhanced checks usually take around eight weeks, and can take longer if a police force needs to review locally held information, although most are completed within two to four weeks. You can track a DBS application online once it has been submitted.

To apply, you need to fill in an online or paper form, depending on the type of check, and provide documents to prove your identity. For a basic check, you can apply yourself through GOV.UK. For a standard or enhanced check, your employer or a responsible organisation registered with the DBS will give you the form and submit it on your behalf. You will usually need a combination of identity documents, such as a passport, driving licence and proof of address, following the DBS identity checking guidance.

From 21 January 2026, self-employed people working in regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults can apply for an enhanced check independently through a registered platform, without an employing organisation. This affects private tutors, nannies, self-employed carers, music teachers and sports coaches. Before this change, self-employed workers could only obtain a basic check for themselves, and an organisation hiring them could decide to apply for an enhanced check on their behalf.

The certificate is sent directly to the applicant’s home address, not to the employer. The employer does not receive a copy automatically. The certificate carries security features to prove it is genuine, including a crown seal watermark repeated down the right side, a background design featuring the word Disclosure in a wave-like pattern, and ink and paper that change colour when wet. The DBS cannot provide replacements for lost or damaged certificates, so if a certificate is lost the employer will have to start the process again.

A DBS certificate has no official expiry date. It only shows convictions as they stood on the date the check was carried out. Most employers ask for a new check every one to three years, or when a person moves into a new role. The DBS Update Service is a subscription that keeps a certificate current, costing £15 per year. It allows employers to check online whether an existing certificate is still valid without requiring a new application. If you hold a basic check, you can register an online services account to update your certificate or allow an employer to view it.

DBS checks cover England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man only. Scotland uses Disclosure Scotland, which operates the Protecting Vulnerable Groups scheme for regulated roles, and Northern Ireland uses Access NI. An employer operating across more than one UK nation must request the correct check for each jurisdiction. A DBS check is not valid for a role based in Scotland where a Disclosure Scotland certificate is required.

A DBS check also does not cover time spent living outside the UK. It cannot access criminal records held in other countries, so a certificate will not reflect offences committed or recorded overseas. If an applicant has lived or worked abroad, the person requesting the check may ask them to obtain a check in the country they lived in, or for permission to get a check on their behalf through an embassy. UK nationals with overseas history can contact the ACRO Criminal Records Office.

In the year 2024 to 2025, the Disclosure and Barring Service issued 7,272,217 certificates across England and Wales. That scale makes the DBS one of the largest vetting operations in the country, and it is why delays can occur when police forces are busy. The DBS filtering rules also matter: certain old or minor offences are removed from standard and enhanced certificates under rules updated in 2023, so not everything on a person’s record will necessarily appear.

An employer can consider the information on a DBS certificate when making a recruitment decision, but must do so fairly and in line with the Equality Act 2010. They must assess whether the disclosed information is relevant to the role in question. A conviction for an offence unrelated to the job should not automatically disqualify a candidate, and employers must not retain a copy of a certificate beyond the point at which the recruitment decision has been made. Applicants who believe information has been disclosed unfairly can dispute it through the DBS.

People who are transgender and do not want to reveal details of a previous identity to a potential employer can contact the DBS sensitive applications team, which handles such applications separately. The DBS also has a customer services helpline and a postal address in Swindon for written enquiries.

A DBS check is not a judgement on a person’s character, and it is not a guarantee that someone is safe to employ. It is a snapshot of recorded criminal history at a single point in time, for a specific role, under rules that limit what can be disclosed. Understanding which level applies to your role, who can request it, what it shows and how long it lasts will save time, avoid unlawful requests, and make sure the check does what it is meant to do.