How Can We Help?
What information is on a DBS certificate?
What information is disclosed on a DBS check?
A Basic DBS check will contain details of convictions and conditional cautions considered to be ‘unspent’ under the terms of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 aims to give those with convictions or cautions the chance – in certain circumstances – to wipe the slate clean and start afresh.
Under the Act, eligible convictions or cautions become ‘spent’ after a specified period of time known as the ‘rehabilitation period’, the length of which varies depending on how the individual was dealt with.
A table of rehabilitation periods for the most common sentences and disposals can be found here, along with some example scenarios.
“A Standard DBS check shows spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings which are not subject to filtering
An Enhanced DBS check shows the same as a standard check plus any information held by local police that the Chief Officer reasonably believes to be relevant and, in the Chief Officer’s opinion, ought to be included in the certificate, relating to the child or adult workforces. Where the application is for any other role, the police will consider the nature of the role in the release of information
An Enhanced DBS check with barred lists shows the same as an enhanced check plus whether the applicant is in the list of people barred from working with children and/or other vulnerable groups.”