DBS check process: 3 levels, what appears and how filtering rules protect spent convictions

A DBS check reveals criminal records held by police forces in England and Wales, but what appears depends on the level requested and whether your convictions are spent. HS Criminal Law explains the three levels of check, what each discloses, how the filtering system works and what happens when a decision lands with you.

Three levels of DBS check

The Disclosure and Barring Service issues three types of certificate, each showing different information. Basic checks reveal unspent convictions and conditional cautions. Standard checks add spent convictions, reprimands and final warnings. Enhanced checks go further: they include everything from a standard check plus any information held by local police that a chief officer believes is relevant to the role you are applying for.

Employers choose the level based on the work involved. Basic checks are open to anyone and cover roles with no special safeguarding duties. Standard and enhanced checks are available only for posts listed in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act exceptions – working with children, health care, financial services and positions of trust.

What a basic check reveals

A basic certificate lists convictions that are not yet spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. The rehabilitation period depends on the sentence: a fine or community order becomes spent after one year, a suspended sentence after the supervision period plus a buffer, and custodial sentences according to a sliding scale tied to sentence length.

Once a conviction is spent, it does not appear on a basic check. Conditional discharges become spent immediately after the order ends. Absolute discharges are spent straight away.

Standard and enhanced checks: spent convictions included

Standard and enhanced certificates show both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings – unless the filtering rules remove them. Filtering was introduced to stop old, minor matters from blocking employment decades after they occurred.

An adult conviction is filtered if it meets four conditions: it resulted in a non-custodial sentence, it is the only offence on the record, enough time has passed (eleven years for a conviction, six for a caution), and the offence is not on the list of serious offences that can never be filtered. Youth convictions follow shorter periods: five and a half years for a conviction, two for a caution.

Offences that can never be filtered include violence, sexual offences, safeguarding breaches and dishonesty involving vulnerable people. A second conviction, even if minor, stops filtering altogether.

Additional police information on enhanced checks

Enhanced certificates may carry information beyond convictions and cautions. A chief officer can disclose intelligence, allegations or concerns if they believe it is relevant and ought to be known. This discretion is tightly controlled: the information must pass a relevance test and a reasonableness test, and you have a right to challenge it before the certificate is issued.

Common examples include ongoing investigations, acquittals where concern remains, and patterns of behaviour that did not lead to charges. Not every enhanced check carries this section – many show only the standard criminal record content.

Barred lists for regulated activity

Enhanced checks for regulated activity with children or adults automatically search the barred lists. Being on a list means you are legally prohibited from that type of work. An employer who knowingly hires a barred person commits an offence, and working in a barred role when you know you are listed is itself a criminal act.

The lists are maintained by the DBS and updated when new barring decisions are made. A barred-list entry appears prominently at the top of the certificate.

Steps when applying for a DBS check

1. Ask your employer or volunteer organisation which level is required and whether the role involves regulated activity.
2. Complete the application form with accurate identity documents – passport, driving licence, utility bills – and declare all names you have used.
3. Submit the form through the organisation's registered DBS umbrella body; you cannot apply directly to the DBS as an individual.
4. Wait for the certificate to arrive at your home address, typically within two to four weeks for basic and standard checks, longer for enhanced checks with additional enquiries.
5. Share the certificate with the employer or keep a copy if you subscribe to the update service, which lets employers check your status online with your permission.

Challenging incorrect or unfair disclosure

Mistakes happen. If your certificate contains a conviction that is not yours, a sentence recorded incorrectly or information that has been filtered but still appears, you can ask the DBS to investigate. They will check with the police force that supplied the data and issue a new certificate if the error is confirmed.

Challenging police intelligence on an enhanced check is harder. You must show that the information is not relevant to the role, that disclosing it is not proportionate, or that it is factually wrong. The dispute process involves correspondence with the police force and, if necessary, an independent monitor appointed by the Home Office. Legal advice is often needed at this stage.

When disclosure affects job offers

An employer who withdraws an offer after seeing your certificate must follow fair procedures. They should give you a chance to explain the context, consider how long ago the matter occurred, and weigh it against the duties of the role. A single spent conviction from years ago is rarely a fair reason to refuse employment unless the offence is directly relevant to the work.

Comparing DBS check levels

Record-keeping and update service

A DBS certificate is a snapshot of your record on the day it was issued. It does not expire, but employers may ask for a recent one – typically no older than three years. The update service changes this: for a small annual fee, you can keep a certificate live and let employers check its status online. You control who checks, and you see a record of every check made.

Subscribing makes sense if you move between roles that need the same level of check. Employers save time and you avoid repeated applications. The service covers all three levels.

Understanding rehabilitation periods

The time before a conviction becomes spent varies by sentence. A custodial sentence of up to six months is spent after two years from the end of the sentence, including any licence period. Sentences between six months and two and a half years are spent after four years. Longer sentences take longer, and anything over four years is never spent – though it may still be filtered from standard and enhanced checks if it meets the criteria.

Conditional discharges are treated generously: they become spent as soon as the order period ends, with no buffer. Community orders are spent one year after completion. Suspended sentences follow the rehabilitation period of the underlying custodial term, starting from the end of the supervision period.

Rehabilitation periods for those under eighteen when convicted are half the adult periods, rounded down where necessary. This reflects the principle that youth offending should not follow someone indefinitely.

#Rehabilitation period

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