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Unlike a Basic Disclosure you cannot apply as an individual for an enhanced DBS check for yourself. This check must be carried out via a registered agency. Those who are applying to work in a care home for example, would have their DBS checks carried out by an agency the care home is registered to. An individual would provide their potential employers with personal identification, proof of address and address history of 5 years.

Many UK residents regularly work or live outside of the UK. This may be on a short term or more permanent basis. The levels and requirements of the checks may vary dependent on what and where the check is required for.

It can come as quite a shock to apply for a job in a hospital, in the courts service or in any other type of organisation and find out that you must get something called a “Basic Disclosure”. It can get even more confusing when people start to refer to police checks, CRB checks, background checks, or any other terms. Here’s what you need to know about Basic Disclosure, and what the process will involve.

Have you ever been in the situation of not understanding what someone is telling you because of the quantity of jargon and abbreviations they use. If you’re an expert in a subject then using jargon becomes second nature but don’t fall into the trap of thinking everyone else has the same level of understanding as you. Here’s some of the terms you’ll come across in connection with DBS, and what it all means.

There are many different occupations in the UK which are advertised as requiring enhanced disclosure, or enhanced police checks. This can all sound a bit worrying if you don’t understand the system, but in most cases checking is very straightforward and nothing to be concerned about.

Despite the Brexit process being well underway, the UK government has recognised that we need workers from the rest of the EU and further afield to work in our health services, care homes and other areas of the economy. Workers from overseas are entitled to the same rights as workers from the UK, so must be paid at least minimum wage, have the same holidays, pension rights and so on. Employers also have the same obligations to check that their recently arrived workers from overseas have nothing in their criminal records which should prevent them from working with vulnerable adults or children. But how do you check the records of someone who has been in the UK for a very short time only?

Most British workers are aware that in order to work with certain vulnerable groups, staff members need to be checked over by the authorities to make sure they are suitable for that type of work. Many other countries have similar legislation, aimed at protecting children from people who might cause them harm. There are separate bodies for checking people depending on whether you live in Northern Ireland, Scotland or England and Wales, and in most cases employers are fairly good at knowing the law and making sure they adhere to requirements. It’s not always easy to know where to turn if you are confused though.

If you’re in Scotland and are applying for certain types of roles in caring, hospital work or teaching, you’ve probably seen the term PVG. This is a relatively new term, and there’s still quite a lot of confusion about what it is, and what it all means.

It’s fairly common knowledge that people who work with children or vulnerable adults have to go through a process of being checked to make sure they’re suitable for the job and don’t have any criminal history which makes them inappropriate for working with these groups. There are separate organisations which administer these checks depending on whether you work in England and Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland, but the process is basically the same for all workers. There is however more confusion when it comes to volunteers – who gets checked and who doesn’t?

If you’re living or working in Northern Ireland, you’ll know that although there are lots of things which are the same as in the rest of the UK, there are lots of differences too in the education or legal sectors. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is separate from the Police elsewhere in the UK, and one of the other main differences which affects workers in Northern Ireland is the process for getting checks done by the Police when you’re applying for a job in teaching, hospitals or any other roles dealing with groups termed as “vulnerable”. The body which does this in Northern Ireland is called AccessNI.