Start my DBS check For individuals to apply for a Basic DBS Check.
Register for corporate DBS Register your organisation to process basic, standard and enhanced DBS checks.
A standard DBS is the middle level of checking when it comes to looking into an applicant’s past police record, more detailed than a basic DBS check, but less detailed than the enhanced DBS. Individuals can’t run DBS checks on themselves, these have to be requested by employers and can only be used to check people applying for certain occupations.
Occupations Requiring Standard DBS Checking
There is a long list of occupations which might require applicants to have a DBS check. This includes roles working in a hospital as catering staff or administration which doesn’t involve caring for patients, jobs in financial services or accounting, legal occupations or working in a prison. Other similar occupations might also require DBS checking, and there is lots of information online about all jobs and scenarios in which these types of checks are needed.
Applying for a DBS Check
Your employer will tell you if you need to have a standard DBS check carried out. Depending on the role, you might only need to have it done once, when you first start work. In other settings such as a hospital or prison, you might be asked to repeat the process every three or five years. It’s your employer’s job to remind you to renew a DBS check, not your responsibility. Applications are usually done online and come in two parts. First, you have to show your employer some documents which prove who you are and where you live. This usually includes documents such as a passport, driving licence, utility bills or ID cards. Once the employer is satisfied of your identity, the application form is completed online. You’ll be asked for personal details such as your full name and date of birth, along with previous addresses over a set period. The form is then submitted to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), who will then liaise with the police to put together the information which is held about you.
Information on a Standard DBS Certificate
Standard DBS certificates contain your personal details such as your name and previous names, along with all convictions and cautions on your police record, whether they are considered spent or unspent in other circumstances. Your certificate will be sent out to you in your post, giving you the chance to look over the information before giving it to your employer. If there are mistakes, or if you believe some of the crimes on the certificate weren’t committed by you, there is a right to challenge those. Even if there are crimes or convictions listed on your DBS form, that won’t automatically rule you out from employment. Employers look at the information given and make a decision based on the type of job you are applying for, the length of the criminal record and type of crimes, and how long has passed since the most recent conviction. Many thousands of people who have criminal records are employed across the UK, so don’t be put off applying for a job which requires DBS checking just because of a brush with the police in the distant past.
