Disclosure Rules changed for criminal records.

Criminal Records, DBS Checks and Filtering

A criminal conviction or caution can affect employment, volunteering, professional registration and access to certain education courses. However, not every record must be disclosed forever. The information that appears on a criminal record check depends on:

• The level of DBS check requested;
• Whether the conviction or caution is spent;
• The person's age when it was received;
• The type of offence;
• The sentence imposed;
• How much time has passed; and
• Whether the police hold other relevant information.

This guide explains the general system in England and Wales. Different rules apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

What Is a DBS Check?

The Disclosure and Barring Service, commonly known as the DBS, provides criminal record checks for employers and other organisations. There are four principal types:

• A basic DBS check;
• A standard DBS check;
• An enhanced DBS check; and
• An enhanced DBS check including a search of one or both barred lists.

An employer cannot simply choose any level of check. Standard, enhanced and barred-list checks are available only for legally eligible roles.

Basic DBS Checks

A basic DBS certificate normally shows:

• Unspent convictions; and
• Unspent conditional cautions.

It does not normally show convictions or cautions that have become spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. A basic check can be requested for any employment or other lawful purpose.

Standard DBS Checks

A standard DBS check is available for specified occupations and responsibilities. It can include:

• Unspent convictions and conditional cautions;
• Spent convictions that have not been filtered;
• Adult cautions that have not been filtered; and
• Relevant convictions and cautions recorded on the Police National Computer.

Examples of roles potentially eligible for a standard check include certain positions in law, accountancy, security and financial services. Eligibility depends on the exact role rather than merely the employer's preference.

Enhanced DBS Checks

An enhanced DBS check contains the same automatically disclosed information as a standard check. It may also include information held on local police records where a chief police officer reasonably believes that the information:

• Is relevant to the workforce or position concerned; and
• Ought to be disclosed.

This is sometimes referred to as approved or relevant police information. An enhanced certificate can therefore include information that did not result in a conviction, including in appropriate cases:

• Arrests;
• Allegations;
• Acquittals;
• Investigations resulting in no further action; or
• A protected conviction or caution.

Disclosure is not automatic. The police must assess relevance, credibility and proportionality and consider the applicant's right to privacy.

Enhanced Checks and Barred Lists

The highest level of DBS check may also establish whether a person is included on:

• The children's barred list;
• The adults' barred list; or
• Both lists.

A barred-list check is permitted only for roles involving regulated activity or another specifically authorised purpose. It can be a criminal offence for a barred person to carry out regulated activity from which they are barred. An employer may also commit an offence by knowingly allowing this.

What Does "Spent" Mean?

Most convictions and cautions become spent after a rehabilitation period. The length of that period generally depends on:

• The sentence or disposal imposed;
• Whether the person was under or over 18; and
• Whether another conviction affects the rehabilitation period.

Once a record is spent, it does not normally need to be disclosed for ordinary employment and will not normally appear on a basic DBS certificate. Some sentences never become spent. Others may remain unspent for several years after the sentence, including any licence period, has ended.

What Is Filtering?

Filtering is different from a conviction becoming spent. A spent conviction or caution may still appear on a standard or enhanced DBS certificate unless it becomes protected under the filtering rules. Once a record is protected:

• It is not automatically shown on a standard or enhanced DBS certificate;
• The applicant does not normally need to disclose it for an eligible role; and
• An employer must not take it into account merely because it becomes aware of it.

Enhanced certificates can exceptionally include information relating to a protected record where the police decide that disclosure is relevant, necessary and proportionate.

Current Filtering Rules

The present rules were substantially changed in November 2020 and again in October 2023. A standard or enhanced DBS certificate will automatically include:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions;
• All convictions for specified offences;
• Adult cautions for specified offences;
• Any conviction resulting in a custodial sentence;
• An adult caution for a non-specified offence received less than six years ago;
• An adult conviction for a non-specified offence received less than eleven years ago; and
• A youth conviction for a non-specified offence received less than five and a half years ago.

Records outside these categories will generally be filtered from automatic disclosure.

Youth Cautions, Reprimands and Warnings

Youth cautions, youth conditional cautions, reprimands and warnings are not automatically disclosed on standard or enhanced DBS certificates once they are spent. This applies even where the offence is on the specified-offence list. An unspent youth conditional caution may still appear until its rehabilitation period has ended. The police can exceptionally disclose information connected with a youth caution on an enhanced certificate where the statutory relevance and proportionality tests are satisfied.

Adult Cautions

An adult caution for a non-specified offence will generally be filtered six years after they were given, provided they are spent. An adult caution for a specified offence will continue to be disclosed automatically on a standard or enhanced DBS certificate. Specified offences include many serious violent, sexual and safeguarding offences.

Adult Convictions

An adult conviction for a non-specified offence will generally be filtered after eleven years where:

• It is spent;
• It did not result in a custodial sentence; and
• It is not for a specified offence.

A conviction resulting in imprisonment, detention or another qualifying custodial sentence will continue to be disclosed automatically, regardless of how long ago it occurred.

Convictions Received Under the Age of 18

A non-specified conviction received when the person was under 18 will generally be filtered after five and a half years where:

• It is spent; and
• It did not result in a custodial sentence.

Youth convictions for specified offences and youth convictions resulting in custody will continue to be automatically disclosed. The current rules distinguish between childhood convictions and childhood cautions. Youth cautions are treated more favourably and are not automatically disclosed once spent.

More Than One Conviction

The former multiple-conviction rule required all convictions to be disclosed where a person had more than one conviction. That rule was removed in November 2020. Each conviction is now considered separately under the filtering rules. A person can therefore have several older convictions, some of which may be filtered while others remain disclosable. Multiple offences dealt with in the same court proceedings can still create separate convictions, and the sentence attached to each should be checked carefully.

Specified Offences

Specified offences are offences that Parliament has decided should continue to be automatically disclosed on standard and enhanced DBS certificates. They include many offences involving:

• Serious violence;
• Sexual offending;
• Children or vulnerable people;
• Kidnapping or false imprisonment;
• Murder or manslaughter;
• Safeguarding risks; and
• Equivalent offences committed overseas.

Whether a particular offence is specified can be technical. The exact statutory offence and disposal should be checked rather than relying on a general description.

Why Did the Rules Change?

Earlier criminal-record disclosure rules required the automatic disclosure of large amounts of old and minor information. The courts found that aspects of the system interfered disproportionately with the right to private life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In 2013, the Supreme Court considered cases involving people required to disclose old or minor records, including a police warning given to a child following allegations concerning two bicycles. The Government introduced filtering rules following that judgment. A further Supreme Court judgment in 2019 found that:

• The automatic disclosure of all convictions merely because a person had more than one was disproportionate; and
• The automatic disclosure of youth warnings, reprimands and cautions was also disproportionate.

The rules were amended in November 2020 to remove the multiple-conviction rule and automatic disclosure of youth cautions, reprimands and warnings.

Does the Supreme Court Decision Remove a Criminal Record?

No. Filtering does not normally delete a conviction or caution from police records. A protected record may:

• Remain on the Police National Computer;
• Continue to be used for policing or criminal justice purposes;
• Be considered in future court proceedings where legally relevant;
• Be disclosed exceptionally as local police information on an enhanced certificate; and
• Need to be disclosed for a small number of positions outside the ordinary filtering regime.

Filtering controls disclosure for most standard and enhanced DBS purposes. It does not erase the historical record.

Must You Tell an Employer?

For an ordinary job, an employer can generally ask only about unspent convictions and conditional cautions. You do not normally need to disclose a spent record. For a role eligible for a standard or enhanced DBS check, an employer may ask about:

• Unspent convictions and conditional cautions; and
• Spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected by filtering.

You do not normally have to disclose a protected conviction or caution. Employers should word application questions correctly. Asking whether an applicant has "ever had any conviction or caution" may be unlawful where the employer is not entitled to that information.

Can an Employer Reject an Applicant?

An employer should not automatically reject someone merely because a conviction or caution appears on a DBS certificate. It should consider:

• The nature and seriousness of the offence;
• Its relevance to the role;
• The person's age at the time;
• How long ago it occurred;
• The circumstances surrounding it;
• Whether there is a pattern of behaviour;
• Evidence of rehabilitation;
• The degree of contact with children or vulnerable adults; and
• Any regulatory or safeguarding requirements.

A minor theft conviction may be relevant to a role involving unrestricted access to money, but has little relevance to another type of work. Some roles are subject to mandatory legal or regulatory restrictions.

Universities and Education Courses

A university cannot automatically request a standard or enhanced DBS check for every student. A higher-level check may be permitted where the course includes placements or training in areas such as:

• Teaching;
• Medicine;
• Nursing;
• Social work;
• Childcare; or
• Other regulated professions.

The university can ask only for criminal-record information it is legally entitled to receive. A protected caution or conviction does not normally need to be disclosed.

Can Filtered Information Appear on an Enhanced Check?

Potentially, but only in limited circumstances. A chief police officer may disclose information related to a protected record where it is considered:

• Relevant to the workforce or role;
• Sufficiently credible;
• Necessary to protect others; and
• Proportionate to the interference with the applicant's private life.

The fact that an incident occurred in childhood or was filtered must be treated as an important consideration. The police should not disclose information simply because it exists.

Challenging Information on a DBS Certificate

An applicant can dispute a DBS certificate where:

• The record belongs to someone else;
• The offence, disposal or date is incorrect;
• A conviction or caution should have been filtered;
• The certificate includes inaccurate local police information;
• The information is irrelevant or disproportionate; or
• The barred-list result is believed to be wrong.

A dispute should be raised promptly with the DBS. Where local police information is involved, the matter may be referred to the police force for reconsideration. An applicant may also have rights under data protection law, public law, and the Human Rights Act. Specialist legal advice may be required where a job or professional opportunity is at risk.

Deletion of Police Records

Filtering is separate from applying for deletion of police records. In limited circumstances, a person may ask the police to delete:

• A caution;
• A record of arrest;
• Fingerprints;
• DNA information; or
• Other Police National Computer records.

Deletion is not automatic merely because a record is old, spent or filtered. The application will depend on the circumstances, including whether the record was created unlawfully, resulted from mistaken identity or should not have been retained.

Professional Regulators

Doctors, nurses, solicitors, teachers, accountants and other regulated professionals may have separate duties to disclose criminal proceedings to their regulator. These duties do not always follow the ordinary DBS filtering rules. A professional should check:

• The regulator's reporting rules;
• The employment contract;
• Any practising or licensing conditions;
• Whether the matter concerns conduct rather than merely a conviction; and
• Whether disclosure is required immediately or at renewal.

Legal or professional advice should be obtained before deciding not to report a matter.

Overseas Convictions

Foreign convictions may appear on the Police National Computer or be revealed through an overseas criminal-record check. An equivalent overseas offence may be treated as specified where it corresponds to an offence on the UK specified list. The correct disclosure position can be difficult to determine when the foreign legal system uses different offence descriptions or disposals.

Finding a Solicitor

A solicitor specialising in criminal records, employment, public law or professional regulation can advise where:

• You are unsure what must be disclosed;
• A protected record has appeared on a certificate;
• The police propose to disclose non-conviction information;
• An employer has asked an unlawful question;
• A job offer has been withdrawn;
• You wish to challenge inaccurate information;
• You are considering an application for record deletion; or
• A professional regulator is involved.

To find a Criminal Law, Employment Law, Civil Liberties or Professional Regulation Solicitor, use the search facility at the top of this page.