Eligibility Guidance

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) carries out criminal record checks for specific positions, professions, employment and licences included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and those prescribed in the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) regulations.

Individuals can only apply for a Basic DBS check, this should only be done directly through the Government’s website.

Organisations, employers and charities can apply for all types of DBS checks, with the individuals’ permission, from as little as £2.83 through our online service.

When applying for a Basic, Standard, or Enhanced DBS check, it needs to be done through an official Umbrella Body, such as Aaron’s Department.

Requirements for Requesting a Basic DBS Check

An employer, organisation, or charity can request a Basic DBS check for any reason, as long as they have permission from the applicant.

Individuals can also request Basic DBS Certificates themselves for employment, or any other purpose.

Requirements for Requesting a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check

There isn’t an official list of positions that require a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check. Instead, it is up to the organisation to assess each position to decide what level of DBS check is required.

In a table further down this page, we have included a list of roles that will require some level of DBS check. The level, however, is also influenced by those they are working with, and if the interactions would be classified as ‘regulated activity’.

Is the Position Eligible for a Standard or Enhanced DBS Check?

As an employer, organisation, or charity, you are legally responsible for ensuring the position requires a Standard or Enhanced DBS check. You cannot apply for one if the position does not require it; instead, you can request a Basic DBS check.

Therefore, if you are countersigning, you need to consider the roles and responsibilities that the applicant will undertake. Once done, you can check the level of disclosure needed.

Levels of DBS Disclosure

Standard Disclosure

To get a Standard DBS Certificate, the position applying for must be included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

Enhanced Disclosure

Enhanced DBS Certificates require the applicant’s role to be included in both the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 and in the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations.

Enhanced Disclosure with Barred List Information

For this type of Enhanced DBS Certificate, the position must be eligible for Enhanced Disclosure (as seen above) and specifically be listed in the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) regulations to be specifically eligible to be checked against the Children/Adult Barred List.

Adult First Check

If you need your candidate to start working with vulnerable adults quickly, you can request an Adult First check as part of your Enhanced DBS check with Barred List. This quick check usually takes 48 hours, and allows the candidate to work supervised, unless indicated otherwise, until the DBS check is complete.

Applying for a DBS for Someone Who Has Lived Overseas

The DBS cannot access criminal records held overseas. If an applicant has lived or spent time abroad, a DBS check may not provide a complete view of an applicant’s criminal record.

It is an employer’s responsibility to make sure they have access to all the information available to them to make a safer recruitment decision.

You can read about how to get a criminal record check for overseas applicants, or those who have previously lived outside the UK, on the Home Office website: Guidance, Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

Information for the Table Below

This following table has been designed to be used in conjunction with the appropriate legislation.

The numbers in the table are used as a reference point for dealing with enquiries about eligibility. If your organisation is contacted by the DBS to confirm eligibility for a position, you must provide full details of the job role and explain how the relevant legislation supports the eligibility of the position applied for. It is not sufficient to provide the reference number without supporting evidence.

Please note that the table does not advise, or confirm, the specific DBS required for a job role.

Clients of Aaron’s Department can contact us for further guidance if they are unsure on the appropriate DBS check required, or if it at all requires a Criminal Record check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
You can also contact the DBS’s customer services here for further advice. When contacting them, you should include the job specification and the roles and duties of the position.

Whilst the DBS contact team may not always be able to give you a definite answer, they should be able to provide references to help you make the correct decision.

The following resources may also be useful to you:
– The Department of Education
– Department of Health and Social Care (Government Website)
– Ofsted
– Care Quality Commission (CQC)

Positions, Professions, Employment, Offices and Works included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975

Ref No

Any work defined as regulated activity relating to children within the meaning of Schedule 4 Part 1 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

01

Any work defined as “work with children” in regulation 5C of the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002

02

Any work defined as regulated activity relating to adults within the meaning of Schedule 4 Part 2 of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006

03

Any work defined as “work with adults” in regulation 5B of the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002

04

Any office or employment which is concerned with:

  • the provision of care services to vulnerable adults; or
  • the representation of, or advocacy services for, vulnerable adults by a service that has been approved by the Secretary of State or created under any enactment;

and which is of such a kind as to enable a person, during his normal duties, to have access to vulnerable adults in receipt of such services

05

Any work in a further education institution or 16 to 19 Academy where the normal duties of that work involve regular contact with children

06

Health care professional (regulated by a body mentioned in subsection (3) of section 25 of the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002) – on entry into the profession only

07

Barrister (in England and Wales), solicitor – on entry into the profession only

08

Chartered accountant, certified accountant Î on entry into the profession only

09

Veterinary surgeon – on entry into the profession only

10

Actuary – on entry into the profession only

11

Registered foreign lawyer – on entry into the profession only

12

Chartered Legal Executive or other Chartered Institute of Legal Executive (CILEx) authorised person – on entry into the profession only

13

Judicial appointments

14

The Director of Public Prosecutions and any office or employment in the Crown Prosecution Service

15

Designated officers for:

  • magistrates’ courts
  • justices of the peace
  • local justice areas
  • justices’ clerks
  • assistants to justices’ clerks

16

Persons employed for the purposes of assisting constables of a Police Force established under any enactment

17

Any employment within the precincts of:

  • a prison
  • a remand centre
  • a removal centre
  • a short term holding facility
  • a detention centre
  • a Borstal institution
  • a young offenders institution
  • members of boards of visitors (England & Wales)

18

Traffic wardens

19

Officers of providers of Probation services as defined in section 9 of the Offenders Management Act 2007

20

Any employment or other work which is concerned with the provision of health services and which is of such a kind as to enable the holder of that employment or the person engaged in that work to have access to persons in receipt of such services in the course of his normal duties

21

Financial Services position – This means all positions for which the Financial Conduct Authority (previously the Financial Services Authority) or the competent authority for listings are entitled to ask exempted questions to fulfil their obligations under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000

22

Those working within an Authorised Payment Institution as:

  • Directors and managers
  • Holders of qualifying holdings
  • Controllers of the Authorised Payment Institution

23

Any employment in the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) where the person employed or working, as part of his duties, may carry out humane killing of animals

24

The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and any office or employment in their services

25

The Director and any office or employment in the Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office

26

Any employment which is concerned with the monitoring, for the purposes of child protection, of communications by means of the internet

27

An individual designated under section 2 of the Traffic Management Act 2004 – those who can take over police functions working as on-road traffic operations staff

28

The following Court Positions:

  • Judges’ clerks, secretaries and legal secretaries within the meaning of section 98 of the Supreme Court Act 1981(c)
  • Court officers and court contractors who, in the course of their work, have face-to-face contact with judges of the Supreme Court, or access to such judges’ lodgings
  • Persons who in the course of their work have regular access to personal information relating to an identified or identifiable member of the judiciary
  • Court officers and court contractors who, in the course of their work, attend either the Royal Courts of Justice or the Central Criminal Court
  • Court security officers and tribunal security officers
  • Court contractors who, in the course of their work, have unsupervised access to court- houses, offices and other accommodation used in relation to the courts
  • Contractors, sub-contractors, and any person acting under the authority of such a contractor or sub-contractor, who, in the course of their work, have unsupervised access to tribunal buildings, offices and other accommodation used in relation to tribunals
  • Court officers and court contractors who exercise functions in connection with the administration and management of funds in court, including the deposit, payment, delivery and transfer in, into and out of any court of funds in court, and regulating the evidence of such deposit, payment, delivery or transfer, and court officers and court contractors who receive payment in pursuance of a conviction or order of a magistrates’ court

29

The following persons:

  • Court officers who execute county court warrants
  • High Court enforcement officers
  • Sheriffs and under-sheriffs
  • Tipstaffs
  • Any other persons who execute High Court writs or warrants who act under the authority of a person listed at (a) to (d)
  • Persons who execute writs of sequestration
  • Civilian enforcement officers as defined in section 125A of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980
  • Persons who are authorised to execute warrants under section 125B (1) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, and any other person (other than a constable) who is authorised to execute a warrant under section 125 (2) of the 1980 Act
  • Persons who execute clamping orders, as defined in paragraph 38(2) of Schedule 5 of the Courts Act 2003(d)

30

Individuals seeking to carry, acquire or transfer prohibited weapons or ammunition under section 5 of the Firearms Act 1968(c) – Maritime armed guards

31

A regulated immigration adviser who provides immigration advice or immigration services under Section 82(1) of the Immigration & Asylum Act 1999(a). This also applies to persons who act on behalf of and are under the supervision of such a registered person

32

Any employment or other work where the normal duties:

  • a) involve caring for, training, supervising, or being solely in charge of persons aged under 18 serving in the naval, military or air forces of the crown; or
  • b) include supervising or managing a person employed or working in a capacity referred to in paragraph (a)

33

Registration as a childminder agency

34

Any employment or office involved in the management of a childminder agency

35

A person working for a childminder agency who is required to enter day care or childminding premises for quality assurance purposes and, in the course of their normal duties, has

  • contact with the children there; or
  • access to sensitive or personal information about the children there

36

A person living at the premises where a childminding or day care service is provided or who regularly works on the premises at a time when the childminding takes place

37

A person living in the same household as a person whose suitability is being assessed to work in

  • regulated activity with children
  • what would have been regulated activity with children before 10th September 2012
  • an FE institution or 16-19 Academy where the normal duties of that work involve regular contact with children

and who lives on the same premises where the work would normally take place

38

Applications for prospective adopters, special guardians or anyone who lives in the adoption or special guardian household in England and Wales

39

Applications for prospective foster carers, prospective private foster carers or anyone who lives in the fostering household in England and Wales

40

Any employment or work in

  • a children’s home
  • a residential family centre

41

Any employment or work for the purposes of

  • an adoption service
  • an adoption support agency
  • a voluntary adoption agency
  • a fostering service
  • a fostering agency

which is of such a kind as to enable a person, in the course of his normal duties, to have contact with children or access to sensitive or personal information about children

42

Individuals seeking authorisation from the Secretary of State for the Home Department to become authorised search officers

43

For the award of public works contracts, public supply contracts and public service contracts in accordance with Directive 2004/17/EC and 2004/18/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of March 2004(a)

44

Football Stewards, supervisors or managers of football stewards

45

Approved Legal Services Body Manager

46

CILEx approved manager

47

Those working for Alternative Business Structures as:

  • Head of Finance and Administration of a licensed body approved under schedule 11 of the Legal Services Act 2007
  • Head of Legal Practice of a licensed body approved under schedule 11 of the Legal Services Act 2007
  • Owners of a licensed body approved under schedule 13 of the Legal Services Act 2007

48

Any employment or other work which is normally carried out in premises approved under section 9 of the Criminal Justice and Court Services Act 2000

49

Any office or employment which relates to the purposes of National Security

50

Any person who has applied to be granted membership of the Master Locksmiths Association

51

The Commissioner for Older People in Wales, his deputy and any people appointed by the Commissioner, to assist him in the discharge of his functions or authorised to discharge his functions on his behalf

52

Commissioners for the Gambling Commission and any office or employment in their service

53

Police and Crime Commissioners

54

Any employment or other work in England and Wales regarding counter fraud, investigation and security management in the National Health Service (NHS)

55

Licences included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 197

Ref No

For Taxi Driver and Private Hire Vehicle licensing purposes

56

For National Lottery licensing purposes

57

For licences issued under Section 25 of the Children & Young Persons Act 1933 (This relates to persons under the age of 18 travelling abroad for the purpose of performing or being exhibited for profit)

58

For licences issued under Section 8 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001

59

For obtaining or holding a personal or operating licence under Part 5 or Part 6 of the Gambling Act 2005

60

For obtaining or holding a licence under regulation 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001, article 3(2) of Regulation 2004/273/EC (b) or article 6(1) of Regulations 2005/111/EC(c)

61

DBS Checks with Aaron’s Department

Our online, cost-effective system enables you to quickly register and set up candidate accounts. This allows the individual to easily complete the information themselves, providing a smooth and stress-free application.

Our countersignatories are all registered with the DBS and will handle your application with the utmost care and attention to ensure they are correct.

If you want any help or advice about applying for DBS Checks, then our dedicated page is the thing you should check out.

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