An Enhanced DBS Check is the highest level of DBS Check available to people working in England and Wales and is mandatory for people working in regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults such as teaching, training, healthcare, or personal care.
What does an Enhanced DBS Check show?
The certificate will show details of both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and warnings and any other information that is held on the Police National Computer (PNC) that the police deem relevant to the role being applied for.
Every conviction displayed on a DBS certificate will contain information such as the date of the conviction, the court where the sentence was given, the length of the sentence as well as the date of the offence and details regarding the offence.
PNC information relating to protected cautions and convictions will be filtered and will not appear on the certificate.
For more information about Filtering, please see the DBS guidance here.
How can I apply for an Enhanced DBS Check?
If you are aged 16 or over and will be working in a specific setting, for a certain Licence or in a specified position that is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, a recruiter is legally allowed to ask you to reveal your full criminal history by requesting a DBS check on your behalf. This is also known as asking ‘an exempted question’.
Individuals cannot apply for an Enhanced DBS Check themselves.
Where requested, an Enhanced DBS certificate will also include a check of one or both DBS barred lists. If an individual is listed, this will appear on their DBS certificate.
Which job roles require an Enhanced DBS Check?
As mentioned above, an Enhanced DBS Check is required for any role that is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Typically, the majority of these roles will involve working with children or vulnerable adults in regulated activity such as:
- Doctor
- Nurse
- Dentist
- Teacher
- Optician
However, there are several other instances where you will also need to have an Enhanced DBS Check such as if you work within the judicial system, as a Traffic Warden or operate a premise where gambling takes place.
If you’re unsure of what level of check you are legally eligible to apply for, please get in touch and a member of our team will be more than happy to assist you. Alternatively, the full legislation can be found here.
