When you submit a DBS check, the results don’t just show a simple pass or fail.
In reality, an applicant can’t pass or fail a DBS check; instead, it provides you with the information about an individual’s criminal record history so you can make a safe, informed hiring decision.
In this guide, we’ll explain what a DBS certificate is and what details it reveals when one lands on your desk.
DBS check levels and results at a glance
|
Check level |
What the result shows |
|
Basic DBS Check |
Unspent convictions and conditional cautions. |
|
Standard DBS Check |
Spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, and final warnings. |
|
Enhanced DBS Check |
Spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands, final warnings, and relevant local police intelligence. |
|
Enhanced with Barred Lists |
Everything on an Enhanced check, plus checks against the Children’s and/or Adults’ Barred Lists. |
What is a DBS certificate?
A DBS certificate is an official government document issued by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) that contains an overview of an individual’s criminal record history. After a DBS check is completed, a physical document is sent directly to the individual as a record of the check. It has specific security marks, like a distinct watermark, to prove it’s genuine. The exception to this is for Basic DBS Checks, where applicants can choose between receiving a physical certificate or a digital notification of completion.
If you’re an employer submitting a DBS check on behalf of a candidate, you’ll receive a digital summary; however, this is different to an official DBS certificate.
What does a DBS certificate look like?
Every DBS certificate has a unique 12-digit DBS certificate number printed clearly at the top. Employers can use this number to log the check in their system.
If you look at a clean or clear DBS certificate, it will show a specific phrase under the main sections. It’ll say something like ‘none recorded’, which confirms that the search didn’t match any criminal history or intelligence held on the Police National Computer (PNC) or local police records.
What does a DBS check show?
The amount of information you see on a candidate’s background search depends on the level of check you request.
Basic DBS check
A Basic DBS check is a surface-level search of an applicant’s history. It displays only:
- Unspent criminal convictions — This means any conviction that hasn’t been cleared under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
- Conditional cautions — These are cautions that come with specific requirements that must be met.
Under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, minor or older offences become ‘spent’ after a specific timeframe, known as the rehabilitation period, and it depends on the length and severity of the conviction. A Basic check won’t show these older records.
Standard DBS checks
A Standard DBS check digs deeper into a candidate’s past, and the certificate shows:
- Spent and unspent convictions
- Cautions
- Reprimands
- Final warnings held on the Police National Computer (PNC)
Enhanced DBS checks
An Enhanced DBS check provides the most detailed criminal record search available in the UK. This level shows:
- Everything you find on a Standard certificate
- Information from local police forces, such as investigations that didn’t lead to a conviction or caution (e.g., a fixed penalty notice)
- Barred List check (if eligible)
It includes any relevant non-conviction information or ‘soft intelligence’ held on local police records. Enhanced checks can also include reviewing the applicant against the Children’s or Adults’ Barred List, if eligible, as an employer has a legal responsibility to check candidates against these lists for certain roles.
A Chief Officer must reasonably believe that this data is relevant to the specific role before adding it to the certificate.
Read up on the differences between Basic, Standard, and Enhanced DBS checks here.
How far back does a DBS check go?
The short answer is that central police systems don’t have an automatic expiry date. The Police National Computer stores criminal records for an individual’s lifetime — usually until they reach 100 years old. This means a background check can technically look back indefinitely on someone’s records.
However, how long criminal records last on DBS certificates depends entirely on the tier of check you order.
For a Basic check, old records aren’t visible forever. Once the relevant rehabilitation period has passed under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, offences become ‘spent’ and won’t appear on the individual’s next DBS certificate.
For Standard and Enhanced checks, spent convictions and cautions can still show up. This means an offence from decades ago will appear on the final certificate unless it meets the strict criteria to be filtered out.
What is DBS filtering?
The DBS filtering process is when old or minor records are removed from a Standard or Enhanced DBS certificate as a result of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2013.
The government introduced filtering rules in May 2013 to prevent unfair employment discrimination after a court case challenged the blanket disclosure of historic records.
If an offence qualifies through the filtering process, it’s classed as protected. It doesn’t need to be legally disclosed to employers — and employers aren’t allowed to ask applicants to reveal filtered offences. However, filtered offences aren’t completely deleted from police databases.
To qualify under the filtering rules, the offence must meet strict criteria:
- A specific number of years must pass since the date of the offence.
- The caution or conviction cannot be for a serious offence (such as violent or sexual crimes).
- The age of the offender at the time the offence took place. Individuals over the age of 18 will have to wait longer for it to be filtered than those under 18.
- It can’t have resulted in a custodial or suspended prison sentence.
Under current rules, the DBS evaluates each offence on an individual basis, replacing the multiple conviction rule that meant all offences were automatically disclosed.
The filtering guidance for Standard and Enhanced certificates was updated in November 2020, stating that reprimands, final warnings, and youth cautions will no longer be automatically disclosed on a DBS certificate. In October 2023, another change called for all unspent conditional cautions and convictions to be automatically disclosed.
Offences that can be filtered
Some examples of offences that may be eligible for filtering include:
- Being drunk and disorderly
- Common assault (not involving intent to cause serious harm)
- Drug possession offences (not supply or intent to supply)
- Motoring offences such as minor speeding or driving without insurance
- Theft (provided there was no violence or aggravating factor)
Each caution or conviction is assessed individually, and more than one caution can be filtered, as long as each offence meets the filtering rules.
Offences that will never be filtered
The government keeps a strict list of specified offences that stay on a Standard or Enhanced certificate permanently, no matter how much time passes. These serious records always appear because they present a direct risk to public safety and security.
The list of offences that will never be filtered includes:
- Serious violent crimes, such as murder, manslaughter, or kidnapping.
- Sexual offences, including sexual assault or offences involving child exploitation.
- Serious drug crimes, such as the supply or intent to supply controlled substances.
- Any conviction that resulted in a prison sentence or a suspended sentence.
What are the filtering timeframes?
Eligible minor offences that don’t appear on the specified list can be automatically removed from a DBS certificate after a set timeframe. This is to make sure that old offences don’t unfairly impact an individual’s job prospects, especially if they’ve stayed out of trouble since.
The length of time before an offence can be filtered depends on the applicant’s age at the time of the offence:
- Adult cautions (18 or over) — The system filters these out after six years pass from the date of issue.
- Adult convictions (18 or over) — The system filters these out after 11 years pass from the date of conviction.
- Juvenile convictions (under 18) — The system filters these out after 5.5 years pass from the date of conviction.
Frequently asked questions
What does it mean when a candidate is DBS cleared?
A ‘clear’ or ‘cleared’ DBS check means the final certificate contains no information about criminal convictions, cautions, or local police intelligence and that the search didn’t match any records on file.
It doesn’t mean a candidate ‘passed’ an official exam, because an applicant can’t pass or fail a DBS check; instead, it provides you with the clean background data you need to make a safe hiring decision.
How long does a caution stay on your record in the UK?
Law enforcement databases keep records of cautions until someone turns 100 years old. But, how long they remain visible to employers depends entirely on the tier of check you request.
A Basic check only reveals unspent conditional cautions, meaning they drop off as soon as the brief rehabilitation period ends. Standard and Enhanced checks will display adult cautions indefinitely unless they meet the specific filtering rules.
Can a self-employed person view their own Enhanced DBS certificate results?
Yes, since January 2026, updated legislation allows eligible self-employed professionals to apply for their own Enhanced check through a registered umbrella body like uCheck. As the DBS prints the original physical certificate and posts it directly to the applicant’s home address, self-employed individuals will receive and view their own results.
Do allegations and pending cases show up on an Enhanced DBS check?
Yes, allegations and pending cases can show up, but only on an Enhanced DBS certificate. If a Chief Officer reasonably believes that an outstanding allegation, active investigation, or arrest relates directly to the job role, they can choose to disclose it on the certificate in the interest of safeguarding.
Does common assault show on a DBS check?
Yes, common assault will show up on a DBS check. On a Basic check, it displays as long as it remains an unspent conviction or caution on the applicant’s record. On a Standard or Enhanced check, it will appear as a spent or unspent offence unless it’s gone through the filtering process.
Does drunk and disorderly show on a DBS check?
A drunk and disorderly offence may appear on a background check, depending on the level of the check. If an employer requests a Basic DBS check, the record only shows up if the applicant’s rehabilitation period is still active. However, because Standard and Enhanced checks look much deeper into a candidate’s past, they will automatically include any caution or conviction as a spent or unspent offence unless it qualifies for filtering.
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