Do you need DBS Checks for work experience?
Learning at Work Week 2019 will take place from 13th-19th May, and this year the theme is ‘Shaping the Future’. This annual initiative highlights the importance of learning and development at work, and any organisation can take part.
If your organisation is planning on participating, you may be considering offering work experience to young people.
We get a lot of queries about DBS Checks for work experience, so we’ve put together this blog post to clear up the confusion.
Do students need DBS Checks for work experience placements?
Doing a work experience placement can be hugely beneficial. It can give students an insight into the world of work, equip them with new skills and knowledge and help them make informed career decisions. But do they need DBS Checks for work experience?
Firstly, this will depend on their age. Only students aged 16 or over can have a DBS Check. If they’re 16 or over, then the usual eligibility criteria will apply.
If the student will be carrying out regulated activity with children and/or adults as part of their work experience role, they’ll be eligible for an Enhanced DBS Check with a check of the relevant barred list.
For example, somebody doing a placement in a school as a teaching assistant would be eligible for an Enhanced Check with a children’s barred list check – as long as they meet the frequency of at least once a week (or three or more times) in a 30-day period.
A student working in a hospital where they have access to patients but aren’t providing any care or other regulated activity would be eligible for a Standard DBS Check.
For more information, see the DBS eligibility guidance for Standard Checks and Enhanced Checks.
Do students on work experience qualify for volunteer DBS Checks?
The DBS provides disclosures for volunteers free of charge. However, there is a specific set of requirements that volunteers must meet to be eligible for one of these checks.
Anyone who is carrying out a placement as part of their course is not classed as a volunteer, so cannot have a volunteer DBS Check – they need to have a paid for check.
Do work experience supervisors need DBS Checks?
We often get asked whether you need a DBS Check to supervise a child who’s doing work experience with your organisation.
Anyone who teaches, trains, instructs or provides guidance to children on a regular basis is carrying out regulated activity, and is eligible for an Enhanced DBS Check with a check of the children’s barred list.
This will apply to anyone who supervises a child on work experience in the following scenarios:
- Someone supervising a child aged under 18 who is doing work experience that is not part of the child’s usual employment (including voluntary work)
- Someone supervising a child aged under 16 who is doing work experience that is part of the child’s usual employment (including voluntary work)
- Someone supervising a child aged 16 or 17 who is on a work experience placement arranged by their school or as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award, if the supervisor has been employed specifically for the purpose of carrying out a regulated activity with the child
In all these scenarios, the supervisor must be carrying out the regulated activity at least once a week or three or more times in a 30-day period to be eligible for an Enhanced Check.
We hope this blog has answered your questions about DBS Checks for work experience, but if you need any more information we’d be happy to talk things over.
Be sure to get in touch with us if you have any further questions. You can apply for a number of DBS Checks through our simple online platform – most checks are completed within 48 hours. Get started now.
