Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS)

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is the government agency that provides information about an individual’s criminal record history, in the form of a DBS certificate, helping us to make informed recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with children, young people and vulnerable adults.

Types of DBS checks

  • Standard DBS check

    The certificate will contain details of both spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings that are held on the Police National Computer, which are not subject to filtering.

    Our DBS validator, Jess, would carry out this check for those serving in roles that doesn’t include directly working with children, young people or vulnerable adults. An example would be PCC members that aren’t directly involved in other ministries.

  • Enhanced DBS check

    An Enhanced DBS check is suitable for people working with children or adults in certain circumstances such as those in receipt of healthcare or personal care.

    The certificate will contain the same details as a standard certificate and may also contain non-conviction information supplied by relevant police forces, if it is deemed relevant and ought to be contained in the certificate.

    Our DBS validator, Jess, would carry out this check for those serving in roles that include working with children, young people or vulnerable adults. An example of this would be a Bethany Babes helper.

  • Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS check

    An Enhanced with Barred Lists DBS check is also suitable for people working with children or adults in certain circumstances such as those in receipt of healthcare or personal care.

    An Enhanced with Barred Lists certificate will contain the same information as an Enhanced DBS certificate but will also include a check of one or both Barred Lists.

    Our DBS validator, Jess, would carry out this check for those serving in roles that involve regulated activity with children, young people and vulnerable adults. An example of this would be a children’s activity leader (regulated activity includes teaching children) or pastoral assistants who provide lifts to appointments or other personal care to vulnerable adults.

The DBS application process

To obtain a DBS check, our DBS validator, Jess, is required to invite you to apply for this via an online form and Jess can assist you with completing this form.

You will be given a log in number to complete a new application via the DBS check website.

You will need to input your details to the website and agree to some government declarations.It shouldn’t take more than 20 minutes.

The form will ask for your national insurance number; five-year address history including postcodes; passport details (if you have one) and UK driver licence details (if you have one.)

Once you have submitted the online application, Jess will receive an E-Mail notification so that she can arrange to meet to do an ID check.

Jess will need to verify your passport, drivers’ licence and utility bill with your address. If you don’t have either a passport or drivers’ license, you can find a full list of documents accepted for ID checks on the .gov website.

Then your application is complete! You will receive a DBS certificate in the post and Jess will receive confirmation once the check has been carried out.