This is dependent on the level of check you have. Standard checks show more information than enhanced checks.
What do you see on a standard check?
A standard DBS application check has more information than a basic check. All unspent cautions and convictions will be included. Cautions and convictions aren’t included. These are known as protected crimes.
The treatment of cautions and convictions for special offenses is different.
Protected or filtered offences.
There are certain convictions and cautions that are not included in the check process. They won’t show up on your certificate.
Whether they’re filtered depends on:
- Whether you received a caution or conviction.
- When you were cautioned or convicted, how old were you?
- How long have you been cautioned or convicted?
Specified offences.
There is a list on the UK government website. The most common ones are of a violent or sexual nature and relate to the protection of adults or children.
If you were cautioned for one of these when you were younger, it can be removed from your background check. It will always appear on your check if you were over the age of 18.
If you were convicted for one of these offenses, it will never be removed from a standard or enhanced DBS check.
What do you see on an enhanced DBS check?
An Enhanced DBS Check has the same information as a standard check, but with extra information on your local police records. If the Chief Police Officer considers it relevant, it will be included.
Is there an enhanced DBS with list check?
The same information is contained in this. There is a check of the children’s and adults’ barred lists. This is a list of people who can’t work with children or vulnerable adults. You only need this level of check for jobs that involve caring for, supervising or being in sole charge of children or vulnerable adults.
Is my check going to include information about my mental health problem?
Information about your mental health will not be included in a basic or standard check. If the police consider the information relevant, an enhanced DBS check will include it. It’s known as ‘approved information’. You can also hear it as ‘non-conviction information’.
This could include information about your mental health. You can be removed to a place of safety by the police under section 136 of the Mental Health Act.
It’s rare for the police to include information on an enhanced DBS check that doesn’t relate to a conviction.
How do the police decide what to include in a check?
The police must reasonably believe that the information is relevant and needs to be disclosed before you include it on your certificate.
Information should be assessed on its own merits for inclusion or exclusion. When considering whether to include any information, the police should consider the following.
If the information is relevant to the job you are applying for. It needs to be relevant and serious to justify inclusion. It should be recent. How old the information is, your age at the time of the incident, and your conduct after the incident should be looked at by the police. The information should have come from a reliable source.
You may be given the chance to comment. Should the police give you an opportunity to comment on the information before it’s made public? We know that the police don’t always do this. You can find out what information the police have in advance. There is guidance on the UK government website about what you can say about the police.
The police have to balance the public’s right to privacy with the public’s right to be safe.
The police can get guidance from the UK government. It’s not likely that the police will tell you that you’re being held under sections 135(1) or 136 of the Mental Health Act.
The police should take into account the risk or harm to other people when deciding whether to detain you under these sections. If the incident involved the threat or use of violence.
Information relating to your mental health may be relevant to a police check. They should give you the chance to tell them about your current health before they make a decision.
Is it possible to find out what information will be contained in a DBS check?
Yes. If you want to find out what the police have about you, you could make a subject access request. You can find out how to access your personal information by looking at our information.