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The short answer
What you see depends on the check. A basic check shows unspent convictions and conditional cautions. Standard and enhanced checks can show more, but some records are left out under rules called filtering. Enhanced checks can also include relevant police information and, where allowed, barred-list results.
Scope: DBS in England and Wales; sector-specific rules may also apply
Check what the certificate covers
Check the person’s identity, the type of certificate, the issue date, and the workforce and barred-list details where applicable. Interpret the information in that context. [1]
A certificate from one role is not a universal clearance for another. Before asking to see an existing higher-level certificate, establish that the charity is entitled to that level of information for the role it is filling.
Convictions, cautions and filtering
A conviction can become “spent” under rehabilitation rules, meaning it usually does not need to be disclosed for most roles. That is different from being “filtered”, or left out of the records automatically shown on a standard or enhanced check. A spent conviction may still appear if filtering rules do not protect it. Filtering rules leave some records out of the certificate, while others still appear. [2]
Do not describe an enhanced check as showing “everything”. Nor should the organisation ask an applicant to list every past matter to compensate for filtering. Use the correct disclosure question for the role.
Relevant police information on an enhanced check
Enhanced certificates can include information a chief police officer considers relevant to the application and appropriate to disclose. This can include information other than convictions. Even if filtering removes a record from the usual criminal-record section, relevant police information may still be included under these separate rules. [2]
Read exactly what is disclosed. Do not turn an allegation into a proven conviction in the recruitment record, or assume that the absence of a conviction settles every safeguarding question.
Barred-list information
DBS maintains separate children’s and adults’ barred lists. A check of a list concerns the corresponding regulated activity and is distinct from the criminal-record entries. [3]
Confirm that any list required for the proposed role was actually checked. “Enhanced” alone is not enough detail. If the role cannot lawfully be performed because the person is barred, follow the safeguarding procedure and the relevant official guidance.
What a DBS check cannot establish
DBS does not have general access to criminal records held overseas. Someone’s time abroad may therefore require separate consideration and the appropriate overseas evidence. [4]
A certificate also cannot tell you whether a person will follow your event’s procedures, respond well to a child’s concern or fulfil a commitment reliably. Use references, role discussion, induction and ongoing supervision for those parts of recruitment.
If information is disclosed
Ask the person responsible for recruitment to review it. Check what you are allowed to consider, discuss the relevant details privately with the applicant and decide how they relate to the duties. You need both a lawful reason to use criminal-record information and the extra legal authority required for that type of information. [5]
Record a reasoned outcome and the actions needed. Keep detailed information away from general attendance lists, badge printing and rota notes. A criminal record does not make “failed” an accurate description of a DBS certificate.
Sources and further reading
Last accuracy check: 25 September 2026. We review this series monthly against official guidance. Follow the linked guidance for the full conditions and any later changes.
- GOV.UK: checks you can make on someone’s record↩
- DBS: filtering guide↩1 ↩2
- DBS: barred lists and the referral process↩
- DBS: detailed guidance, including delay and hardship routes↩
- ICO: pre-employment vetting of candidates↩
Government guidance is attributed to the bodies linked above. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0, where applicable. This guide provides general information; decisions depend on the specific role and setting.