AccessNI checks for public sector jobs

AccessNI is Northern Ireland’s criminal record checking service, and it does the job the DBS does in England and Wales. There are three levels. A basic check costs £16, a standard check costs £16 and an enhanced check costs £32. Public sector roles in schools, health and social care and policing nearly always need an enhanced check, and the employer, not you, decides the level.

The three levels

Level	What the certificate shows	Typical use
Basic	Unspent convictions, or a statement that none were found	Any job where the employer asks all applicants
Standard	Spent and unspent convictions, plus informed warnings and other non-court disposals	Roles exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders (NI) Order 1978
Enhanced	Everything in a standard check, plus police information relevant to the role, and for regulated activity Disclosure and Barring Service information	Work with children or vulnerable adults

A standard check is not suitable for roles working with children or vulnerable adults, so those go straight to enhanced. Fixed penalty tickets and parking fines are excluded from all of them.

In England and Wales the equivalent is the DBS, which is explained in DBS checks. The processes and rules are separate.

Who needs which

The employer is responsible for knowing which level a role requires. In practice:

• A classroom assistant, a social worker or a nurse is working with children or vulnerable adults, so expect an enhanced check.
• Northern Ireland Civil Service vetting includes a criminal record check at whichever of the three levels the post needs. The Prison Service competition booklet asks for enhanced.
• A basic check is the only level an individual can apply for directly, because standard and enhanced checks have to be countersigned by an organisation registered with AccessNI.

You can apply for a basic check yourself from the age of 16. Standard and enhanced checks cannot be requested by an individual. They go through a registered body, usually the employer, which tells you what to do.

What it costs

The person who needs the check normally pays, although some employers cover it. Volunteers may get a standard or enhanced check free in some cases, and a volunteer asking for a basic check, or their organisation, pays the fee. The vacancy pack or offer letter should say who pays for your post.

How long it takes

AccessNI publishes processing times weekly. For the week beginning 19 October 2026:

Check	Target	Average time
Basic, applied for directly	95% within 14 days	3 days
Basic, through a Responsible Body	99% within 7 days	3 days
Standard	99% within 7 days	3 days
Enhanced	70% within 10 days, 95% within 21 days, 98% within 28 days	5 days

A certificate can take longer if AccessNI refers the application to the police. If the police contact you, reply quickly. Enhanced checks have the widest spread, so the gap between a conditional offer and a start date can depend on them. For the wider list of checks that run alongside, see pre-employment checks.

How to apply

For a standard or enhanced check, the employer sends you the application route and you complete your part. You have to upload two forms of acceptable identity. The quickest combination is a birth certificate plus a second document that shows your current name and includes a photo of you. Other accepted ID takes longer to process, and the application cannot be submitted until the correct documents are uploaded. If you cannot supply them, the AccessNI helpline is 0300 200 7888.

Only you receive a copy of the certificate, unless you have given AccessNI permission to send it to your employer. A lost or damaged certificate can be reprinted free within 90 days of issue.

Old convictions and filtering

Standard and enhanced checks filter out some older and minor matters. A conviction for a non-specified offence is filtered after 11 years if you were 18 or over when convicted, and 5.5 years if you were under 18. A caution is filtered after 6 years (2 years if you were under 18), and an informed warning after 1 year. Specified offences, which are the more serious crimes, and any conviction that led to a custodial sentence, including a suspended one, are never filtered. The police can also disclose a filtered matter as other information if they think it is relevant to the role.

Employers weigh a record against the job, and it does not rule you out automatically. For how to approach this in applications, see applying with a criminal record, keeping in mind that the Northern Ireland rules on what counts as spent are different.