DBS checks: basic, standard and enhanced

England and Wales have three levels of DBS check. A basic check shows unspent convictions and conditional cautions and can be requested for any job. A standard check also shows spent convictions and cautions, subject to filtering rules. An enhanced check shows everything in a standard check plus relevant information held by local police, and for jobs in regulated activity it can include a check of the children’s or adults’ barred list. Most school and patient-facing NHS jobs need an enhanced check with the relevant barred list.

What each level shows

Check	What it includes	Fee from 5 October 2026	Typical use
Basic	Unspent convictions and conditional cautions	£20.00	Any job, including many Civil Service and office roles
Standard	Spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings, subject to filtering	£20.00	Some finance and legal roles
Enhanced	As standard, plus relevant local police information	£41.00	Work with children or vulnerable adults
Enhanced with barred list(s)	As enhanced, plus a check of the children’s and/or adults’ barred list	£41.00	Regulated activity: teaching, many NHS clinical roles, care

The fees fell on 5 October 2026. Basic and standard checks were £21.50 before, and enhanced checks were £49.50. Checks for eligible volunteers are free. The DBS Update Service now costs £15 a year (it was £16); see our guide to the DBS Update Service.

Basic checks

Anyone can apply for a basic check on themselves through the gov.uk website, or an employer can request one through a responsible organisation. It shows only unspent convictions and conditional cautions. When a conviction becomes spent depends on the sentence, under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The Civil Service asks for a basic check as part of its pre-employment checks for most roles.

Standard checks

A standard check can only be requested for roles listed as eligible in law, through the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order. It shows spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings held on the Police National Computer. Some older and minor spent convictions and cautions are filtered out and do not appear. The filtering rules are on gov.uk and depend on the type of offence, your age at the time and how long ago it was.

Enhanced checks

An enhanced check is for roles with the closest contact with children or adults who need care or support. On top of the standard check, the chief officer of each relevant police force can add information they reasonably believe is relevant to the role and ought to be disclosed, including information that did not lead to a conviction. The role must be eligible in law, and the employer has to state the workforce (child, adult or both) on the application.

The barred lists

The DBS keeps two barred lists: one for people barred from regulated activity with children, and one for regulated activity with adults. It is a criminal offence for a barred person to work or seek to work in regulated activity with the group they are barred from, and for an employer knowingly to let them.

Only roles that count as regulated activity can include a barred list check. In schools, teaching and most work involving regular unsupervised contact with pupils is regulated activity, so teachers, teaching assistants and many support staff need an enhanced check with the children’s barred list. In the NHS, most staff providing healthcare or personal care to patients need an enhanced check with the adults’ list, the children’s list or both. Our safer recruitment guide explains what schools must check.

Who pays

The employer decides. Schools and the NHS usually pay for the check the job requires. Some employers, especially agencies and some care providers, ask you to pay or deduct the cost from your first pay. A deduction from wages must be agreed in your contract or in writing beforehand, and it cannot take your pay below the National Minimum Wage.

Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland uses Disclosure Scotland. A Level 1 (basic) disclosure costs £25 and a Level 2 (standard or enhanced) disclosure costs £25. People doing regulated work with children or protected adults must join the PVG scheme, which costs £59 to join and £18 to renew. PVG membership is free for volunteers, and a five-year membership model started on 1 April 2026.

Northern Ireland uses AccessNI. Basic and standard checks cost £16, and enhanced checks cost £32. Checks are free for eligible volunteers.

If you have a criminal record and are worried about what will show, our guide to applying for public sector jobs with a criminal record explains disclosure, filtering and where to get advice. For how long each check takes, see how long a DBS check takes.