Which level of criminal record check can I legally ask for?

England and Wales: This page sets out the position in full. Scotland: this page is not about you — there are no levels to choose, because PVG is continuous scheme membership for regulated roles; see People — How do PVG and AccessNI checks differ from a DBS check? Northern Ireland: covered — AccessNI issues three levels, and the one called “Standard” is not the safe middle option it sounds like.

“Enhanced with barred lists” is not a default

The law decides the level of DBS check a charity may ask for. How careful the trustees or safeguarding lead want to be does not. The rules below are England and Wales’s; Northern Ireland’s AccessNI levels and Scotland’s PVG scheme follow at the end. It assumes you have already worked out whether the role is in regulated activity.

England and Wales. An enhanced check with barred lists is available only where the role is in regulated activity. That is a legal eligibility test.

The test is in statute. Section 113BA(1) of the Police Act 1997 makes barred-list information available only, in its words, “in such cases as are prescribed”. The prescribing instrument is the Police Act 1997 (Criminal Records) Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/233). Standard and enhanced checks are also limited by law, to positions covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.

So there is no “safest” level to reach for. The right level is the one the role is eligible for. Ask for more than that, and you are making a request the DBS should refuse.

Many charities treat the top level as the responsible choice for anyone who comes near children. That instinct is understandable, and it is wrong in law. The responsible choice is the correct one.

One recent change works in the other direction. Since 1 September 2026, supervision no longer takes a volunteer’s role out of regulated activity. Take a supervised volunteer who could not lawfully be given a barred-list check in August. That volunteer may be eligible for one now, if the role meets the test. That is set out on the previous step.

The four levels of DBS check in England and Wales

The table shows what each level reveals and who may be checked at it. For the three nations’ systems side by side, see which criminal record check do we need?

The DBS publishes an eligibility guide for standard checks, keyed to the Exceptions Order. It was last updated in January 2026. This guide has not reproduced its contents, because the document itself was not read.

For a specific role that is not in regulated activity, read the guide. This site’s tool is not ready yet: DBS level checker (planned).

A certificate has no expiry date

England and Wales. A DBS certificate has no expiry date, and GOV.UK says so in terms, verbatim: “A DBS check has no official expiry date. Any information included will be accurate at the time the check was carried out. It’s up to you to decide when a new check is needed.”

The fixed renewal cycle that many charities and funders run is policy, not law. No statute or guidance sets a renewal interval. You may set your own. If you do, minute it as the charity’s own policy, and do not describe it to volunteers, staff or funders as a legal requirement.

Asking about criminal records is a data protection question too

England and Wales. Eligibility is not only a DBS rule. Asking about criminal records needs a lawful basis of its own. The Commission’s safeguarding guidance puts it this way, verbatim: “If you ask applicants about their criminal records you must have a policy in place that sets out a lawful basis and condition of processing this information, to comply with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).”

So a check the role is not eligible for is a problem twice over. The DBS should refuse it, and processing the result has no lawful footing. The policy itself belongs with the rest of your data protection work: Write your data protection policy.

Northern Ireland: three levels, and one trap

Northern Ireland. AccessNI issues three levels of certificate: basic, standard and enhanced. The barred lists are held by the DBS. An enhanced AccessNI certificate includes DBS-held information for positions in regulated activity.

The trap is “Standard”. It sounds like the sensible middle option. AccessNI says in terms that standard checks are “not suitable for roles working with children or vulnerable adults”. For those roles, AccessNI says an enhanced check is “normally required where the applicant will work or volunteer in a role providing services to or having close and regular supervision of children or vulnerable adults.”

Standard checks are also limited by law in Northern Ireland. They are only for positions exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. The individual cannot apply for one.

Scotland: there is no level to choose

Scotland. The Scottish system does not work in levels. PVG is a membership scheme for regulated roles: a person joins it, and Disclosure Scotland keeps checking their suitability until they leave.

The English vocabulary of basic, standard and enhanced does not travel. The Scottish scheme carries membership offences the England and Wales one does not: there is no offence of working without a DBS check. See run the check in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Record the level and the reason, role by role

For each role in England and Wales or Northern Ireland, write down three things:

1. the determination from the previous step — regulated activity or not
2. the level you will apply for
3. the legal basis for that level:
   • in England and Wales, regulated activity, a position in the Exceptions Order, or a basic check open to anyone
   • in Northern Ireland, the equivalent AccessNI basis

Add any re-check interval the board has set, labelled as the charity’s own policy. Then run the check. In England and Wales, see How do I actually run a DBS check, and what does it cost?. In Northern Ireland, see running the check in Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Common mistake (England and Wales): treating “enhanced with barred lists” as the responsible default

Charities equate the highest level with the safest choice. It is available only for regulated activity. Asking for it outside that is not caution; it is a request the DBS should refuse. And processing the result without eligibility is a data protection problem as well as a DBS one.

Common mistake (England and Wales): calling a fixed renewal cycle a legal requirement

Many charities and funders run one, so it is assumed to be law. A DBS certificate has no official expiry date, and no statute or guidance sets a renewal interval. A charity may set its own re-check policy. It should not describe it as a legal obligation.

Common mistake (Northern Ireland): choosing “Standard” for a children’s or vulnerable adults’ role

It sounds like the proportionate middle option. AccessNI says in terms that standard checks are “not suitable for roles working with children or vulnerable adults”.

Common mistake (Scotland): looking for a level to choose at all

The English vocabulary travels with the charity. In Scotland there are no levels. PVG is continuous scheme membership for regulated roles, with criminal offences for doing or offering a regulated role without it.

Worked example

England and Wales. Tollgate Youth CIO has written its determinations on the previous step. Its paid youth worker is in regulated activity. Its Friday-evening helper, previously recorded as outside it because of supervision, has been re-assessed since 1 September 2026.

• Youth worker. In regulated activity, so enhanced with the children’s barred list is available. Tollgate records that level and the basis: regulated activity.
• Friday helper. If the re-assessment puts the helper’s role in regulated activity, the same level is now available, and Tollgate records it. If the role does not meet the test on the activity list or the period condition, the barred list is not available. Which lower level the role is eligible for then depends on the DBS’s standard eligibility guide, which this page has not read.

Neither certificate expires. The trustees decide to re-check both roles every few years as a matter of their own policy, and minute it as policy, not law.