Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

If you have chosen the University as your Firm choice and are starting in September, you will be sent an email inviting you to complete an online DBS form around May time. For January starters, the email is usually sent in November. The link to the online form* will be sent to you in an email. 

The course you have applied for involves going out on placement and working with adults and/or children. For universities, it is a government requirement that you have had a DBS check in order for you to do this.

You will need to take your documents to your Post Office in order to use their verification service. The University does not verify documents directly. 

Please refer to the list of ID documents enclosed along with information regarding Routes 1, 2 and 3.

We would proceed down route 2 - you would need to provide 3 forms of ID from Group 2 consisting of 1 document from Group 2a and 2 documents from group 2a or 2b (one of which must verify show your current address). In addition, we will have to conduct a check via the external validation service system to confirm your identity.

If you cannot provide any ID for Routes 1, 2 and 3 you will be sent for fingerprinting by the Police.

The faculty will fund your DBS check.*

*Excludes Teach First and Non-Medical Prescribing.

Please be aware that if you have lived outside of the UK for six months or more in the past five years we will need to see a criminal record check from the country you were living in. You can apply for your criminal overseas check through GBG. Please send your completed application form to admissions@bcu.ac.uk and the Admissions team will send this to GBG on your behalf.

If you already have a criminal record check from the country you were living in you do not need to apply for one through GBG. Please just send us a copy of your certificate.

Yes, as long as you have subscribed to the DBS Update Service, your certificate is enhanced and you have undergone an Adult and Child Workforce Check (for all Health Courses including Social Work) or a Child Workforce Check only for Education Courses. You will still need to provide us with a copy of your original DBS certificate via email to admissions@bcu.ac.uk.

From 25 May 2017 we will no longer be accepting voluntary DBS disclosures that have been registered with the Update Service. If you are registered with the Update Service but your disclosure was for a voluntary position you will need to obtain a new certificate through our external provider. 

This is an online service which enables your certificate to be kept up-to-date and, with your consent, allows an organisation to check your certificate online. For £13 a year, you can subscribe and can re-use again providing the same level of check is acceptable with the organisation.

You will need to register here.

It can take anywhere from two to eight weeks (possibly longer) for DBS to process the forms depending on how busy they are. You can track the progress here using the Form Reference Number of the application and your date of birth.

Your certificate will be posted to the address you have stated as your current address on Section B of the DBS form.

No, confirmation of your clearance will be sent to us by our external provider. If you have a conviction listed on your certificate we may request to see a copy. You will only need to provide this if requested separately.

You can ask DBS to reprint the certificate as long as the request is within three months (93 days) of the issue date. See here for further information.

The certificate is only accurate on the date it is issued. For this reason, if you intermit and re-enrol back onto the course you will need to complete a new DBS application. This will be processed by the relevant School Office (not Admissions).

We will need to see the original certificate and take a photocopy to send to our Student Governance Team. Depending on the nature and time of the conviction, they may invite you in for a panel meeting to discuss this in further detail. The panel will consider the suitability of the applicant/newly enrolled student based on the information contained in the Disclosure and the following:

• The nature of the offence(s)
• The age at which it was committed
• Its relevance to the professional area in question
• Any pattern of offending behaviour
• The two character references provide

The DBS panel will decide whether the applicant/newly enrolled student is considered suitable to start or continue on the programme. If the decision is no then this exclusion is applied across all professional programmes in the relevant Faculty.

The process is slightly different for the BSc Social Work degree programme. Once an applicant/newly enrolled student has been approved by the Faculty DBS panel then the list has to be circulated to Birmingham Government Child/Adult and other partners within the Social Work sector for approval. Once feedback is received to Student Governance, the applicant/newly enrolled student will be informed of the outcome in writing. Social Work students may also be required to have annual enhanced DBS checks depending upon the placement learning experience and requirements of the practice/placement partner.

Please rest assured this information is dealt with confidentially and is only available to the members of staff that must deal with DBS related duties as part of their remit. Copies of DBS paperwork e.g. application forms etc are shredded after six months.

If you think the DBS has made an error on your certificate please contact them to explain what has happened. If the error is regarding incorrect information stated regarding a conviction or personal information e.g. name then you will need to raise a dispute. Disputes can only be raised within three months of the issue date. You can complete the dispute form on their website.

Please contact Health Admissions on +44 (0)121 331 5500 or email DBS.Admissions@bcu.ac.uk

Please also check the official website for additional information.