Criminal Record Check

1. Disclosure and Barring Service

All staff who are placed into a school environment are required to have a current Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) certificate applicable to the child workforce. The level of DBS certificate required will depend on the role and duties that an applicant intends to fulfil in a school.

For most applicants, an enhanced DBS certificate, which includes barred list information, will be required, as the majority of staff will be engaging in regulated activity. In summary, a person will be considered to be engaging in regulated activity if, as a result of their work, they:
• will be responsible, on a regular basis in a school or college, for teaching, training instructing, caring for or supervising children
• will carry out paid or unsupervised unpaid work regularly in a school or college where that work provides an opportunity for contact with children
• engage in intimate or personal care or overnight activity, even if this happens only once

UCM Education Limited will use Capita Recruitment Vetting Service to obtain DBS certificates for candidates. The applicant is responsible for completing the initial application form on line. However, UCM Education must be in possession of all ID and proof of address documentation in order to be able to confirm and verify the application.

The eBulk process confirms electronically to UCM Education Limited whether the individual’s new disclosure certificate is clear or is not clear. If a disclosure certificate is not clear, that is, it contains information, the original certificate must be seen, and the standard company risk assessment must be completed to determine suitability for registration.

2. DBS Update Service

All applicants are required to register with the DBS Update Service. Individuals can join the DBS Update Service at the point an application for a new DBS check is made or within 19 days of the DBS certificate being printed. This enables future termly status checks to be carried out by UCM Education to confirm that no new information has been added to the certificate since its issue. This also allows for the portability of a certificate across to employers. Thus a new DBS will not be required for any applicant who has registered to the Update Service having received a DBS Certificate via another employer.

Before using the Update Service, UCM Education Limited will:
• obtain consent from the applicant to do so
• confirm that the certificate matches the individual’s identity
• examine the original certificate to ensure that it is for the appropriate workforce and level of check, e.g. enhanced certificate or enhanced including barred list information.

Individuals will be able to see a full list of those organisations that have carried out a status check on their account. Further information about the update service can be found at gov.uk. If the Update Service check indicates a change to the disclosure certificate presented by a candidate, a new disclosure certificate will be required.

UCM Education Limited shares information noted on individuals’ disclosures with clients, as required by the DfE. In the event that a certificate identifies a disclosure, written permission to share the information will be obtained from the applicant or temporary worker prior to sharing it with a client. In the event that the client school wishes to offer the worker a placement or to retain the worker at the school, the school will be required to put this information in writing.

Anyone applying to work with children is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the supporting regulations. However, filtering rules introduced in May 2013 means that every applicant must give written details of all spent and unspent unfiltered convictions, cautions, and warnings.

In addition to the DBS check, applicants are given three opportunities to declare any convictions:
1. on the application form
2. at interview
3. on the Criminal Record Declaration form that all Applicants are asked to complete

Provided that a satisfactory completed criminal record declaration is available, candidates may be offered to a client once a DBS application has been lodged and confirmed by the DBS on-line tracking service, but before the disclosure certificate is returned with all other checks completed. These candidates are only booked at the client’s discretion, and when written confirmation has been received from the client indicating acceptance of the candidate. Clients will be informed once the disclosure certificate is received.

If once the DBS certificate has been received, or at a later stage, information is obtained which has not been declared, the candidate will be required to explain and a decision taken at senior level as to whether the worker should be removed from the position.

3. Children’s Barred List / List 99

All workers are checked against the Children’s Barred List prior to going into school, including checks on all known names. Checks are maintained for workers placed in school and are carried out before the beginning of the autumn term on an annual basis.

4. Overseas Criminal Records Check

Applicants who have lived outside of the UK for six months or more during the previous five years will be required to obtain an Overseas Criminal Records Check from the appropriate country or countries. If the document is not in English, the applicant will be required to provide a translation from a recognised translation service.

5. Disqualification Under the Childcare Act

The Childcare (Disqualification) Regulations 2018 set out the circumstances in which an individual will be disqualified from working with children. A person who is disqualified under the 2018 Regulations may not provide relevant childcare provision or be directly concerned in the management of such provision. Schools are prohibited from employing a disqualified person in connection with relevant childcare provision within their setting. It is a criminal offence to employ anyone who has been disqualified.

The relevant criteria for disqualification under the 2006 Act and 2009 Regulations include those set out in the list below:
a. inclusion on the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Children’s Barred List
b. being found to have committed certain violent and sexual criminal offences against children or adults
c. certain orders made in relation to the care of children
d. refusal or cancellation of registration relating to childcare, or children’s homes, or being prohibited from private fostering
e. being found to have committed an offence overseas which would constitute a disqualification offence under the 2018 Regulations if it had taken place in any part of the United Kingdom.

The above list is only a summary of the criteria that lead to disqualification. Further details about the specific orders and offences which will lead to disqualification are set out in the 2018 Regulations. The following staff are covered by this legislation:
• employed in or providing early years childcare, the age range from birth until 1 September following a child’s fifth birthday, i.e. up to and including reception age
• employed in or providing later years childcare in nursery, primary or secondary school settings, covering children above reception age but who have not yet attained the age of eight
• if they are directly concerned with the management of such childcare as described above

As is the case in most local authority schools, UCM Education Limited uses a self-declaration form in order to ascertain whether applicants are disqualified.

See also: UCM Education Limited self-declaration form, Positive DBS Check Decision to Employ Questionnaire