Scotland and Northern Ireland
AccessNI checks in Northern Ireland
Choose the level and whether you volunteer: the AccessNI fee and the average wait for the week shown, read on nidirect.
What an AccessNI check costs
AccessNI enhanced check
£32
| Average, week of 19 October 2026 | 5 days |
| Same level in England and Wales | £41 |
AccessNI adds a barred list check to an enhanced check only for regulated activity, under the Northern Ireland safeguarding law.
AccessNI carries out criminal record checks for roles in Northern Ireland, in place of DBS. It has three levels: basic at £16, standard at £16 and enhanced at £32, the lowest fees in the UK. You must be 16 or over. Individuals can apply for a basic check themselves; standard and enhanced checks go through a body registered with AccessNI, except for self-employed people and personal employees in regulated activity, who use an AccessNI umbrella body that adds its own fee. Volunteers in a non-profit organisation get standard and enhanced checks free, but AccessNI charges when the volunteer works directly for a statutory organisation or in a role delivering statutory services under contract. AccessNI updates its turnaround times every week: for the week beginning 19 October 2026, it took 3 days on average to issue a basic certificate, 3 days for a standard one and 5 days for an enhanced one. A certificate is valid for the recruitment to one role and cannot be transferred to another.
Fees and rules checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are built
Fees and targets
| AccessNI check | Fee | Volunteer | Target | Average, week of 19 October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic, applied for yourself | £16 | Charged | 95% within 14 days | 3 days |
| Basic, through a responsible body | £16 | Charged | 99% within 7 days | 3 days |
| Standard | £16 | Free if qualifying | 99% within 7 days | 3 days |
| Enhanced | £32 | Free if qualifying | 70% within 10 days, 95% within 21 days, 98% within 28 days | 5 days |
Who applies
The nidirect page on using a check says employers are responsible for knowing when a role needs a check, and that standard and enhanced checks must go through a registered body. One exception covers family members of an applicant who is registering as a childminder, adopting or fostering, joining the Homes for Ukraine scheme or caring for an adult in their own home under the Adult Placement Scheme: household members over 10 can then be checked. Self-employed people follow the AccessNI self-employed route, with the same tutor, carer and plumber examples as in England, and receive a digital certificate in their nidirect account.
Compared with England and Wales
An enhanced check costs £32 with AccessNI and £41 with DBS since 5 October 2026. AccessNI is also quicker on its figures for the week of 19 October 2026. But it has no subscription service: each new role in Northern Ireland needs a new check, where a DBS certificate on the Update Service can be checked again for free. The four-nation page compares every level.
When AccessNI refers to the police
AccessNI must refer an application to the police when the person has convictions, cautions or warnings, when the police hold other information about them, when the role is home-based such as childminding, or when the person lives or has lived in Ireland in the last five years (nidirect). Those applications can take longer than the weekly average, and the police may contact you: answering quickly avoids delays.
Home-based roles
A role is home-based when you work with children or adults in your own home, or live with someone checked because they do. Childminding, fostering and adoption are examples, and the registered body must say so on the application.
Only the applicant receives a copy of the certificate unless they gave AccessNI permission to send it to the employer. For online applications through a registered or responsible body, AccessNI updates a tracking service that both you and the employer can see.