Levels of check
Basic DBS check: what it is and how to get one
Choose where the job is: who issues the basic check, its price and how long it takes.
Who issues your basic check, and its price
Basic DBS check from Disclosure and Barring Service
£20
| Average wait | 0.7 days |
| Apply yourself online | Yes |
| Minimum age | 16 |
Apply on GOV.UK if the job is in England or Wales, wherever you live.
A basic DBS check is the lowest level of criminal record check in England and Wales and the only one you can request for yourself without an employer. It lists unspent convictions and conditional cautions, nothing else: spent convictions, cautions that have lapsed and police intelligence never appear. Any employer can ask for one, whatever the job, and so can a landlord, a client or a licensing body. You apply on GOV.UK from the age of 16, prove your identity with GOV.UK One Login, give your addresses for the last 5 years and pay £20, the fee in force since 5 October 2026. GOV.UK says an application usually takes up to 3 days to process before the paper certificate is posted. In June 2026, 86.4% of basic certificates went out within the 2 days target. If the job is in Scotland or Northern Ireland, the basic check comes from Disclosure Scotland or AccessNI instead.
Fees and rules checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are built
What a basic certificate shows
The certificate lists convictions and conditional cautions that are not yet spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. A spent conviction does not appear, however serious, and neither do simple cautions, which are spent at once. Some conditional cautions lapse after three months, as the GOV.UK basic check page notes. A basic check never includes the barred lists or information from local police. When nothing is unspent, the certificate says so: most certificates are clear. The page on what each level shows compares the four levels and the filtering rules of the higher ones.
The two ways to get one
You can apply yourself on GOV.UK, which costs exactly £20 and needs no intermediary. Or an employer requests it on your behalf through one of the responsible organisations registered with DBS, which may add an administration fee on top of the £20. An organisation that requests more than 1,000 basic checks a year can become a responsible organisation itself, according to the GOV.UK employer page.
| Route | Who starts it | Cost | Certificate goes to |
|---|---|---|---|
| GOV.UK basic check service | You | £20 | You, by post and in your online account |
| Responsible organisation | Your employer | £20 + any admin fee | You; the organisation is told the outcome |
Wherever you live, apply where the job is
A basic DBS check is for work in England and Wales. You can get one while living in Scotland or Northern Ireland if the job is in England or Wales. For a job in Scotland, the equivalent is a Level 1 disclosure at £25; in Northern Ireland, an AccessNI basic check at £16. None of them covers time spent abroad: an employer can ask for a certificate from another country as well.
How long it is valid
A basic certificate has no expiry date. It shows what was on record on the day it was issued, and each employer decides how recent a certificate it will accept. Many ask for one issued in the last few months. Because a basic certificate cannot be added to the Update Service, a new check is the only way to bring it up to date; the basic cost page shows what repeated checks add up to.