Scotland and Northern Ireland
Criminal record checks across the four UK nations
Pick a level: the fee and the latest wait for the same check in each nation.
The same check in the four nations
Enhanced with children's barred list, England and Wales
£41
| England and Wales: Enhanced DBS check | £41, 13.1 days |
| Scotland: Level 2 PVG, joining the scheme | £59, 3.5 days |
| Northern Ireland: AccessNI enhanced check | £32, 5 days |
You apply where the job is, not where you live. Lowest fee: Northern Ireland.
The UK has three bodies for criminal record checks, and the one you use depends on where the job is, not where you live. DBS covers England and Wales, Disclosure Scotland covers Scotland and AccessNI covers Northern Ireland. The levels broadly match. A basic check, showing unspent convictions, costs £20 from DBS since 5 October 2026, £25 for a Level 1 disclosure in Scotland and £16 from AccessNI. A standard check costs £20 from DBS, £25 for a Scottish Level 2 and £16 in Northern Ireland. An enhanced check costs £41 from DBS and £32 from AccessNI, while Scotland uses Level 2 with a barred list check for specific activities and the PVG scheme, at £59 to join, for regulated roles. Volunteers pay nothing for most checks above basic in all three systems. Only DBS has a subscription, the Update Service, at £15 a year; only PVG is a membership that keeps checking you for five years.
Fees and rules checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are built
The levels nation by nation
| Level | England and Wales (DBS) | Scotland | Northern Ireland (AccessNI) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Basic, £20 | Level 1, £25 | Basic, £16 |
| Standard | Standard, £20 | Level 2, £25 | Standard, £16 |
| Enhanced | Enhanced, £41 | Level 2, £25 | Enhanced, £32 |
| Enhanced with barred lists | Same £41 | PVG, £59 to join, £18 for a member | Enhanced, £32 |
| Keeping it current | Update Service, £15 a year | PVG membership, five years | New check per role |
Where to apply
The rule is the location of the role. For England or Wales, the GOV.UK guidance applies, whatever your address. For Scotland, the mygov.scot disclosure levels apply, and an employer in Scotland cannot ask for a DBS certificate instead of PVG for a regulated role. For Northern Ireland, AccessNI applies. Someone with jobs in two nations may need two checks.
Fees and waits compared
DBS cut its fees on 5 October 2026, as its announcement set out, so England and Wales are no longer the most expensive for an enhanced check: AccessNI charges £32 and Scotland £59 for joining PVG (Disclosure Scotland fees). On waits, the latest published averages are 13.1 days for an enhanced DBS check in July 2026, 3.5 days across Disclosure Scotland from April to June 2026 and 5 days for an AccessNI enhanced check in the week of 19 October 2026. The calculator above gives the figures for each level.
Who starts the application
| Level | England and Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | You, on GOV.UK | You, on mygov.scot | You, on nidirect |
| Standard | Employer, registered or umbrella body | The organisation (Level 2) | Registered body |
| Enhanced or PVG | Employer, registered or umbrella body | The organisation (PVG) | Registered body |
| Self-employed in an eligible role | You, through an umbrella body | You, for PVG | You, through an umbrella body |
Only the basic level is open to anyone in all three systems, from age 16 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Above it, the organisation recruiting you decides and applies, which is why a site promising an enhanced check to anyone who asks is not following the rules.
What moves between nations
Very little. A DBS certificate on the Update Service can be checked by another employer in England or Wales, but a Scottish employer recruiting for a regulated role needs PVG membership, and an employer in Northern Ireland asks AccessNI, whose certificates are valid only for the recruitment to one role. In the other direction, PVG membership means nothing to an English employer, which asks for a DBS check. Someone who works across a border, such as a locum, an agency worker or a coach travelling to events, should expect one check per nation where they work, and should budget for each fee.
Fees in context
Since the October 2026 cut, the DBS basic and standard fees are £20, between the £16 of AccessNI and the £25 of Disclosure Scotland. At enhanced level, AccessNI is still the cheapest at £32. Volunteers pay nothing for most checks above basic in all three systems, under each body's own definition.