Update Service and certificate
DBS Update Service: what it costs and when it pays
Set how long you will need the certificate and how often you would otherwise be checked again.
Update Service or a new check each time?
Saved with the Update Service over 3 years
£78
| With the Update Service | £86 |
| Without it | £164 |
| Subscription | £15 a year |
Standard and enhanced certificates only; free for volunteers. Join within 30 days of the certificate date.
The DBS Update Service lets you keep a standard or enhanced certificate up to date and lets an employer you authorise check online, at once and for free, whether any new information has been added since it was issued. It costs £15 a year since 5 October 2026, down from £16, and nothing for volunteers. You can join while the check is running, with the application reference on the form, or with the certificate number within 30 days of the date printed on the certificate. After that, a new check is needed to join. A subscription lasts one year and can renew itself; if it lapses, the certificate can no longer be checked online. It pays off as soon as it saves one new check: an enhanced check costs £41 before any admin fee. It does not help when the next role needs a different level or workforce. In June 2026, 2,889,110 subscriptions were active.
Fees and rules checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How the figures are built
What a year of subscription is worth
| Situation over 3 years | Without Update Service | With it | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| One enhanced check, no new one asked | £41 | £86 | -£45 |
| One new enhanced check a year | £164 | £86 | £78 |
| Two a year, £10 admin fee each | £357 | £96 | £261 |
| One new standard check a year | £80 | £65 | £15 |
The subscription is cheapest for people who change employer, agency or client often: supply teachers, agency carers, locum nurses, self-employed tutors, sports coaches who work for several clubs. For someone who stays in one job and whose employer never asks for a new check, it is an extra cost.
The rules that catch people out
- The 30-day window. It runs from the date printed on the certificate, not from the day it arrives. A certificate held up in the post can leave you only a few days.
- Same level and workforce. The GOV.UK page says you can take a certificate from one role to the next unless the organisation asks for a new one, the new role is in another workforce (adult instead of child) or needs another level.
- Employers may still insist. A status check is allowed, not compulsory: an employer's policy can require a fresh certificate.
For employers
A status check needs no registration and no payment. The employer guide explains the legal conditions: the organisation must be entitled to ask for that level of check for the role and must have the worker's consent. A result saying that new information exists does not reveal it; the employer then asks for a new check. Employers who recruit many people on the service save both the fee and the wait, which reached 13.1 days on average for enhanced checks in July 2026.
When you need a new check anyway, the renewal page explains what triggers one, and the certificate page works out your 30-day deadline.
No equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland
The Update Service is a DBS service for England and Wales. In Scotland, the PVG scheme does a similar job differently: membership lasts five years and Disclosure Scotland keeps checking members, and a member applying for a new role pays £18. In Northern Ireland, nidirect says an AccessNI certificate is valid for the recruitment to a specific role and cannot be transferred, so each new role needs a new check.