Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Checks

How to apply for a DBS Check through Blue Tutors
Advice on completing your DBS Check form

What is a DBS Check?

The role of the DBS is to identify candidates who may be unsuitable to work with children, or with other vulnerable members of society. They produce a document (check) which contains details of convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings held on the Police National Computer.
When applying for a check in relation to working as a tutor, an Enhanced check must be applied for. Enhanced checks may also contain any relevant information held by local police forces.

Do I need a DBS Check to be a tutor?

No, DBS Checks are not mandatory. However, if a parent says that their tutor must have a DBS Check then any tutor who does not have one is ruled out of tutoring that student.

For how long does a check last?

There is no official expiry date for a check; technically it has expired the day after it was issued because no criminal activity on the following day will be shown (checks were originally intended to give an employer information about someone that may influence the employer’s decision to hire that person). However, it is common practice for employers to apply for a new check at regular intervals for each of their employees. Schools generally do so every year.
If you have previously received a check, we recommend that you show it to us, no matter how old it may be.
If you know that a check was applied for on your behalf, but it has not been returned to you, then it's worth contacting whichever body applied for the check, because they should have kept it. Also, they are legally required to return it to you six months after it was applied for.
Anyone applying for a DBS check can now request that their details be put on to the Update Register, so that the applicant can give a new employer the details to do an online search for the DBS check. This costs £13 a year.

What does a check cost?

The Disclosure and Barring Service charges registered bodies £40 for an enhanced check. However, since we are not able to register with the DBS (because our tutors are self-employed) we apply for checks on a tutor’s behalf through a third party registered body who charge an admin fee of £5. Therefore the total cost of check if you apply through us is £45.

For more information please visit the DBS’s website: homeoffice.gov.uk/dbs