It’s one of those questions you hear a lot, especially when you’re looking at council jobs, NHS roles, or even short-term public contracts. Some people will swear blind that every public sector job comes with a DBS check as a standard requirement. Others, however, will tell you they’ve spent years in the same office without ever being asked for one. As with everything, the truth of the matter is a bit more complicated.
The roles where it’s basically a given
If you’re going to be around children or vulnerable adults without supervision, the law doesn’t give you much choice. Teachers, social workers, certain healthcare roles – those are obvious.
But it’s not just the “frontline” jobs. An IT technician who can access student records, a data analyst in a hospital trust with full system permissions, those still fall under the same general safeguarding requirements.
DBS checks come in three levels:
- Basic – this shows unspent convictions only.
- Standard – this shows spent convictions, cautions, reprimands, warnings.
- Enhanced – any information the police consider relevant to the role, and possibly a barred-list check if the it is classed as regulated activity.
The level you get isn’t picked at random. The law links the depth of the check to the duties in the job,
Jobs that might not need one
Not everything in the public sector involves sensitive information or contact wiht vulnerable people. There are also planning officers, policy researchers, and admin assistants in finance teams. Those roles rarely hit the legal threshold for a DBS request.
That said, some employers still run a basic check just to be safe. This is perfectly legal at that level, and can be a good way to cover some basic ground.
What it looks like in practice
If the role does need a check, you’ll usually only start the process once you’ve had a conditional offer. The company (or a third party like Personnel Checks) will need your ID, proof of address, application form, then it’s off to the DBS.
Basic checks can be done in a couple of days. Enhanced checks can drag on, especially if you’ve lived in more than one police force area (as each one has to sign off).
The reason behind the checks
A clean DBS isn’t a badge that proves perfect suitability. It just says nothing’s on record to legally block you from the role. Good hiring still means interviews, references, maybe probation. The DBS is one filter, but one of many.
From an employer’s perspective, it’s necessary for covering legal requirements and protecting both the organisation and the people it serves. That’s why some checks are done even when the law doesn’t demand it. The risk – legal, reputational, even financial – can be too big to ignore, especially in a publicly responsible organisation.
Not all public sector jobs require a DBS check. But for the ones that carry responsibility, authority, or access to people and information that need protecting, the odds are high. And with safeguarding under tighter scrutiny than it was even a few years ago, the “optional but better safe than sorry” category is only getting bigger.
