Enhanced DBS shows the disclosable conviction and caution information covered by Standard checks and can add relevant local police information. For duties that are legally eligible, the application can also request a check of the children’s barred list, adults’ barred list or both as appropriate.
The extra local police element is selective. A chief officer considers relevance to the role and whether information ought to be disclosed. Enhanced does not mean every note or allegation held by police is automatically printed.
Check the next step for tutors
Scope before interpretation
Enhanced disclosure combines defined criminal-record information with a role-relevance assessment for local police information. The process is broader than Standard but still governed by filtering, relevance and legal eligibility.
A tutoring example
A tutoring organisation sees no local police information on an Enhanced certificate and assumes that stage was omitted. A blank section can simply mean no information met the disclosure test. The organisation should focus on what the certificate states and its wider recruitment evidence.
The absence of printed local information should therefore be recorded accurately, without claiming that police hold no information of any kind.
Know when the evidence is incomplete
Use an incomplete-evidence flag whenever one of these actions cannot be demonstrated: confirm Enhanced level and workforce; verify which barred-list search, if any, was requested; handle any local police information as sensitive data; or make a role-based risk assessment rather than an automatic rejection. For What Does Enhanced DBS Show, the flag is a prompt to gather evidence or agree a temporary control, not a criticism of the applicant.
Before removing the flag, answer Does Enhanced include spent convictions? The answer required by the guidance is: It can disclose spent and unspent conviction and caution information that is not protected by filtering. Keep the flag in place if the available document or status cannot support that statement without assumptions.
Questions specific to this disclosure
Does Enhanced include spent convictions?
It can disclose spent and unspent conviction and caution information that is not protected by filtering.
Is barred-list information automatic?
No. It requires legal eligibility and the relevant option.
Does Enhanced include overseas criminal records?
It is not a universal overseas check; separate overseas evidence may be needed.
Remove the incomplete-evidence flag for What Does Enhanced DBS Show only when the gap is resolved. If resolution requires a new check, continue through the tutor application page with the reason recorded.