DBS Checks for Volunteers and How Long They Take

A woman I know offered to be a reading helper at her local primary school in the second week of September. The head of year was delighted, took her details, and then she heard nothing for seven weeks. She assumed she had been quietly rejected and stopped chasing. What had actually happened was an enhanced DBS check sitting in a queue at a police force two counties away, and nobody had thought to tell her that was normal.

This is the single most common point where new volunteers fall out of the process. Not the interview, not the training, the silence during the background check. Knowing what the check is, who pays for it, and roughly how long it takes removes most of the frustration, and it also stops you making the two mistakes that cause real delays.

What a DBS check is and which level you need

The Disclosure and Barring Service handles criminal record checks in England and Wales. Scotland uses Disclosure Scotland and Northern Ireland uses AccessNI, with similar levels and different names. The level you need depends entirely on the role, not on the organisation's preference.

The free part matters and people often do not believe it. If you genuinely meet the legal definition of a volunteer, which means unpaid work that is not for a close relative, the DBS fee is waived. What the organisation still pays is the umbrella body's administration charge, usually somewhere between 8 and 15 pounds. If a group asks you to hand over 38 pounds for an enhanced check, something is wrong and it is worth asking why.

You cannot get one yourself in advance

The advice I hear repeated most often is to sort out a DBS check before you start applying, so you arrive ready to go. It sounds sensible and it is not possible. An individual cannot request their own standard or enhanced check. Only an organisation, or an umbrella body acting for one, can submit it, and only for a specific role they have assessed as eligible.

You can apply for a basic check yourself, for 18 pounds, and some people do. In six years of placing volunteers I have never once been able to use one someone brought with them. The role needed a higher level, and the certificate was not tied to anything I could rely on.

What does carry over is the DBS Update Service. If you subscribe within 30 days of your certificate being issued, for an annual fee of around 13 to 16 pounds, future organisations can run a free online status check in minutes instead of starting again. For anyone volunteering in two or three places, or likely to move roles, that subscription is the one piece of paperwork genuinely worth doing on your own initiative. Tell the next organisation you are on it, because they will not think to ask.

How long it takes, and what actually slows it down

The published national averages look reassuring and do not describe anyone's experience. Of the last batch of enhanced checks I submitted, the fastest came back in four working days and the slowest took eleven weeks. The difference was not the applicant. It was which police force had to add local information.

Two things cause most of the avoidable delay. The first is incomplete address history. Enhanced forms want five years of addresses with no gaps, including the month you moved. People guess, the dates do not line up, and the form bounces back. Before you start, write out your addresses with months, and check an old bank statement or tenancy agreement if you are unsure.

The second is ID. The smooth route is a current passport plus a driving licence plus one document showing your current address from the last three months, such as a utility bill or council tax letter. Without a passport or licence it is still possible, but the organisation has to use a longer list of documents and sometimes an external identity service, which adds days. If your name has changed, bring the marriage certificate or deed poll to the ID appointment. I have watched two people turn up without it and have to come back the following week.

If something shows up on the certificate

A conviction is not an automatic no, and people with a record talk themselves out of volunteering far more often than organisations turn them away. Old and minor matters are filtered out and never appear: most single convictions that did not result in a custodial sentence drop off after eleven years for adults, and cautions after six, with a list of serious offences that always stay.

When something does appear, what follows is a conversation and a written risk assessment, not a rejection letter. A shoplifting conviction from 2009 does not stop someone driving a minibus. It might stop them handling cash alone, which is a reasonable adjustment rather than an exclusion. If you expect something to show up, say so early, to the person doing your interview. It lands very differently then than it does on a certificate three weeks later.

What to do during the wait

Ask for something you can start now. Almost every organisation has roles that need no check at all, and most coordinators are glad to be asked. Help at a one off event, stuff envelopes, join a litter pick, come to the social. You meet the team, you learn how the place runs, and your name stops being a form in a drawer.

Put a date in your diary six weeks out to follow up, and chase the organisation rather than the DBS. They can see the status; you cannot do much with the online tracker beyond confirming it exists. One polite email at six weeks has unstuck more checks for my volunteers than anything else, usually because something was sitting unsigned at the umbrella body.

If this is your first role, the waiting is the least interesting part of a process that is otherwise more welcoming than people expect, and our guide to volunteering for the first time covers the rest of it. Roles with formal vetting are worth the paperwork: a school governor post needs an enhanced check and gives you real influence over a local school. Other options are in the volunteering section.

FAQ

Does a DBS certificate expire?

No. There is no expiry date printed on it, and it is only accurate on the day it was issued. Organisations set their own renewal policy, commonly every three years, which is why the Update Service saves so much repeated effort.

Can I volunteer while the check is still pending?

In non regulated roles, yes. For regulated activity with children or adults at risk, you can sometimes start under supervision if the barred list check has come back clear, but that decision belongs to the organisation and some will not take the risk.

Who sees my certificate?

The paper certificate is posted to you, not to the organisation. You show it to them. If anything on it is wrong, you have three months from the issue date to dispute it, and the dispute line is worth using because errors on common names do happen.

Do I need a new check for every organisation?

Yes, unless you are on the Update Service, in which case a status check is enough as long as the role needs the same level and the same workforce type. A certificate for working with children does not transfer to a role with adults at risk.