Martial Arts DBS Checks

A DBS (Disclosure & Barring Service) Check is effectively a report on a person’s criminal history. There are different versions available – Basic, Standard and Full depending on the level of vetting required. Each check will search for an applicant’s criminal record, searching additional types of register and record from basic through to enhanced. There is a different type of check for Scotland, known as a PVG (Protecting Vulnerable Group) scheme. This is separate to DBS checks.

There are lots of roles and professions that require DBS checks of different levels, but specifically to martial arts, typically you’ll need to hold an enhanced DBS check if;

• You teach anyone under the age of 18 (a child, as defined by law)
• You teach adults at risk (i.e: severely disabled adults, or a referral from social services – for example).

It doesn’t matter if the person is an instructor or not – it’s to do with unsupervised access. For example, your club treasurer might have the opportunity or access to be with a child without supervision on a regular basis. This could be sufficient to justify them requiring a DBS check to an enhanced level inline with your club’s safeguarding policy.

It’s pointing out there is no check that is exclusively for martial arts. DBS checks are primarily designed for employers but everybody who requires on will undergo the same checking process.

The different three types of disclosure are;

Basic Disclosures are typically applicable to fairly standard roles – such as visa applications, alcohol / premise licenses etc. For martial arts instructors it’s unlikely to be sufficient, although it may be appropriate for treasurers or other committee staff who do not have access to vulnerable adults or children. Anyone can apply for a Basic Disclosure for themselves. A basic disclosure will only search unspent convictions.

Standard Disclosures are more thorough than basic, and will disclose unspent convictions as well as Spent convictions, Cautions, Warnings and Reprimands. A typical example of a professional who might require this would be a solicitor, traffic warden or someone in the security industry. Whilst this is a much more thorough check, if you or a member of your club is undertaking unsupervised access to children and/or adults at risk, you might want to consider the enhanced disclosure.

Enhanced Disclosures are the most thorough available DBS check. They’re broken down into enhanced (with Childrens or Adults barred list) or enhanced (without Childrens or Adults barred list). Which one you need depends on what you’re doing, but effectively if the Childrens or Adults barred list is not included, the enhanced check advanced the standard disclosure by also checking for any additional police information. This might include Acquittals, Findings of innocence, Other Police intelligence (including allegations) among other things.