Applicant guide for DBS and overseas police checks

Step 1: apply

The University partners with Atlantic Data Ltd, who will process your application for a DBS check.

Once you have arrived in the UK, please confirm your UK address and telephone number on your SOLE student page as soon as possible. 

Once you have done this, Atlantic Data Ltd will contact you via email. You will need to follow the instructions in their email to apply for your DBS check.

For more information about applying for your DBS check, please read our help guide (below).

Step 2: wait for checks

Once you have submitted your DBS application via Atlantic Data Ltd, the UK Government’s Disclosure and Barring Service will undertake your criminal records check. This typically takes around 2 weeks, but processing times can vary.

The Disclosure and Barring Service will post a DBS certificate confirming the outcome of your criminal records check to your current address as you entered it on your DBS application. Our Admissions team will also receive electronic notification of this.

If you would like more information about the Disclosure and Barring Service checks, please see the Government’s guide to DBS checks.

Step 3: present your DBS certificate

You will need to show your DBS certificate to the University when you start your course. You can do this by taking it to firstpoint on St John’s campus within their opening hours.

A satisfactory DBS check is required for clearance to start your course placement. You must show your DBS certificate to the University in order to meet this requirement.

Step 4: keep your DBS certificate safe

You will need to keep your DBS certificate safe as you may need to show it to the provider of your course placement. 

Confirming your UK contact details

You must confirm your UK address and telephone number on your SOLE student page in order to apply for your DBS check. You can access your student page once you have completed registration for your course.

Please ensure that your UK address follows the format below: 

• House number/flat number/room number
• Street name
• City 
• Postcode

If you are living on campus at the university, please ensure your full address, including room number and building are included. For example: Flat 7 Accommodation Block

Your DBS certificate may take a few weeks to be issued to this address, so do not use an address for temporary accommodation. 

If you are already in the UK and have confirmed your UK address and UK phone number on your SOLE student page but have not received an email from Atlantic Data Ltd, please contact our Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk with tthese details as soon as possible. 

Logging into your Atlantic Data Ltd account

Once you have confirm your UK address and telephone number on your student page, Atlantic Data Ltd will send you an email. This email will provide a link to log into your account, along with your username. Please follow the instructions in this email to apply for your DBS check.

If you see the message “Email address or date of birth is invalid” when you log in, please contact our Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk so they can resolve this for you.

If your title or gender is not correct, or your name is not your full legal name needed for your DBS application, please contact our Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk so they can update this for you.

For international students, we recommend getting the following documents ready for your DBS application: 

• Passport: Any current and valid passport.  

• eVisa: Accessed via the ‘View and Prove’ service. The share code requested by the applicant should be an ‘immigration status’ share code. If you do not have a UKVI account to access your eVisa you can create an account on the gov.uk eVisa portal (Get access to your online immigration status (eVisa) - GOV.UK) 

• Bank or building society statement from the UK, posted copy issued in the last 3 months: As soon as you have arrived in the UK, we recommend opening a UK bank account so you can use your bank statement as evidence. This must be an original statement printed in the bank or posted to you. Copies or statements downloaded from your online bank account will not be accepted. The address on your bank statement must match the address on your DBS application.

ID required for your DBS application

As part of your DBS application, you will need to provide ID documents to Atlantic Data Ltd so they can verify your identity.

For further information about acceptable forms of ID please see the ID Checking guidelines.

When you upload an ID document to your DBS application, please ensure that the ID document ‘type’ you select matches the document you upload, otherwise it will not be accepted. For example, if you declare a Non-UK driving license but upload a non-UK bank statement, it will not be accepted. 

Please also ensure that the image you upload is not cropped, and the full document can be seen.

If you have any questions about the acceptability of your ID documents, please contact the Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk. 

Advice on names

If your DBS application is started with the wrong name, please contact our Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk.  

Middle names must be declared as part of your application. If your middle name is missing from your application when you login, you can update this as part of your application. This can be done when your ID documents are selected.  

As part of your application, you must declare any previous names you may have had. For each previous name declared, you must provide the dates you were known as that name.   

The names on your documents must match the name on your application.  

Advice on address history

As part of your DBS application, you must provide your current address, and 5 years of address history. For each address, please include:  

• House name/number and street  
• Town/City  
• Country  
• Postcode  
• Country   

You must provide the date you moved into your current address, and the dates you lived at your previous addresses. There must not be any gaps. Not including all addresses could result in your DBS application being delayed or cancelled by the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Your DBS certificate will be sent to your current address. Your DBS certificate may take a few weeks to be issued to this address, so do not use an address for temporary accommodation.  

Completing a Digital ID check

Once you have uploaded your ID documents as part of your DBS application, Atlantic Data Ltd will let you know how they will verify these.

Atlantic Data Ltd may be able to verify your ID documents digitally. If you are eligible, Atlantic Data Ltd will direct you to download the Digital ID app. Here are some tips for completing a Digital ID check using the app:

• Ensure your passport is in date. 

• Ensure you have good lighting and try to stand in front of a plain background when completing the liveness check. 

• Make sure your camera lens is clean. 

• Remove phone cases as they can block Near Filed Communication (NFC) signals. 

• Reposition the phone in different ways over the cover, as the biometric chips can migrate within passports. 

• Hold the phone still during the liveness check and scanning of the ID document.  

For support with the mobile app and digital ID, please contact Atlantic Data Ltd at digitalsupport@atlanticdata.co.uk. 

Advice on mistakes

When completing your DBS application, it is important that you check that all your personal information is accurate and that you have selected the right ID documents. If you have any questions, please contact our Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk.

If you make a mistake on your DBS application which requires it to be cancelled and re-started, Atlantic Data Ltd will charge you a non-refundable admin fee of up to £15. The admin fee amount will depend on how far through the application process you were when the application had to be cancelled.

What do I do if my DBS certificate doesn’t arrive?

Once the Disclosure and Barring Service has completed your criminal records check and printed your certificate, please allow 14 days for it to arrive.

If you don't receive your certificate within 14 days, please see the DBS certificate reprint guidance for information about how to request a new one. 

The Disclosure and Barring Service will only send a reprinted certificate to the address given as your current address on your DBS application. If you can no longer access this address, you may need to set up mail redirection before requesting a DBS certificate reprint. If you cannot do this, you must complete a new DBS application.

If you have any questions, please contact our Admissions team at Admissions@worc.ac.uk.

How much does a DBS check cost?

The typical cost of the DBS application is £64 for applicants using the Digital ID identification checking route, but it can cost up to £72 for applications using other identification checking routes. 

What if I already have an Enhanced DBS certificate?

If your existing DBS certificate was not issued by the University of Worcester for your course, it must meet all the following requirements for us to accept it:

• You have paid to register your DBS certificate with the Update Service. Only the certificate holder can do this. You will need to pay an annual subscription fee to keep it within the Update Service.  
• Your DBS certificate must be for an Enhanced level of check and for the same workforce as needed for your course (you can find details of the level of check and workforce on the top of your certificate).
• Your DBS certificate must be in the same name as your current name. If you have changed your name, you must apply for a new DBS certificate in your new name.  
• You must still have the original DBS certificate so our Admissions team can check the workforce and if there are any entries.

If your DBS certificate meets the above requirements, please send a copy to our Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk for review. If your existing DBS cannot be accepted, you must apply for a new DBS check through Atlantic Data Ltd.  

Should I add my DBS certificate to the Update Service?

We recommend that you register for the DBS Update Service.

The Update Service costs £16 per year and allows you to keep your DBS certificate up-to-date.

You can register for the Update Service as soon as you have your DBS application form reference number, or you can wait until you receive your DBS certificate. You must register for the Update Service within 30 days of the DBS certificate being issued.

What happens if I have a previous offence?

If you have a previous offence or are currently under investigation, and did not disclose this on your interview self-declaration form, please disclose this to the University as soon as possible by contacting our Admissions team at admissions@worc.ac.uk. We will then ask you for more information and complete a risk assessment according to the process in our criminal convictions policy.

When your DBS certificate is issued, the University will be notified if it contains results, but is not given information about what these are. Our Admissions team will therefore ask to see your DBS certificate to check your results.

If you previously declared the offence to the University and this was not deemed a barrier to entry to your course, we will confirm that the results match what was previously declared so we can pass your DBS check requirement.  

If you did not previously declare the offence to the University, we will ask you for more information and complete a risk assessment according to the process outlined in our criminal convictions policy.