The Critical Role of DBS Checks In 2025

Effective safeguarding often determines the line between a resilient organisation and a reckless one. With faster hiring cycles and more regulatory scrutiny, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks remain the quickest way to mitigate risk in a range of contexts - allowing you to work out who can safely work where, and on what terms. 

We decided to take a closer look at the role that these checks continue to play in 2025, to help you to make better hiring decisions in the months and years to come.

Start with the role, not the person

Before getting started with a hiring run, you need to figure out which kind of DBS check the role in question requires:

• Basic checks are required for roles where only unspent convictions are relevant - this can be any role where you want to add a little more security, from retail to marketing.

• Standard checks add spent convictions and cautions -  these are common for trust-sensitive posts (finance and legal roles) and can also only be carried out for roles where the check is a regulatory requirement.

• Enhanced checks bring in any relevant police-held information, often for roles involving contact with children or vulnerable adults. Again, they can only be carried out for roles where it is a regulatory requirement, similarly with barred list checks.

Over-checking breaches data-minimisation laws, and can result in legal action. Under-checking is essentially a safeguarding failure, and can result in legal repercussions as well. Write down the risk assessment and keep it with the job description; if you have any doubts, then it’s worth consulting with a specialist provider such as Personnel Checks.

The impacts of digital hiring practices

Remote onboarding is the norm nowadays. Using a certified service provider to verify passports and other documents cuts human error-related delays, while also making it much quicker to onboard new hires. That being said, the results depend on you putting high-quality data into the tools; make sure that all names, dates and locations are double or triple checked. 

Data security 

DBS results pull up incredibly sensitive data - make sure that you treat them that way. Tell candidates what you’re checking and why, store results securely, and make sure that you have mechanisms in place to restrict who sees them. When something appears, make sure that you’re following the relevant regulations to your industry, and that you don’t act prejudicially towards anyone in a way that impacts their rights to employment.

Implementing your DBS strategy

You want to start with an overarching company policy. Tie roles to check levels, set renewal cycles (e.g., every 6 months to a year for higher-risk posts), and define who decides what when a disclosure lands.

Train your hiring managers on what each level shows and what it doesn’t; how to read a certificate; how to discuss context with candidates. These strategies only work if the people using them know what they’re supposed to be doing.

DBS checks in 2025 aren’t just more bureaucracy for bureaucracy’s sake. They’re how you prove diligence to regulators, protect people in your care, and move quickly without cutting corners. Get the level right, handle results with nuance, and keep your paperwork tidy.