Does drink driving show on DBS checks? Because drink-driving is a criminal offence, it will be disclosed on your DBS certificate.
However, depending on how old you were when the offence was committed, and how long ago it occurred, it will likely be omitted from your DBS certificate after a period of time.
In this blog, we’ll go over how long it takes for a drink-driving conviction to be spent, then filtered, from your DBS check.
Table of Contents
Does Drink Driving Show On DBS Checks? Spent Convictions & Cautions
If a conviction is spent, that means it won’t be disclosed in Basic DBS certificates, but it will be disclosed in Standard & Enhanced DBS certificates (employers will be able to see that it’s spent). You can use our table below to see how long your drink-driving offence will take to become “spent“.
If an employer is permitted to “ask an exempted question” (which in practice means getting a Standard or Enhanced DBS check for you), then they are permitted to take spent convictions into account during the recruitment process. However, unless the conviction is related to the role being applied for, many employers don’t let spent convictions affect their judgement.
Does Drink Driving Show On DBS Checks? Filtered Convictions & Cautions
If a conviction or caution is filtered, this means it won’t show whatsoever on any DBS certificates. You can use our table below to determine when a drink driving offence will be filtered (bear in mind that drink-driving on its own is not a specified offence).
For example, if you were convicted for drink driving while under 18, this would be filtered (no longer appearing on your DBS check) 5.5 years from the date of sentencing.
Recently, the government issued changes to its filtering rules, although this doesn’t affect the examples published here.
Does Drink Driving Show On DBS Checks? Local Police Information
On Enhanced DBS checks, the police forces carrying out the check have the option to disclose any additional information they judge to be relevant to the role being applied for.
This means a filtered drink driving conviction could still appear on Enhanced DBS checks, if the role being applied for involves driving. For more information about what the police may include, click here.
Summary: Does Drink Driving Show On DBS Checks?
Drink driving does appear on DBS checks, but assuming that no other offences were simultaneously committed, they will usually cease to appear on DBS checks within 5.5 years if committed under the age of 18, or within 11 years of the offence if the applicant was over-18 at the time.
If your conviction is subject to exacerbating factors (for example, you caused somebody harm while drink driving), then there is still a chance for your conviction to become “spent”, and no longer appear on Basic DBS checks.
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Further Reading
If you’ve found our post, “FAQ: Does Drink Driving Show On DBS Checks?” helpful, then these might also be of interest to you:
- Can I use PDF documents as evidence for my DBS check?
- What happens if something shows up on my DBS check?
- Do employers always do DBS checks?
- Do Driving Offences Show On DBS Checks?
About The Author
Kellie Dawson
Kellie is our in-house legal expert when it comes to DBS checks. With a background in the legal sector, she has become a recognised authority in this area.