After a period of time has passed, many criminal offences will be filtered, meaning they won’t show on DBS checks whatsoever, regardless of whether they’re spent or unspent.
However, some offences will never be filtered – usually due to the severity of the offence.
In this article, we will look at what offences are never filtered from DBS checks.
Table of Contents
What Offences Are Never Filtered From DBS Checks?
Convictions resulting in a custodial sentence
Offences resulting in custodial sentences can become spent, but they will never be filtered from your DBS check – they will be disclosed on a check every time.
For more information on spent and unspent convictions, have a read of our guide below. Employers are not permitted to consider spent offences when hiring, even though your DBS certificate discloses them, so if you’re worried about employment with a criminal record, it’s a topic worth reading up on.
Spent and Unspent Convictions
Specified Offences
The DBS maintains a list of specified offences that will never be filtered from your DBS check. Generally speaking, these are offences of a violent or sexual nature. Other categories of offence such as serious driving offences and position of trust abuse will also never be filtered.
The government’s list of Specified Offences is 34 pages long – to view it in PDF form, click here. We recommend using a keyboard shortcut (such as Ctrl-F on Windows) to search for your offence. For other file formats, click here.
When will my offence be filtered?
An offence will be filtered depending on the offender’s age, whether the offence is specified, and whether it resulted in a custodial sentence, the time taken for the offence to become filtered differs.
Use the table below to work out how long it’ll take for your offence to be filtered:
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Further Reading – What offences
If you’ve found our FAQ post, “What Offences Are Never Filtered From DBS Checks?” useful, then you’ll find these helpful too:
- Changes to the filtering rules – 2023
- Is the DBS part of the police?
- General guide to the filtering of convictions
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.