All applicants who will be working with young or vulnerable people as part of their course must obtain clearance through the government's Disclosure and Barring Service to do so.
- If you need a DBS clearance for your course, you won’t be eligible to register as a student or start your studies until you have applied for your DBS check
- If you have applied for your DBS check and registration has opened for your course, you’ll be able to undertake the online registration process and achieve a status of ‘temporarily' registered
- However, you won't be 'fully' registered until you complete the DBS checking process
- Until you are fully registered, there may be some aspects of your course with which you will be unable to engage (e.g. placement activity)
- If you do not have your DBS clearance by the deadlines advised by the University, you run the risk of being withdrawn from your course. We therefore strongly encourage you to complete the process as soon as you are able
You must apply for DBS clearance through Canterbury Christ Church University for it to be applicable to one of our courses.
The only exception is if you already have a DBS certificate with enhanced disclosure (not a voluntary or basic certificate) that you registered with the DBS Update Service within 30 days of originally receiving it. If you have such a certificate, you need to send a clear scan or photo of your documentation to dbs@canterbury.ac.uk. We will then check to see if you can use your existing certificate for your studies with us. Please don’t assume that you’re covered for your course.
How to apply for your DBS certificate through Canterbury Christ Church University
How you apply for the DBS certificate will depend on the course you’re studying with us. You may be prompted by MyRecord to complete the check.
- You’ll receive an email from Atlantic Data with a username and password.
- It will take you about 15 minutes to complete your application in the portal if you have all the necessary documentation to hand. If you have a non-EU/UK passport, you’ll need to enter your passport, biometric residence permit or share code details.
- Login into Atlantic Data, our DBS provider’s portal.
- Confirm your date of birth.
- Set a password and note the password somewhere safe, as you’ll need to return to your application.
- Complete all details required in Atlantic Data base.
- After you complete your details in Atlantic Data, you’ll be given a post office letter with a QR code to use; you’ll need to attend a post office that does ID verification with this letter.
- Bring the required ID documentation to your appointment for checking.
- This visit will cost £14.36.
- At the appointment, the post office will check your application against your ID documents; after the check is complete, your DBS check will be submitted for processing.
- Processing time is generally 2-4 weeks, but it can take longer to complete.
- Your DBS certificate will be sent to you to the postal address you have specified.
- You don’t need to let us know that you’ve received your certificate, as the Disclosure and Barring Service provides us with regular results of DBS checks
- Once we receive confirmation from the Disclosure and Barring Service that your DBS has been granted, we will update your student record..
- Should there be information contained on your DBS, please send a clear, scanned copy of your DBS to dbs@canterbury.ac.uk and refer to our DBS panel process below.
Contacting the Disclosure and Barring Service to chase up your clearance
If the DBS process has taken longer than 8 weeks from the date you submitted your application via the Post Office, you should contact the DBS to chase this up. Their phone number is 03000 200 190.
It is your responsibility to ensure you have a DBS clearance if it is a requirement of your course.
Residency outside of the UK
If you are a non-UK resident or you’ve been temporarily resident outside of the UK, you still need to undertake the DBS checking process through us once you arrive in the UK. You must also provide a DBS equivalent document or Certificate of Good Conduct/Character from the country/countries you have lived in, to show at registration or before. You can do this by contacting the embassy in the country/countries where you have resided.
Please note: a Certificate of Good Conduct/Character will be a condition of your offer if you’re not a UK resident. You’ll need to send your certificate to Admissions before you receive an unconditional offer and progress to the next stage.
You’ll need proof of your new UK address to complete the DBS check process once you arrive in the UK.
Once you have a registration status of temporarily registered, you can get a student status letter via MyRecord as proof of your UK address. This is needed as part of the documentation required to submit to the Post Office. Please make sure you have updated MyRecord with your UK address of residence before downloading your letter.
We reserve the right to withdraw your offer of a place if the Enhanced Disclosure Certificate from the DBS indicates you have convictions, cautions, or bind overs not brought to our attention on the DBS self-declaration form. If you feel there is additional information that you haven’t already disclosed, you need to contact us at dbs@canterbury.ac.uk.
Declaring convictions, cautions or bind overs you have received
If you have convictions, cautions or have been bound over, you’re not automatically barred from studying a course – we consider each applicant separately. What is important is that you are open with us about your past.
Where an applicant declares a conviction, caution or bind over, we make an academic decision first. Once this has been completed, those offered a place will be asked to submit further information concerning their circumstances, and then a decision will be made as to whether the case needs to be reviewed by our DBS panel.
If you fail to disclose information that subsequently comes to light through the DBS process, you may face the likelihood of having your offer of a place withdrawn.
DBS Panel Clearance Process
If you have a conviction, caution, or bind over, we may need to refer your case to our DBS Panel for consideration. The panel is composed of members of our University who work in safeguarding, the Compliance Team, your subject area, and an external member in practice, when appropriate. Our DBS Panel will consider the information on your DBS and your eligibility to undertake your course of study. This process is confidential.
The Compliance Team will inform you if we need to present your case to the DBS Panel once we receive notice of your DBS results. You will be required to submit a detailed personal statement and two references, and you will be sent forms to use for these purposes.
All personal information about you is anonymised before the case is presented to the DBS Panel. You have the right to anonymity during this process, and you do not need declare details of your panel to your personal tutor, course director or any other staff member.
Once a decision has been reached, this will be communicated to you by the Compliance Team. Any clearance by the DBS panel will cover the duration of your studies with us.
It is important to note that clearance by our DBS panel does not guarantee clearance by relevant regulatory/industry bodies such as the General Teaching, Health and Care Professions Council, or future employers.
If the panel decides that we cannot clear you for the DBS Panel process, you have the right to appeal. This should be done via email to the Director of Admissions within 10 working days of receiving your panel decision.
Top Tip - DBS Update Service
Your DBS certificate will cover the duration of your course; however, you may wish to extend the life of the certificate by signing up for the DBS Update Service.
This currently costs £13 a year and requires you to register your certificate within 30 days of it being issued.
This is optional but would allow you to use the certificate after you leave us if you maintain the yearly fee.