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- If you do not have your DBS clearance by the deadlines advised by the University, you run the risk of being withdrawn from your course.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.
Courses which require DBS and their fee:
| No Fee | £47 Fee |
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If you are studying any of the courses below, you may be offered work-related experience, visits or placements to settings or educational establishments in Year 2 and 3 of your course where a DBS check is required. It’s not an entry requirement for your course but depending on the modules you opt to study you may need to get DBS clearance.
If you do require a check, you’ll need to cover the £47 fee. Please contact the course administrators if you’re unsure about whether you'll need a DBS check.
- Counselling, Coaching and Mentoring, BA
- Early Childhood Studies, BA
- Education Studies, BA
- Human Development (Mind, Body & Spirit), BSc
- Special Needs and Inclusion Studies
No fee to pay
If you're studying a course requiring no fee our Compliance team will contact you about next steps.
If there is £47 fee to pay
If you need to pay the £47 fee for your DBS, please do so via our online shop. This is the only way you can make this payment; please do not send a cheque. Keep the receipt as you will need it for the next step.
Please note: this payment is non-refundable once your application has been submitted.
If you don't pay for your DBS
Look out for an email from dbs@canterbury.ac.uk with a link to the DBS application portal and your username.
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 details or your biometric residence permit details.
If you pay for your DBS
If you need to pay for your DBS check, then once you have done so, please email dbs@canterbury.ac.uk stating that you would like to use the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) & ID Verification Service. Please include the following:
- your full name, including any titles and middle names
- your date of birth
- your course title
- your Canterbury Christ Church University student ID (you will find this in MyRecord or at the top of every email you receive from us about your application)
- your receipt for payment of the DBS fee, where applicable
The team will then log your information and send you a link to the DBS application portal with your username. 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 details or biometric residence permit details.
- Log in to the DBS portal using the details provided to you. Confirm your date of birth and create a password that you’ll remember.
- Download and complete the application form. If applicable, you should declare any convictions, cautions, or bind over court orders you’ve received. This is irrespective of when you received them or whether you consider them to be 'spent' or of insufficient consequence. (If you are invited to an interview, you’ll also be asked to declare further details, but these will not be looked at in detail unless you’re offered a place on a course.)
- Print the application form and take it with your original documents to your nearest Post Office that provides the ‘CRB & ID Verification Service’. You must do this within 28 days, otherwise the application will be cancelled. There is an administrative charge of £12.80, payable to the Post Office, for this service. (Please note: if you’ve made a mistake in your DBS application before submitting it via the post office, please email dbs@canterbury.ac.uk and they can re-start the process for you.)
- Post Office staff will check your identity against your documents and the application form and then scan the barcode on the form. This sends the application to the DBS for processing.
- Processing time is generally 2-4 weeks, and the 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.
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 then we may need to refer your case to our DBS Panel.
This process is strictly confidential, and we will inform you if we must present your case to the DBS Panel once you submit your DBS Self Declaration and have accepted an offer of study. You may be asked to provide further written details about the circumstances surrounding the positive result on a DBS check or DBS Self Declaration.
All personal information about you is anonymised before we present the case to our DBS Panel. You will not be identifiable to anyone involved in the DBS Panel and this process is entirely confidential.
You may be asked to provide further professional references but we will inform you if these are necessary.
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 and does not automatically guarantee clearance by 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 Deputy Admissions Director within 10 working days of receiving your panel decision.
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.
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.