DBS and Occupational Health

A number of courses within the School of Health and Society include a placement which involves engaging in what is known as a Regulated Activity. This Regulated Activity relating to adults and/or children is subject to receipt of satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance.

Your offer of a place on one of these courses is subject to receipt of satisfactory DBS clearance. This condition will remain in place irrespective of whether you have registered as a student or commenced your studies. The University has the right to withdraw the offer of a place to anyone who fails to provide a satisfactory DBS check. Moreover, failure to declare a conviction etc that is subsequently revealed on a DBS check may also affect your offer of a place. The University accepts no responsibility for any adverse consequences which result from the University withdrawing your offer of a place on the course or cancelling your registration and removing you from the course (as the case may be). When you have accepted a place at the University, prior to your commencement, we will email you instructions on how to apply for DBS clearance through the University’s online system. The online system is provided in conjunction with Atlantic Data Ltd and access is controlled by a login process, with all information provided through a secure website and all personal data is transmitted using encryption.

As well as obtaining DBS clearance you will be expected to complete a self-declaration form in advance of you receiving your enhanced DBS certificate. You should self-declare if you have ever received any convictions, cautions, reprimands, bind-overs or final warnings for an offence which, when the Disclosure and Barring Service is processing your criminal record, will not be filtered out from the Police National Computer (please refer to the DBS Filtering Guide). Any information you declare will be considered by a School Admissions Panel.

The University currently does not accept DBS Enhanced Certificates from any other registered bodies. However, if you subscribe to the DBS Update Service, and your DBS Certificate is the same level of check required for your course, and not for a volunteer position, we will check your up-to-date status online with the DBS.

When you receive your DBS Enhanced Certificate please keep it for future use, you can choose to subscribe to the DBS Update Service, however this is currently not a requirement of the University. If you decide to subscribe to the DBS Update Service you must do so within 30 days from the date of issue of your DBS Certificate. A fee is charged for this Service and this is paid directly to the DBS.

The University of Salford fully complies with the DBS Code of Practice which sets out obligations for everyone participating in the Disclosure process.

The role of the Disclosure and Barring Service is to help the University of Salford make safer recruitment decisions by checking the background of applicants and providing details of any convictions, cautions, reprimands, bind-overs and final warnings. The offer of a place on a programme where students engage in Regulated Activity relating to adults and/or relating to children is subject to receipt of satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance. This condition will remain in place irrespective of whether you have registered as a student or commenced your studies. Failure to get satisfactory DBS clearance will put your place on the programme at risk. To obtain your DBS clearance from the University you will need to apply via our online system. You apply for your DBS clearance only when you have received instructions from the University. The process you will be required to follow is:

1. You will receive an e-invitation from dbs@salford.disclosures.co.uk entitled ‘Activation of Disclosure Service Account’. To login to your online application follow the instructions in the e-invitation.
2. Complete your application by choosing three documents from the acceptable documents list to prove your identity. You will be required to upload images of these original identity documents, and submit your application. Please ensure all documents display the same name, names in the same order and same spelling in each of the three documents. Uploaded images must be legible and include the entire document (Front and Back).
3. Once you have submitted your application, Atlantic Data will undertake a virtual ID check and submit your form to the DBS for checking. Images that do not comply to these strict criteria will be rejected. It is important to check your account until your application has passed the ID verification stage. This should take up to five working days. If your application does not pass ID verification stage within one week, please contact student onboarding.
4. On completion of checking, the DBS will issue an Enhanced Certificate and this will be posted to your current address. This process usually takes six weeks but can take longer. Do not delay starting your application. 
5. Please retain your Enhanced Certificate, for the duration of your course as you may be required to produce it when you begin each of your placements.
6. The University is informed of your clearance via this system. There is no need to send a copy of any certificates that have been received as a result of a university DBS application.

You need to have at least started your application before induction week as failure to have an enhanced DBS certificate, may impact you being able to be released for placement. Further information is available from studentonboarding@salford.ac.uk and our DBS Information Sheet

International students will require evidence of a UK address for their DBS application and should be able to demonstrate evidence of application for required documents by induction week. For more information, please read the 'Requirements for international students' section at the bottom of this page.

If you are a student and you are registered on a course which does not require DBS clearance as part of the entrance criteria, but you do require DBS clearance for a placement, please ask your Programme Leader/Placement Tutor to contact studentonboarding@salford.ac.uk

As well as a DBS check you are also required to complete a Good Health and Good Character Declaration Form at the beginning of your course and annually until completion. This is an opportunity for you to disclose any convictions, cautions, reprimands, bind-overs or final warnings for an offence which, when the Disclosure and Barring Service is processing your criminal record, will not be filtered out from the Police National Computer.

You can also disclose if you have any pending court appearances or you have been charged by the police in relation to any criminal offence. Any matters you disclose or that appear on your DBS Enhanced Certificate will be considered by an Admissions Panel. The Admissions Panel complies with the University's Safeguarding Policy, and with professional, statutory and regulatory body guidance. If you fail to disclose any offence, you are putting your place on the course at risk as the Admissions Panel may withdraw the offer of your place on the course or cancel your registration and remove you from the course.

The University accepts no responsibility for any adverse consequences which result from the University withdrawing your offer of a place on the course, or cancelling your registration and removing you from the course (as the case may be). The Admissions Panel consider all cases on an individual basis and in confidence. A criminal record may not, in itself, prevent you from being offered a place on a course.

In considering any cases, the Admissions Panel will apply the following criteria:

• Nature and gravity of the offence(s)
• Age at the time of the offence(s)
• Length of time since the offence(s)
• Number of offences
• Any pattern of offending behaviour
• The severity of the sentence/disposal
• Relevance of the offence(s) to the profession
• The circumstances surrounding the offence(s) and the explanation(s) you have offered
• Applicants response to offence(s) and rehabilitation and if your circumstances have changed since the offending behaviour
• Public trust

When you are completing the Good Health and Good Character Declaration form or in any additional statements, ensure you address all these points so the Admissions Panel can make a decision considering all the relevant information. 

If you require any clarification on the Admissions Panel process or require any further information please email studentonboarding@salford.ac.uk.

As a registered student, it is your responsibility to inform their course leader and/or personal tutor if you commit an offence during the course of your course. On the anniversary of your registration, you will be asked to complete an Annual Declaration of Good Health and Good Character form. Any changes declared on this form will be considered under the relevant University policy.

International students need evidence of a UK address for their DBS application and should be able to demonstrate evidence of application for required documents by induction week. 

You will not be able to apply for your Enhanced DBS until you have proof of a UK address, but you can begin to gather other documents like your passport and BRP. Once you arrive in the UK, the quickest way to get the identity documents you require is to apply for a driving licence (or a provisional license if you have not yet passed a test), or to open a UK bank account.
 

International students will also need a police certificate of conduct from their country of residence. It is easier to gain this before you travel to the UK. Please visit the gov.uk website for more details.

Please see the ‘Requirements by course’ menu on this page to check if you need vaccinations for your course.

You might have some of your vaccinations already or you may want to start them before you come to the UK. We will organise for you to have any vaccinations you don't have, but MMR and Hep B are a course of vaccinations over several months.

Your Occupational Health Clearance can also take a little longer if you have an existing medical condition, so it’s important to start completing both of these requirements as soon as you can.