The DBS Update Service, explained properly
Why one small annual subscription is the difference between a worker starting next week and starting next month — and the three mistakes providers make with status checks.
By CareCore compliance team
Almost every delay we see between offering someone a care role and getting them onto a rota comes down to one thing: whether their enhanced DBS certificate is registered with the Update Service. If it is, a check takes minutes. If it is not, you are usually looking at two to four weeks and sometimes longer.
What the Update Service actually is
It is a subscription that keeps an existing DBS certificate live. For a modest annual fee — set by the DBS and revised from time to time, so always check the current figure on GOV.UK — the certificate holder allows employers to check online whether anything has changed since it was issued. The check returns one of two answers: the certificate remains current, or new information has been added and a fresh certificate is needed.
Crucially, the worker must join within 30 days of the certificate being issued. Miss that window and the only route back in is a new application. This is the single most useful thing to tell a new care worker on day one.
The three mistakes we see most often
- Running a status check without sighting the original certificate. The online check tells you nothing about what the certificate says — you still need to see it. A status result on its own is not evidence of a clear check.
- Assuming any enhanced DBS covers any role. A certificate issued for the child workforce does not cover adult regulated activity, and vice versa. Check the barred lists on the certificate, not just the level.
- Treating a three-year-old certificate as current because it exists. If it is not on the Update Service, its age matters. Most providers we work with will not accept one over twelve months old without a fresh check.
What to do about it in your service
Two changes make the biggest difference. First, ask about Update Service registration at application stage, not at offer stage — it changes who you can realistically start next week. Second, when you do fund a new DBS for someone, put a diary reminder at 25 days to make sure they register, because they will forget.
“Nineteen of our 34 staff were already on the Update Service and we had no idea. That single piece of information took weeks off the plan.”
If you only take four things from this
- Registration must happen within 30 days of certificate issue — there is no extension.
- A status check is not a substitute for sighting the original certificate.
- Ask about Update Service status at application stage, not at offer stage.
- Diarise a 25-day reminder whenever you fund a new DBS.
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