What is filtering?

In 2013, the Government made changes to allowed certain minor offences to be removed or ‘filtered’ from standard or enhanced DBS checks. The filtering rules changed again on 28 November 2020. You can see the self-disclosure flowchart here.

For adults (aged 18+), this means:

An adult conviction will be filtered from a higher-level DBS certificate only
if:

1. The conviction is ‘spent’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
2. 11 years has elapsed since the date of conviction.
3. The conviction did not result in a custodial or suspended prison sentence.
4. The conviction does not appear on the list of specified offences.

An adult caution will be filtered after 6 years have elapsed since the date of
the caution, as long as the offence is not on the list of specified offences.
There is no limit to the number of cautions or convictions that can be
filtered, as long as they meet the above criteria.

For juveniles (under 18), this means:

A juvenile conviction will be filtered from a higher-level DBS certificate only
if:

1. The conviction is ‘spent’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
2. 5½ years have elapsed since the date of conviction.
3. The conviction did not result in a custodial or suspended custodial sentence.
4. The conviction does not appear on the list of specified offences

There is no limit to the number of convictions that can be filtered, as long as
they meet the above criteria.

Youth cautions, reprimands and final warnings are not automatically
disclosed on higher-level DBS certificates, even if they are for offences on
the list of specified offences. Youth conditional cautions are automatically
disclosed until they are ‘spent’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act
1974. Once ‘spent’ they are no longer automatically disclosed, even if they
are for offences on the list of specified offences.