DBS checks for tutors: the UK guide for tutoring agencies

If you run a UK tutoring agency, the question “do my tutors need a DBS?” isn't academic. Get this one wrong and the first complaint to your local safeguarding board will kill your business in a fortnight. This is what I tell new agency owners and what I make sure every tutor on our platform actually has.

What a DBS check actually is

DBS stands for Disclosure and Barring Service, the UK government body that conducts criminal-record checks for people working with children or vulnerable adults. There are three levels:

• Basic DBS: anyone can apply for their own. Shows unspent convictions only. Not enough for tutoring.
• Standard DBS: spent and unspent convictions, cautions, warnings, reprimands. Required for certain roles. Still not the right one for tutoring.
• Enhanced DBS: everything in Standard plus any police-held information considered relevant. This is what tutors working with under-18s need. If they teach 1-to-1 in a private setting (someone's home, online), you also need to ask for the “child barred list” check, which is bundled into Enhanced.

Are you legally required to demand one?

Strictly: tutors are self-employed and aren't covered by the same statutory check requirement as schoolteachers. There is no UK law that forces a private tutor to hold an Enhanced DBS.

But:

• Every reputable parent expects it. You will lose enquiries the minute they ask and your tutor doesn't have one.
• If you market yourselves as a tutoring agency (rather than a listing site), you're holding yourself out as having vetted the tutor. That's a duty of care.
• Your insurer almost certainly conditions liability cover on it. Check the small print on your professional indemnity policy before you assume you're covered.

Treat it as non-negotiable. Tutors without a current Enhanced DBS don't work with under-18s on our platform.

How tutors actually get one

This is the part nobody tells you: a private individual cannot apply for an Enhanced DBS on their own. The application has to be countersigned by a registered body. There are three sensible routes:

1. Via their previous employer (school, agency, local authority) if recent enough. The certificate is portable if they signed up for the Update Service, see below.
2. Via an umbrella body. Companies like UCheck, Atlantic Data, GBG and Personnel Checks process DBS applications for the self-employed. Expect £45-£60 for the check itself plus a small admin fee. Turnaround is normally 5-15 working days.
3. Via the tutoring agency itselfif it registers as a Responsible Organisation with DBS. Worth it if you'll be processing more than ~20 a year.

The Update Service: the only piece tutors miss

Once a tutor has an Enhanced DBS certificate, the DBS Update Servicelets them subscribe (£16/year) so their certificate is continuously refreshed and verifiable online. Any agency can check the status with the tutor's cert number, DOB and surname.

Make it a hard requirement that every tutor on your books is subscribed. Without it, you're asking them to re-apply every 3-5 years and paying the admin overhead each time. With it, you check the status in 30 seconds when you onboard them and re-check annually.

What about third-party DBS validation services?

Several commercial services exist (Yoti, Verifile, Onfido, Personnel Checks, GBG) that automate the verification step, check the cert against the Update Service, and store the proof you've done it. For an agency with 20+ tutors this is worth paying for, both for the time saved and for the audit trail when a parent (or your insurer) asks.

For an agency with five tutors, manually validating against the Update Service is fine.

What to actually require of every tutor on your books

1. Enhanced DBS certificate with the “child barred list” check.
2. Certificate dated within the last three years orsubscribed to the Update Service.
3. Original certificate sighted (not a photocopy) before they teach a single lesson.
4. A second piece of ID matched against the cert (passport or driving licence).
5. Two professional references, ideally one teaching-related.
6. A safeguarding declaration signed by the tutor: they've read your safeguarding policy and agree to your code of conduct.

One last warning

A DBS check confirms a tutor has no recorded criminal history at the date of the check. It is not a guarantee of good character, teaching ability, or future behaviour. Treat it as a baseline, not a stamp of approval. Real safeguarding is your interview, your observation of lessons, your reference checks, your willingness to act if a parent flags something.

Get DBS right and the rest of your safeguarding regime can be proportionate. Get DBS wrong and you have no business operating an agency. There's no middle ground here.