DBS checks for private tutors: what you need and how to get one

If you tutor children, the DBS question comes up immediately — from parents, and from any platform worth joining. Here's a practical guide for teachers moving into tutoring.

The levels, briefly

• Basic — shows unspent convictions only. Anyone can apply for one themselves.
• Standard — adds spent convictions and cautions. Only available for eligible roles, through a registered body.
• Enhanced — everything above plus relevant police information, and it can include a check of the children's barred list. This is the level schools use, and the one parents should expect from anyone tutoring their child.

Self-employed? You can now apply yourself

Until January 2026, a tutor working for themselves could only get a Basic check, because an Enhanced check had to be requested by an employer. That has changed. Since 21 January 2026, self-employed people in eligible roles can apply for their own Enhanced check, including the children's barred list, through a DBS Umbrella Body. The government's own worked example is a self-employed maths tutor.

In practice:

• Find an Umbrella Body with the gov.uk finder, filtering for organisations that process checks for self-employed people.
• Apply for an Enhanced check with the children's barred list, in the child workforce.
• Expect to pay the DBS fee plus the Umbrella Body's own admin fee, and to prove your identity as part of the application.
• Join the Update Service when you apply, using your application reference number, so the certificate stays checkable from day one.

The gov.uk guidance for self-employed people has the detail. Always check the current rules there — this is a guide, not legal advice.

What Teachers Delivered requires

We verify a current Enhanced DBS certificate for every tutor before they can take a single booking — alongside a teaching qualification and two references. It's a deliberately high bar; it's also precisely why parents choose a vetted platform over an open listings site, and why our tutors don't compete with unvetted advertisers on price.

Already have one from school?

Most serving teachers do. Two things to know:

• The Update Service is the easy path: if your certificate is registered with the DBS Update Service, its status can be checked online and your certificate stays useful as you move between roles. Registration has a small annual cost and a time limit after your certificate is issued, so if you're getting a new check, register straight away.
• A certificate belongs to a point in time, not to you forever. Parents and platforms will reasonably want a certificate that's either recent or verifiable through the Update Service.

If you don't have one yet

Apply through an Umbrella Body as described above. Don't buy a "DBS for tutors" from the first site an advert shows you — pricing and legitimacy vary, so start from the gov.uk finder instead. If you're joining us, you can register while you wait for the certificate: add your qualification and references in the meantime, then upload the certificate from your dashboard when it arrives.

The bigger safeguarding picture

A DBS check is necessary but not sufficient — it's one part of safeguarding alongside references, verified identity, and sensible practices like parents being present or nearby for in-home lessons. That layered approach is what we mean by vetting, and it's the standard the whole sector should hold itself to.

Ready to put yours to work? Create your tutor profile, then upload your certificate from your dashboard to start vetting.