Will I Require a DBS to Volunteer at a School?
You may have decided to devote some time to helping out at a school; it’s an enormously rewarding thing to do and can make such a difference to the pupils and teaching staff. This could be perhaps reading to children, helping them with work they are struggling with, helping out at an after-school club, or breakfast club etc. Whether you require a DBS to do this, will depend entirely on the type of role you will be doing there. What may be a determining factor too, is whether you are officially classed as a ‘volunteer’ at the school also.
Are you an official ‘volunteer’ at the school?
The DBS’ definition of a volunteer is a person who spends time helping and giving benefit to a third party (not a close relative) and is not paid for that help. You won’t be classed as an official volunteer if:
- The volunteer work is part of a work placement
- The volunteer work is part of a course you are studying for
- You are doing the volunteer work knowing that it will lead to a full-time job there
- You personally benefit from doing the volunteer work
- You receive payment for volunteering (with the exception of being compensated for travel or out of pocket expenses)
School work is typically regulated activity requiring a DBS Check
Working at a school, will bring you into contact with children who are considered vulnerable. This activity with children is known as regulated activity, and it may involve you teaching, training, supervising, or caring for children unsupervised. Or simply working unsupervised in an environment that has contact with children, which obviously volunteering at a school may involve.
What Type of DBS Check will I Need?
You will need an Enhanced Check with Barred Lists which is the most thorough DBS Check that can be conducted. This is because you will be working at a school, with children, the most vulnerable members of society. The school and the parents of children who attend the school, need to ensure that the children there are safe, and not at risk of harm. The Enhanced Check with Barred List will check your past criminal history and will look for unspent convictions and cautions, plus spent convictions, official warnings, reprimands, and cautions. It will also contact local police to see if they hold any information on you, relevant to the job role.
The Barred List part of the check will ensure that you don’t appear on any government barred lists that show you are banned from working with children or vulnerable adults due to violence or sexual offences towards them.
It’s fully understandable why the most thorough DBS check is required to work at a school, even in a volunteer role, because you still have contact with children, and it’s of the utmost importance to ensure their safety. It is the school that will have to request this check for you, you can’t request it yourself (you can only request a Basic DBS Check as an individual).
The good news is, that if you’re classed as a volunteer (see the criteria above) your DBS Check may be cheaper than a normal DBS Check, you may get it at the volunteer rate because you won’t receive any pay for the position.
